By Mary Jewett

Guest Columnist

I have always said that spring is my favorite season. Not just for the warming temperatures and increased daylight, but mostly for the birds. Hummingbirds, hawks, sparrows, herons, shorebirds, sparrows and so many others travel thousands of miles from their winter homes north to their breeding grounds. Many stop right here, finding mates and raising young in our community. More continue as far as the Arctic Circle to find the perfect spot. Needless to say, May is the favorite month for many birders in the Northeast, but that might be changing for me.

As a bird nerd, fall is growing on me. Maybe it is due to my involvement with the Maine Breeding Bird Atlas, since I am tracking the development of youngsters in our area. Or it could be that I’m just paying closer attention this year, being home more because of the virus, but either way, I am seeing and hearing a lot more birds this fall.

Just the other day, I heard something that made me smile, and prompted a question. While walking in the woods, I heard a blue-headed vireo singing high in the canopy, which had me pausing in puzzlement for a minute. While we have had an exceptionally warm and sunny spring, I don’t think the birds could be convinced that it is spring again. But now that I’m listening as well as looking, I’m hearing not only vireos but sparrows, catbirds, towhees and other migratory species. Since song is used for mating and defending territory, I’m not sure why they are vocalizing, since they are just passing through. I love a mystery and I’m looking forward to researching this one.

My favorite birds to look for, in both spring and fall, are the warblers. Some folks like doing hawk watches, and while those big birds are easy to see, the little birds hold a special place in my heart. Over two dozen warbler species come to, or through, Maine to breed. As a group, the warblers vary widely in color, from the yellow and black of the magnolia, to the stark blue, black and white of the black-throated blue warbler. The beautiful colors belong to the male birds, females sporting more drab feathers and remaining mostly silent. So far, I haven’t been hearing any warbler songs this fall, but I am keeping my ears open.

This time of year, migratory birds of all types are working hard to fatten up for their journey to their winter homes. The warmer weather is working in their favor by extending the presence of bugs, like caterpillars and flies, which will help our birds gain weight for their flights south. While it’s fun to watch the small birds flitting around, going after insects, it also makes them devilishly difficult to photograph. I was very lucky recently to get shots of a juvenile blackburnian warbler who had stopped to look for bugs on a spruce tree near my home in Lovell.  When warblers move through in the fall, they can be difficult to identify as they don’t sport their breeding plumage this time of year. Next spring, I will get you all a photo of a blackburnian warbler in full breeding plumage, they are truly spectacular.

This fall’s warbler encounter reminded of an experience I had on a trip to Ecuador last year. I was sitting in a bird blind, where I had been since before dawn, when I saw a somewhat familiar bird. The color wasn’t quite as vibrant as the breeding males we see here, but the markings were unmistakably those of a blackburnian warbler. I was able to get some photos and had a moment to sit and think about this bird. Maybe, he will make the 3,000-mile slog up to Maine to find a mate. And now, I’m thinking that maybe the one I saw in Ecuador might be the father of this juvenile I saw right at home in Maine. Now, I’m not a math person, but with a global population of about 10 million, it’s not very likely. But it is still neat to ponder our potential connections.