Bay-breasted Warbler - Paruline à poitrine baie
The fall migration was much richer in variety here in Ottawa than the spring, northbound migration had been. Weather conditions and other factors shape these things, and we are excited when there is a lot of activity and variety - so the spring was a bit bleak (pandemic influence was a factor for sure) and the fall picked up a lot of spirits among birders.
I was able to get out fairly often, and was introduced to the subtleties and challenges of post-breeding colours and challenging identifications. Since I began using a camera for the birding purpose of post-sighting identification I returned to my roots, in a way, especially with the Bay-breasted/Blackpoll nuances. I had never seen either bird in the fall, or in Ottawa (at least to my knowledge) and the differences in the field can be a bit tricky. This bird retained some traces of colour on its flanks and was a lot easier than some of the other birds, and once I learned to start with the feet (not always a guarantee, but Blackpolls tend to have yellow/orange feet) I was getting better with each outing.
While it is true that the fall birds can seem somehow faded, they are quite beautiful in their own right. My friend and mentor Paul Jones, who helped me a lot in figuring some of the field marks out, speaks very energetically about the beauty of the subtler plumage and the very active fall helped me to see some of the range of that beauty.
Bay-breasted Warbler - Paruline à poitrine baie
The fall migration was much richer in variety here in Ottawa than the spring, northbound migration had been. Weather conditions and other factors shape these things, and we are excited when there is a lot of activity and variety - so the spring was a bit bleak (pandemic influence was a factor for sure) and the fall picked up a lot of spirits among birders.
I was able to get out fairly often, and was introduced to the subtleties and challenges of post-breeding colours and challenging identifications. Since I began using a camera for the birding purpose of post-sighting identification I returned to my roots, in a way, especially with the Bay-breasted/Blackpoll nuances. I had never seen either bird in the fall, or in Ottawa (at least to my knowledge) and the differences in the field can be a bit tricky. This bird retained some traces of colour on its flanks and was a lot easier than some of the other birds, and once I learned to start with the feet (not always a guarantee, but Blackpolls tend to have yellow/orange feet) I was getting better with each outing.
While it is true that the fall birds can seem somehow faded, they are quite beautiful in their own right. My friend and mentor Paul Jones, who helped me a lot in figuring some of the field marks out, speaks very energetically about the beauty of the subtler plumage and the very active fall helped me to see some of the range of that beauty.