The Nature of Things

Fall migration is beginning to wind down a bit, but almost every day, I still see birds passing through on their way farther south for the winter. My tiny backyard fountain continues to be a magnet to those birds. It's a popular stopover, especially for warblers.  Just within the last few days we've had Wilson's Warblers , Black-throated Greens , and Tennessee Warblers . Like this Tennessee Warbler, they all look the fountain over very carefully before dipping in to take a sip or to have a luxurious bath.  

The fall migration of songbirds continues. I find that one of the most popular stops for these birds as they pass through my backyard is the little fountain that gurgles and splashes there. I think it is the sound of the moving water that attracts them and they often drop in to take a bath or to have a sip of water. No one seems to enjoy the water more than warblers. Since we installed the fountain a few years ago, I've often observed warblers of several kinds making stops here on their way south in the fall or north in the spring. I usually see Wilson's Warblers passing through during both migration seasons, so I wasn't really surprised to see one drop down from the trees to investigate the fountain this morning.    Wilson's Warblers are tiny, very active birds. This one was constantly in motion as he took the grand tour of the fountain, frequently stopping to take a sip and sometimes splashing in the water. Unfortunately, his "baths" were so quick that I wa...

This is one of the two most exciting times of the year for birders. The first, of course, is spring migration when wave after wave of bright and noisy songbird migrants pass through on their way north to their nesting grounds. The second is fall migration which is a much quieter affair. Fall migrants do not bear the bright colorful feathers that they wore in spring when they were ready to attract mates and get on with nesting. Moreover, they are much more silent for the same reason. They are not looking for a mate; they are looking to safely get to their winter homes. They are entirely focused on that goal. The result is that, unless one is out specifically looking for the birds, thousands can easily pass through unnoticed in a matter of days. Most of the fall migrants pass through relatively quickly. They don't tarry with us for long. Hummingbirds are something of an exception to this rule. They may stick around for days or even weeks while they fatten up to ready themselves for t...

The autumn retreat of the wood warblers through my yard continues, much to my delight. The latest one to pass through - at least the latest one that stopped to introduce itself - was this lovely little bird. At first glance, I thought I was seeing a Townsend's Warbler , which I've had passing through the yard before. But then I noticed something different about the bird and when I uploaded my pictures and looked at them it was even more obvious. Can you see that faint yellow wash across the vent area? That is diagnostic of the Black-throated Green Warbler , a bird that is very similar to the Townsend's. The Black-throated Green is actually the more common of the two, but I had never seen one in the yard before. No doubt they had been here, as I am sure have many other birds that I haven't observed, but this was the species' first "official" visit. It was number 111 on my yard list. Like all the warblers I have seen in my yard recently, this one was attract...

For the last couple of weeks, there has been a series of migrating warblers passing through my yard. They don't usually announce themselves. Fall migration is like a silent retreating army, with not a lot of singing like we hear in the spring. When it comes to the fall warblers, they are mostly an army dressed in olive drab. Gone are the bright colors of spring and summer. These birds are not interested in calling attention to themselves. For those two reasons - lack of singing and absence of bright colors - the visitors can be easily overlooked as they busily search the leaves for insects, unless one is making a special effort to look for them. But I've been lucky enough to see several of the little birds recently because I have a secret weapon - water. I have a small fountain in my backyard and it gurgles and splashes with water and that is a magnet to the birds, especially to the warblers. Every one that I have seen recently has been visiting that fountain. And so it was aga...