Maybe you get your kicks out of ball room dancing or bungee jumping
off bridges. Who knows – maybe you prefer dinner at Maloney and Porchelli’s
followed by a night of Les Mes. Still others are just as happy melting
blobuless in the coach watching Rueben Studdard belt out Motown in his
quest to become next American Idol. Myself, I favor getting high.
I’m not referring to the high one gets from snorting crystal meth laced
with opiated hashish oils. I’m referring to the high one finds from
being perched in the canopy of a deciduous forest on a boom lift in
May watching the leaves come alive with winged jewels. No other place
would I rather be. It’s a spectacle that happens in any back yard that
is laced with oaks, hickories and maples that at the time of “leaf-out”
correlate with the hatching of geometrid caterpillars, (inch worms to
most of us) which become the impetus for my elevated pleasure as well
as food for fodder for neotropical songbirds.
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| Red-eyed Vireo |
I rented a 60 foot boom lift machine this May for one week (boy did
I wish I had it for a month – too much green) where I spent the first
hours of light photographing warblers, vireos and orioles in their playground.
I witnessed the foraging habits of many species close-up and personal
that in past times I only caught a fleeting glimpse and a sore neck.
As a wildlife photographer the challenges were many. For instance the
arm of the boom that I was attached too was inclined to wobble with
any shift of body movement I made to position myself for a shot. Following
a bird with a long lens through the labyrinth of leaves was also a challenge.
Most of the birds I observed seemed to have an aversion to sun light
and stayed within the shady portions of the canopy, further exacerbating
by endeavor.
The picture of the Chestnut-sided warbler above was only possible because
the bird had taken a break during his busy foraging schedule to rest
for all of three minutes just long enough for me to grab a few frames.
The fact that a leaf or a branch was not in the way of me and the bird
was a small miracle.
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| Yours truly in boom |
I was amazed by the variety of species I bore witness to in my backyard
canopy and equally amazed at the frequency in which they appeared and
disappeared. At times I thought I would fall asleep waiting for activity
and than as if blown in by the wind a mixed flock of five different
species would appear. Ornithologists will tell you that during migration
mixed flock conglomerates of wood warblers (family dendroica) are a
common occurrence.
The bird I saw the most of in the tree tops was the red-eyed vireo (Vireo
olivaceus). More often heard than seen this bird whose nickname, the
preacher I found to aptly named. “Who is it? Is that you? You know it.
Who sees it? And on and on to the point where I said aloud “shut up
already and sit still so I can take your flippin picture”. This bird
avoids the light like a vampire avoids a garlic clove. The picture you
see here was of a male bathed in natural light.
Another warbler who made his presence known every time I was canopy
searching was the common yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas). I call this
species my buddy because it always seems to be following me wherever
I travel. For unlike most warblers who confine their foraging to specific
sub-divisions of habitat the yellowthroat has claimed it all.
I’ve seen these birds glean gall wasps from the canopy and gnats from
stream sides and everything in between –forest floors, in shrubs, and
open marsh. This masked bandit is hell-bent on insect consumption and
doesn’t give a flying fish for the where, what’s and the how’s. Yellowthroats
are indeed the blue-collared workers of the warbling world.
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| Chestnut sided Warbler |
Yes indeed the canopy is the place to be in May!
Happy naturalizing this spring to all my friends and colleagues!
Warbler factoid - Confined to the Western Hemisphere this guild
of passerines is actively measuring the barometric pressure of environmental
health. Unfortunately they are not forecasting good things these days.
Habitat fragmentation, rain forest destruction, feral cat predation,
collisions with man-made structures and cow bird parasitism has all
played hell on this group of precious birds and at the same time warning
us that the race to the finish line is drawing near.
Common Yellow throat
Baltimore Oriole – 67’ in the top of a Pin Oak