Spring is the time of year when billions of birds around the world are on the move, travelling north to find good eats and nesting spots for summer.
Hector and I decided to go to Rock Creek Park, which is one of our favorite birding spots in the city. We were very quiet on our walk, hoping to see birds, not scare them away.
Well, we were as quiet as we ever are. Hector would be the first to admit that he is a pretty chatty giraffe! And guess what? We must have been pretty stealthy indeed because we saw a yellow warbler!
Yellow warblers are bright yellow, which makes them easier to see than many birds are, but we still felt very lucky to have found one.
“Do you think this little guy is looking for a good nesting spot or do you think he is just resting before he flies further north?” I asked Hector as we watched the bird eat an insect.
“This seems like a good spot to me,” Hector whispered. “It’s near the creek, there are a gazillion trees to build a nest in, there’s a great view of Boulder Bridge, and there sure are a lot of bugs to eat,” Hector huffed his breath in an attempt to shoo some tiny bug away from his face. “What more could a yellow warbler want?” Hector grinned at me. “Where is this bird coming from, do you know?”
“Somewhere in Central America, I think,” I answered, remembering to keep my voice to a very low whisper so we wouldn’t scare the yellow bird away. “He may have even flown here all the way from South America. Isn’t that amazing?”
“It is. I can’t imagine how such teeny birds are able to fly such long distances. It doesn’t seem like it should be possible,” Hector said in his regular speaking voice, forgetting to keep quiet.
Alas.
The yellow warbler was startled by the noise and flew away. But we hope to see him again very soon. I’ll let you know if we do!
XOXO,
Bernice
Capital Giraffe - adventures of a washingtonian 
3 responses to “On the Move”
Hi, Bernice. Interesting information about the yellow warbler. Nature is pretty remarkable. Glad birds like worms and caterpillars and things! Not our taste, eh? So great that we have Rock Creek Park to roam through. I read somewhere that it is some 1700 acres making it one of the largest urban parks in the U.S. As you note it is a major migration route of birds through our area. Interested to know if you saw any concentrations of warblers after you saw the one. The forests in the park apparently are known to attract large numbers of the migrating warblers this time of year. May take Mom tomorrow morning and see if we can see warblers ourselves along the West Ridge. Understand we might see some owls, hawks Pileated Woodpeckers and songbirds along our walk as well.
Tell Hector not to worry about scaring off the warbler. We giraffes have got to do our thing. For Hector that seems to be talking!
We’re thinking of visiting NuNu by her pool this afternoon. Stop by if you can.
Love,
Dad
LikeLike
Hi Bernice!
I love your blog posts! We looked at the warbler’s estimated arrival date here in our area, and it looks like we should really keep our eye out in late April and early May – and that means right now!!! How exciting, especially because I had JUST said to my Mommy, “I wish I could see a warbler!” And then we saw that map – my Mommy called it a heat map?? – and now we know we might get lucky and find one. I’m home sick today, but as soon as I’m better, maybe I can talk my Mommy into a hike in the woods to look for more warblers. Wish me luck!
Tell NuNu to enjoy her time with your Mommy and Daddy – I hope you can stop by and cool off, too.
Love,
E
LikeLike
I’m sorry I scared the warbler off 😦 I’ll be more careful next time!
LikeLike