Spring Migration 2015 Tapers Off

Posted by Chris Cunningham

And I, what fountain of fire am I among
This leaping combustion of spring? My spirit is tossed
About like a shadow buffeted in the throng
Of flames, a shadow that’s gone astray, and is lost.

—Enkindled Spring, D.H. Lawrence

Singing Golden Swamp Warbler, Brazos Bend State Park, Texas
Tsveet tsveet tsveet . . . Singing Male Golden Swamp Warbler, Brazos Bend State Park, Texas. This fellow is nesting in Nest Box 24. Canon EOS 7D/600mm f/4L IS (+1.4x TC). Natural light.

The primaveral combustion of brilliantly colored Neotropical migrant songbirds and shorebirds molting into breeding plumage is giving way to the vernal, thermal Texas combustion. But every spring migration is a bit different. It seems that we saw less than last year, and certainly far less than the previous one—but not for want of trying. And I’ve got the bites, scratches, and poison ivy blisters to prove it.

Immature Male Summer Tanager, Lafitte's Cove, Galveston Island, Texas
Immature Male Summer Tanager, Lafitte’s Cove, Galveston Island, Texas. Canon EOS 7D/600mm f/4L IS (+1.4x TC). High-speed synchronized fill-flash.

This was the year of seeing Tanagers (Summer and Scarlet), Eastern Wood-pewees, and Bay-breasted Warblers. Of the Pewees, we heard even more than we saw. Everywhere we went in April and May the pee-ah-wee or wee-ooo could be heard. But luck would have it that we saw far fewer warblers and other songbirds than usual—no swarms of Hooded, Yellow, or Magnolia Warblers, just the odd bird here and there poking around in the woods.

Eastern Wood-pewee at Lafitte's Cove, Galveston Island, Texas
Eastern Wood-pewee at Lafitte’s Cove, Galveston Island, Texas. Many flycatchers are like peas in a pod, but Eastern Wood-pewees can be identified by their weak, partial posterior eye-ring, two weak wing bars, and yellow lower beak. Eastern Canon EOS 7D/600mm f/4L IS (+1.4x TC). High-speed synchronized fill-flash.

So, as the migration tapers off, it’s time to transition into summer birding mode. My time and mind will soon be filled by planning for the upcoming big birding trips (Yea, mountains!) and stalking waders around the swamps and marshes as they hunt and fish their way through the broiling Texas summer.

Short-billed Dowitcher, East Beach, Galveston Island, Texas
Short-billed Dowitcher, East Beach, Galveston Island, Texas. Short-billed Dowitchers winter along the Texas Gulf Coast and breed across Canada and Alaska at the latitude of Hudson Bay. Short-billed Dowitchers and Long-billed Dowitchers are very hard to tell apart. In breeding plumage, Short-bills are orangish and Long-bills are brick-reddish, but light can play tricks. I always measure the proportions of the bird’s head in my images to be sure. Canon EOS 7D/600mm f/4L IS (+1.4x TC). Natural light.

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