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As always, click the photo to enlarge
A Swainson's Warbler shot from last week in Fayette County, West Virginia. In this region, these warblers typically frequent large tangles of Great Rhododendron, and catching even a glimpse in those thickets can be very tough. This bird occupied a deciduous forest opening and was much easier to see. I kept tabs on him for a half hour and could even watch his sparrow-like foraging behavior: using those big feet and large bill to turn leaves on the forest floor. This warbler is one of the rarest of the 38 extant species of eastern North America breeding warblers, with an estimated population of about 140,000 individuals. As a point of comparison, the Connecticut Warbler, a species much coveted by birders, has a total population estimated at about 1.8 million birds.
2 comments:
Your photograph is spectacular. The patience and dedication you have for these types of experiences seems to have extended beyond the definitional limitations of the word "passion" and ascended to a more apt description of what these things mean to you, intrinsic. Thanks for helping being a continued voice for conservation and land stewardship.
You mentioned that Swainson's Warblers preferred large tangles of large rhododendron. Have they been observed in the disjunct rhododendron populations found in southern Fairfield county, OH or northern Hocking county?
Thanks!
Thanks very much for your nice comment!
No, I’m not aware of any records from those areas of great rhododendrons. But they rarely appear in southernmost Ohio and very scruffy reverting clearcuts and similar brushy habitat. Not aware of any evidence they’ve bred in the state, though.
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