Yellow-breasted Chat

Last Sunday I decided to drive to a local natural area where in the past I have often seen Yellow-breasted Chats. As we arrived at this natural area, there was the Yellow-breasted Chat sitting on a very unnatural wire. I pulled out my long lens and fired off a couple of shots, then waited as he flew into a group of small trees. I was able to click off a few more shots. I commented to my wife on the way home that this bird really doesn't resemble the rest of the wood-warblers. She then pulled out a bird guide which stated that the Yellow-breasted Chat is the largest of the warblers, has an unusual call comparatively, sometimes sits on a wire, and has the bill of a tanager. Despite constant speculation about its' taxonomic relationships, all evidence points to it being simply a large and unusual wood-warbler.

More Warblers

More pictures of warblers taken at Crane Creek. The bottom two are a male and female Black-throated Blue warblers. The male is the more colorful. The top two are American Redstarts the top one being an immature male.

Warblers

I have had a very good year birding so far. It started with Sanibel Island, FL in January, then the end of February and first of March in Texas, loads of action in my own back yard, and a couple of weeks ago, northern Ohio on Lake Erie. There is a spot on the shore of Lake Erie where the migrating birds stop for a breather and some fuel. The petite warblers wait for a strong southerly wind to help carry them across the great lake to Canada. This place is no secret because it is swamped with not only migrating birds but also with birders and bird photographers. This extraordinary place is Crane Creek/Magee Marsh and is about 50 miles or so east of Toledo, Ohio. There are several species of birds there but I was mostly intrigued by the warblers. We saw 27 species in two days and some close enough you didn't need to use binoculars to view them. We saw our first Cerulean Warbler, a female, which is the bottom photo. I overheard Jon Dunn, a well-known bird guide author, say that the Cerulean was his favorite bird. The middle photo is a Magnolia Warbler and the top photo is a Bay-breasted Warbler. I was able to photograph a nice variety of warblers. I will post them very soon.