Northern Parula

Imagine what it’s like to experience your first spring migration. Maybe you have some idea of where you’ve stopped since you made it through fall migration, but it’s been a while. After birding LaBagh Woods this morning, where I found these first-year warblers, I could barely remember where I parked my car. These guys are flying hundreds, maybe thousands, of miles and they’re not lost.

American Redstart

I knew about first-year male American Redstarts, but this is the first time I’ve thought about first-year Northern Parulas since I haven’t seen that many Parulas in my birding lifetime.

It was a beautiful day in Chicago, if a bit on the chilly side this morning. The birds became more active when the sun took hold.

I will try to post more from LaBagh and some other spring haunts, but I’ll be out of town two days for work this week and in northern Michigan for Memorial Day weekend. The garden has suffered through all this: I just started digging out my vegetable patch this evening – but at least that made my robins ecstatic.

A few more pictures of the Northern Parula and the American Redstart. For one year, they almost look alike.

Northern Parula

American Redstart, first-year male

Northern Parula, first-year male