Northern Parula (warbler)

6 October 2014. Cayuga ON. I thought for a while that today’s Birds of the Day would be a pair of Turkey Vultures seen high on the stark limbs of a dead oak, waiting for flight conditions to improve. They were quite picturesque in a funereal sort of way and since the day started blustery with rain threatening they seemed to complete the picture; but then the sun came out.

And with the sun came loads of interesting, mostly migrant, birds. Before setting out on the daily census we had seen Tennessee, Cape May and Magnolia Warblers. The census got off to a good start with a Sharp-shinned Hawk trying to brush off a pestering American Crow. Soon after that, I found myself close to a busy group of White-throated Sparrows who were being watched by a couple of Gray Catbirds in much the same way that long-term residents might keep an eye on an erratic family moving in next door. An Eastern Phoebe, a Cape May Warbler, a Brown Creeper and a Black-throated Green Warbler all made me pleased to be out in the woods on this (now) bright and gusty day.

A number of times during the census I seemed to be enveloped in a wave of small birds. I could hear tiny, high frequency pips and tseeps, my eyes were drawn to quick movements, many of which turned out to be falling leaves, but I had the greatest trouble really identifying what I was seeing – if I could see it. Too often it was a vanishing glimpse or a half view, although half views can sometimes be interpreted later from a decent photo. And it was while trying for such a photo that I found myself with a surprise Bird of the Day. I was hoping to get enough information to identify this bird.

Which I now think it was a Golden-crowned Kinglet. But in my scramble to get a quick snapshot, I got this instead, a Northern Parula.

Birders get excited about parulas.  It’s not that they’re particularly rare, but that they are a standout among a family of generally beautiful little birds. A male in spring, like the one below, taken in Cape May last spring, presents with an almost alarming coat of many colours: slate-blue, black, white, orange and an intense chestnut; so striking! Today’s bird was not as eye-popping though, but it nevertheless surprised and heart-warmed me.