My Blackpoll Warbler is Back!
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May 5, 2010 | by Kevin Loughlin
This morning I was awakened by the plaintive tse-tse-tse-tse-tse of a Blackpoll warbler high in the maple trees in my front yard — after a clear night, on which migrants most likely moved in large numbers. Last year was the first time I had heard or seen a Blackpoll in my suburban yard, so I am happy to have him back!
Appropriately, the Beginning Birding class I am teaching for the Main Line School Nights (MLSN) starts today and hearing this bird was a nice reminder of the importance of learning birdsong.
Birdsong isn’t easy to learn but there is a method. I am a huge fan of Dick Walton’s Peterson CDs… Birding by Ear and More Birding by Ear. In these CDs he breaks down birdsong and compares similar songs adding ‘handles’ and using pneumonics. I just ordered another instructional birdsong CD and will review it in the future.
If you missed out on joining our MLSN class this spring, I am sure I will be teaching it again next spring. OR we also have a Beginning Birding Workshop in the Poconos on May 23 – 25 that still has space available!