I have been trying to catch up with my blog and everyone else’s to no avail, so this is a quick one-species-post offering in the meantime. Over the weekend I attended the Chicago Ornithological Society walk through Columbus Park on Saturday and then went to LaBagh Woods on Sunday. Two bird species outnumbered all the others. In the warbler category, the most prominent was the Blackpoll.
This is the time of year when Blackpoll Warblers don’t look like Blackpoll Warblers do in the springtime. They are often confused with Bay-Breasted Warblers. Sadly I don’t have any recent Bay-Breasted photographs to compare these with. Overall, they appear more yellow than they do black and white (as in spring).
The cool thing about going through so many shots in different settings is that I learn more about the “gizz” of the species through the constant review. So that next time I see a Blackpoll Warbler walking down the street in a crowd I will be able to pick it out immediately!
I will be back as soon as possible with photos of the Most Prominent Species (not a warbler) from last weekend.
Beautiful set of pictures Lisa, being my favorites the fist and last! Thanks for the post! 🙂
Thanks so much, HJ! They were my favorites too. I especially like the bottom one because it shows the stripes on the back … which gives the best clue to what the bird will become in the spring. 🙂
They are very limited in the black poll department.
Indeed! Most fall warblers look like a muted version of their spring selves but these become nearly indistinguishable.