This Azalea is in bloom in June in the same Georgia mountain area that this species breeds. You can tell this is a late breeding season image from the beak coloring. The mandible has already begun to lighten in color. Very few of this species can still be found singing this time of the season in Georgia increasing the difficulty of achieving this image.
Tags: blackburnian warbler Flame Azalea Azalea Native Azalea georgia mountain breeder georgia mountains
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Note the plumage similarities with my previous post of a fall female Cerulean--the supercilium (wide pale stripe above the eye), the prominent auricular (cheek patch) patch, the wing bars, and the lighter color below. These plumages can be confused in the field especially with so so views and lighting. The dorsal (back) streaking will never be present in the female Cerulean but back views of these canopy species are not often seen well. I've read about how the auricular patch is "rounded off" in the Blackburnian as opposed to Cerulean but as can be seen above I've found that NOT to be the case in many instances in female Blackburnians. The tail is longer in the Blackburnian with a very short extension of the tail beyond the under tail coverts in the Cerulean. The female Cerulean has more olive tones and the Blackburnian has more brownish tones but with certain lighting this can be difficult to appreciate. Most Ceruleans have migrated to the South by early September whereas Blackburnians can be be found early and late in migration. Much care must be taken in the identification of female type Ceruleans as many if not most of these especially late in the season will be Blackburnians.
Tags: blackburnian warbler fall migration confusing fall warbler kennesaw mountain kennesaw mountain birds
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Note the plumage similarities with my previous post of a fall female Cerulean--the supercilium (wide pale stripe above the eye), the prominent auricular (cheek patch) patch, the wing bars, and the lighter color below. These plumages can be confused in the field especially with so so views and lighting. The dorsal (back) streaking will never be present in the female Cerulean but back views of these canopy species are not often seen well. I've read about how the auricular patch is "rounded off" in the Blackburnian as opposed to Cerulean but as can be seen above I've found that NOT to be the case in many instances in female Blackburnians. The tail is longer in the Blackburnian with a very short extension of the tail beyond the under tail coverts in the Cerulean. The female Cerulean has more olive tones and the Blackburnian has more brownish tones but with certain lighting this can be difficult to appreciate.
Tags: blackburnian warbler fall migration confusing fall warblers Georgia kennesaw mountain
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Upper Peninsula. It was fun to use a larch as a perch for several different warbler species in the boreal forest near Lake Superior.
Tags: Blackburnian Warbler Michigan conifer Larch Spring Warbler Whisperer boreal forest
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Early May is the time I visit a section of the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina along with some of the roads that veer off the parkway to lower elevations. This visit it was on the cold side the first two days with a lot of wind at elevation but there was sun. Those conditions limited where I could shoot the first two days as I had not only to find the target birds but find them in areas sheltered from the wind. The roads that veer off the parkway to lower elevation helped a lot. This image is from the third day (5/4) where conditions were much better at altitude and I was able to accomplish quite a bit in just a few hours. My first stop 5/4 was an area that is generally very good for Canada Warb1er but had been too windy the first two days to even stop there. I heard one singing at both adjacent locations and determined I would double back to them a bit later in the morning as the area was still going to be in shade for another 90 minutes or so. Then it was on to find a Blackburnian with the goal to photograph it on a conifer in the great morning light. I knew the stretch of road where this should be possible and soon found the right light on a conifer where I could pull off and where I could safely shoot using that great light. I heard him singing above and thankfully he was easy to work with and he was on the intended perch quickly. Within minutes I was backtracking towards the Canada Warblers.
With the dark background and the bright orange bird a common mistake is to blow out the orange-overexposing it. Notice in my settings I was shooting -2 EV. These settings also made the background darker and in my opinion helps the bird pop even more against that background.
Tags: Southern Appalachia WarblerWhisperer LLC North Carolina Blue Ridge Parkway Red Spruce singing Blackburnian warbler
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