It was a cold lunch time walk around Garret Mountain today and it was tough to revert back to coat weather after such a mild week last week. On days like this, where you may have less overall bird movement, I like to find the select locations that hold birds and try to find a “bird story” to watch. With breeding activity and migration birds in food munchies mode, I like to take that opportunity to spend some time watching in one place (as opposed to attempting to cover as much ground as possible). If you can find a spot with high gnat/bug content, early green growth, or even a bathing area you can sometimes come across some fun stuff.
I knew the bugs on Wilson Ave and the White Pine trees there had been really good so far this year for Pine and Palm warblers with some of the higher bird activity in the park. I walked down the path, past the 2 Canadian Geese moms on nests, past a pair or Downy Woodpeckers mating and came across two foraging Pine Warblers. This is what I was looking for. I just parked and watched as they quietly went about gleaning insects and following each other around. Its easy to get lost in the motion and natural wonder of these little creatures going about their business. Sometimes simply finding a good spot to watch from can be the most rewarding!
Here are a couple pictures of the couple. You can go to my Flickr page to see all of the photos I uploaded.