Spring Migration: Finally!!!

After what seemed to be an eternal winter, finally, spring is here, together with spring migration! No more winter clothes, ridiculous sock on my lens (look at earlier post) and being unemployed. I have found a job as an museum educator in the Sciencenter, which is really nice, but that means that I have less time to go birding (but enough of my boring personal life).  I have to admit that my first winter in Ithaca was kind of tuff, but I survived and that is all in the past and the birds are here, well for now at least...

Spring migration is awesome! Coming from Puerto Rico I am very use to only seeing warblers jump around silently, only doing a little "chip" once in a while, and relying totally on my sight and making sounds to be able to see them. Here in Ithaca where there are many species of warblers that either stop here for a short period of time or breed, and the woods are full of songs. This definitely makes finding them much more easy, though taking pictures of them is still challenging, thanks to their very active behavior. This has also forced me to learn the songs of all these warblers and many other species that I didn't have to worry about before. This has proved to be a very challenging task, since they are so many and they sing so similar, but I will eventually get it and I am sure it will enhance my birding and photographic experience. Here are a few pictures different species singing.


Wood Thrush (Hylocichla mustelina)


Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis)


Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia)


Cerulean Warbler (Dendroica cerulea)

Some warblers I've seen in Puerto Rico look nicer in Ithaca also, since here they have their breeding plumage, this also makes it easier to identify them. So far I've seen around 25 species! Here are a few pictures of them. My favorites so far are the Cerulean Warbler, Bay-breasted Warbler, Canada Warbler and the Blackburnian Warbler which I am Dying to take a picture of but he doesn't come down from the tree canopies!


Canada Warbler (Wilsonia canadensis)


Cerulean Warbler (Dendroica cerulea)


Cerulean Warbler (Dendroica cerulea)

In conclusion, the long wait was definitely worth it! 


You can find some more warbler and other bird photos from Ithaca and Puerto Rico on my flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/puertoricanwildlifephotography/


Enjoy!