In Search of Northern Michigan Warblers

June is the busy nesting month and I made several trips shooting at various locations beginning at the Jordan River Valley and ending at Whitefish point. The Jordan River Valley has been a favorite of mine for warblers.  I have seen hybrids of the Blue-wing Warbler and Golden-wing Warbler in this area for the last two years.

The Blue-winged Warbler on the left is more common in the southern third of the state while the Golden-winged Warbler  is more common in the north.  They commonly hybridize. The Blue-winged Warbler, however, seems to be moving into and replacing Golden-winged warblers in many parts of its range.  There are two well-known hybrids from these species (Brewster's and Lawrence's), but the hybrid below (a photograph I took last year) is neither of these.

It appears most similar to a Blue-winged but with golden wing patches and a partial black cheek patch.  This image was published in the January-March 2010 issue of "Michigan Birds and Natural History".  I observed a similar bird again this year but was not able to photograph it.

Another warbler found in the Jordan River Valley is the Canada Warbler.  I was alway intrigued by its "necklace".  Whenever I find this bird I know that I should drench myself in DEET since it always seems to be in wet, mosquito-filled areas.  I found several singing males with two of them being very cooperative.

Two more common warblers photographed here were the Blackburnian Warbler

 and the Black and White Warbler

Two relatively large warblers which like to stay out of sight in thick vegatation are the Mourning Warbler and Connecticut Warbler.  Both of these "skulkers" can be found in Michigan but the Mourning is much more common.  The Jordan River Valley has an abundance of these.

In contrast, the Connecticut Warbler (below) is quite difficult to locate although the Trout Lake area in the U.P. seems to be the most reliable place to see them.  Note the eye-ring which separates it from the similar Mourning Warbler

The Kirtland's Warbler has been one of Michigan's rarest birds.  The first census in 1952 counted only 432 singing males-all in the Lower Peninsula.  This total dropped to only 167 birds in 1987.  A concerted effort to aid this species has resulted in a steady climb with the results of the 2009 census producing 1826 total singing males with the appearance of a few males in the  U.P, Wisconsin, and Ontario.  Michigan can no longer claim that it is the only state in which this bird breeds. I photographed this singing male near Whitefish Point on June 15.