Jonathans fall warbler migration

It was a surprise to see him pass. I always got a PM to me of ; What is this you think come the fall time ?
but during the summer I'm at the cottage and limited internet coverage so sometimes he just posted and someone -some-where would respond.
So this weekend there was quite a few pods of warblers move through, some coffee breaks there was 8-10 species per flock I could ID on my balcony in the aspen tree tops.
His hearing was not that great so his ID was by visual which is really taxing, I'm sure Gulo can attest to that statement.
Lets show some of your migrants you have seen lately.

Fall warblers can be difficult to ID and even tougher to photograph with trees typically still leafed out. Juvenile birds are dull colored and adults are in different stages of molt leading to confusion on what a birder is looking at. As difficult as it is to get good photographs it’s often the easiest way to learn to ID fall warblers.
1. American Redstart
2. Tennessee Warbler
3. Orange-crowned Warbler
4. Nashville Warbler

Nice photo's!

Tray, That looks like 4 photos of the same bird to me! LOL you must really know your birds! Nice shots.

Great post thanks

It can be really challenging, especially when there flitting around in the tops of trees and lost in the leaves most of the time.

Thanks Tray lots of work went into those birds.
WAS going to list some of mine but pic is more like it.
A grounder was difficult to ID till I saw the orange patch ,and the call notes of; teacher..teacher gave it away.
My balcony is tree top height and there seems to be a looper infestation.

Tray there appears to be quite a infestation of woolly aphids, have you seen any Harvester larvae( butterfly) feeding on them

Lovely pics, Tray.

Jonathan would love them. He always said the wobbler clan is so difficult to follow and ID ! I only know a few for certain .

Nice subject, N50.

I have a hard time differentiating them when they are in a picture . Nice work !!

Gulo is so hard of hearing even I can't identify him !

Throw in a skeleton pic and Gulo will appear out of no-where

When banding in the old days there are clues in how the trapped birds behave, but a ruffled picture are not always the best to use, and it sorta against standards now-a-days to subject the birds to that.

Every morning had to sweep the deck clean. It was almost like snow flakes in August. The pine siskins were in large flocks 20-30 birds cleaning up this years birch seeds. They beat the Redpolls so looking forward to them this winter as well as the other finches.

Very nice pictures I had some blue jays visiting this spring as well as some golden finches with the ever present English sparrows with a few house wrens and what I call mtn blue birds .

I had to google the Harvester Butterfly as I have never heard of them, looks like in within their range but I have never really looked for them. Birds are hard enough to learn.LOL

I’ve said before that the only thing harder then IDing warblers is photographing them, lots of blurry pics, pics of leaves, sticks and tail feathers and very few quality pictures. Funny thing is when I got into birding I struggled with warblers which lead to me purchasing a camera to help ID, didn’t take long to realize that was a mistake.
Jonathan had a great setup that allowed the birds to come to him and would allow him to focus the camera on a small area and wait for birds to land where he wanted, it’s a great way to photograph birds it just takes a lot of patience.


Couple more Warbler pictures
Townsend’s Warbler
Blue-winged Warbler

So the Blue winger Wrb is a stray in your area ?
Tray you should consider water marking your pictures before posting on the net. Jonathan did a series in how to and the program he used.....did anyone archive it?

They Blue-winged nest is the extreme SE corner of our state. I’m jealous of the eastern guys, we are on the western edge of the main Warbler migration here, unless weather conditions line up right some years we don’t get much coming thru.
Thanks for the suggestion on watermarking, I’ve looked into it but so far haven’t wanted to buy the editing software to do so. So many good photographers nowadays it’s nearly impossible to sell prints and I hate the editing side of it so for now I’ll just enjoy it as a hobby.

Tip for photographers/birders, there is a free app called Merlin that is wonderful for birders. Not only does it have bird ID but also lists every birds songs which help shorten the learning curve. One of the real cool features is the ability to load a photo into it and the app will help ID the bird.

Nice pictures.

Very good pictures. The Warblers sure look the same but can see a slight difference. Nice work!

Just think Oh Snap you have ones coming over the top from USSR to deal with as well.

I have watched yellow warblers but I am going to look closer. Ill look the Russian one up.
Thanks

Birders and Photographers -

Real fine thread, folks. Through the years, I've been a pretty avid birder, and have done many thousands of hours of BBS (breeding bird surveys), banded tens of thousands of birds, and have worked with raptors (mainly eagles, peregrine falcons, and owls) off and on since 1971. With my advancing age (and driving a SuperCub for many decades), I realize that my auditory perception is, shall I say, a bit less than perfect. Admittedly, I'm nearly as deaf as a roadkill turkey vulture. Yes, it is frustrating that I can no longer hear the higher frequencies, so 100% of my current birding is by sight only. However, I can still poke fun at myself, and I certainly don't mind (actually, I encourage it) others poking fun at my disability.

Again, many thanks for the thread and the accompanying images. Like a lot of you, I sure miss Jonathan...

Jack