August 28, 2016. Shoreacres Park, Burlington, ON. One of the things that birders get to understand and even anticipate is the waves of migrant movements. We expect spring’s Baltimore Orioles to arrive in the first week of May, Whimbrels around May 24th and the departure of Yellow Warblers by August 15th; plus or minus.
I was out this morning just to see what might be hanging around one of our leafier parks. Earlier this week it had been very busy with countless here-today-gone-tomorrow migrants, but not today. Oh, there were a few: American Redstarts, a much photographed Yellow-billed Cuckoo and a young Gray Catbird pestering its parent, but best of all lots of Warbling Vireos.
Many would think the Yellow-billed Cuckoo must surely be my Bird of the Day, but it was way too high to really enjoy and I got more pleasure listening to the Warbling Vireo’s cascading, throwaway song. Lasting two or three seconds, it’s a lazy summer sound that drifts endlessly in the urban forest canopy, a counterpoint to the electric buzz of cicadas.
Regular readers of this will remember that I have a soft spot for all vireo species. They are rarely flashy, usually unassuming and faintly predatory. Of all of them the Warbling Vireo is the least boldly marked or colourful, it is overall a plain olive to beige, nothing eye-catching.
At the park this morning I could hear Warbling Vireos singing from every quarter, they were so numerous that I felt sure I was in the midst of a migratory wave. A check of a couple of references showed that they start their southward move in early August and are all gone (more or less) by mid September. Best to make the most of them now.
And as for cuckoos? See July 19th.