In fall season Blue-winged warblers look much as they do in spring but their beaks are lighter in color in the fall. Blue-winged warblers are difficult to age and sex with the brightest birds being adult males and the dullest first fall females. I think the most reliable way to sex/age this species in any season is to look at the crown and how much contrast its color has with the olive on the back. The biggest contrast between these areas is found in the adult male which is the lower bird in this composite. The least amount of contrast between these areas is found in the first fall female which is on the upper right. Look how olive her crown is being essentially the same color as her back and she has just a very narrow brighter yellow strip on the forehead that wraps around above the eye. Intermediate between these two is the fall adult female/first fall male which appear similar and is represented by the bird on the upper left. The black eye-line is another field mark to look at when attempting to age/sex this species but due to lighting it is a more difficult field mark to go by. In summary the black eye-line would be darkest in the adult male and lightest in the first fall female. Wing bars are not very reliable when trying to age/sex this species but first fall females tend to have much scantier wingbars. There is a lot of variablity in wing bar prominence otherwise in this species. So it is my opinion that one should look at the crown and how it contrasts with the olive back when attempting to age/sex this species.

All three images used in this composite were taken in the Georgia mountains. The first fall female is from fall 2019 and the other two from this fall migration.

Also of note is how pale yellow the first fall female is compared to the other plumages of this species. Finally many first fall warblers have more tapered and pointed tail feathers than adult birds which is sometimes captured on images but near impossible to see in the field.

Tags:   Blue-winged warbler fall Blue-winged warbler Georgia fall migration Blue-winged warbler composite fall Blue-winged warbler composite Georgia mountains hese Love when

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This species just started to come to feeders about the time of my Bog visit. I saw flocks of 50+ foraging in the grit along the snow-covered roads. Sax Zim Bog, Minnesota.

Tags:   Common Redpoll Sax Zim Bog Minnesota conifer snow winter polar vortex 2019 Redpoll finch winter finch boreal

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When we get into the 2nd half of September many empids are migrating thru our area. This one which breeds no where near our area seems to be the crowd favorite. It was foraging low at the edge of thick woods, taking small grapes and insects. I heard it's turee call but once.

Johnson Ferry South. Atlanta area. 9/16/2017.

Tags:   flycatcher yellow-bellied flycatcher turee johnson ferry south fall migration empid fall empid foraging low insects and small grapes 9/16/2017

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Cape Breton National Park. Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. I located this singing jewel along the dirt road leading to the famous Skyline hiking trail. 7/3/2017.

Just back from a vacation that my wife and I took to the Canadian Maritime provinces of PEI, and Nova Scotia. I snuck in a couple early morning warbler photography outings. Since bird photography was not the trip focus I didn't take my Canon gear due to the weight and not wanting to lug it everywhere. I had my much smaller and lighter Sony 300 with a 2X Teleconverter, which led to some diminution in sharpness especially at higher ISOs. It also was slower focusing than my Canon gear with 600 prime. Thankfully I brought my tripod and Wimberley head which probably helped save the day.

I had two simple avian photography goals for the trip which included finding and photographing both this bird and a Blackpo11 warbler in breeding habitat. Finding this bird proved easier than I expected, and what I've learned with other warbler species applied well to my short time with this bird. I had to work much harder to get my Blackpo11, but once I found it, it also proved relatively easy to work with. My sole regret was not having my Canon gear including my 600.

Will be catching up on Flickr!

Tags:   bay-breasted warbler singing bay-breasted warbler Cape Breton National Park spruce 2017easternwarblerbucketlistset Nova Scotia Nova Scotia Canada warbler in song warbler and conifer

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Hooded warbler singing on redbud. Everything came together nicely 4/8/2017 for this shoot. The redbuds are pretty much done blooming here in this part of Georgia, so I was fortunate to have one. This species is just arriving here now and this was the only one I happened upon, so to put the two together was exceedingly special.

Tags:   hooded warbler hooded warbler on redbud hooded warbler in song warbler in song Pine Log WMA White GA 4/8/2017 redbud warbler warbler and blooms 2017easternwarblerbucketlistset

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