Each fall I face the same dilemma—I see the photos of other photographers indicating that migrating warblers are present in our area, but I have trouble spotting these elusive little birds. Part of the problem is that leaves are still mostly on the trees and I can often hear birds that remain invisible in the foliage. The other main problem is that many birds are now sporting their duller fall plumage, so they do not stand out as much as during the spring migration, when their breeding plumage is much brighter.
Given my normal experience, I was thrilled to spot several Palm Warblers (Setophaga palmarum) and Yellow-rumped Warblers (Setophaga coronata) during visits to Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge earlier this week. The birds in the first two photos, I believe, are Palm Warblers, a relatively common warbler species that likes to poke around a lot on the ground.
The final two photos show Yellow-rumped Warblers, which are the most common warbler species in my area. In both of the photos you can see the yellow patch of feathers on the “rump” of the bird.
In a month or so I may switch over to my longest lens, a Tamron 150-600mm zoom lens, which will allow me to zoom in a little more on these tiny birds, but for now I am sticking with my Tamron 18-400mm lens, a more versatile lens that lets me get photos of butterflies and dragonflies as well as of birds. (The problem with the longer lens is that it has a minimum focusing distance of almost 9 feet (2.7 meters) and it is sometimes hard to focus on small subjects from that far away.)
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
You spotted them nicely! I had the same difficulty on a walk recently. Good eye! Such patience.
Thanks, Molly. I often say that patience and persistence are often more important than skill in capturing wildlife photos.
Lovely photos. I’ve only managed to snag a photo of the yellow-rumped, partly because they’ll appear in roadside foliage at the refuges, where they’re more visible than in the trees. Myrtle warblers apparently are quite common, but while the birds are standing around and pointing, saying, “There. There!” I rarely catch a glimpse of them among the leaves.
Thanks. Many of the warblers are with us for only a short time as they migrate southward, but Yellow-rumped Warblers stay with us for several months, so I have a decent chance of getting shots of them.
Lovely handling of the light in these photos.
Thanks, Laura. Photographing birds in the filtered and mixed light of a tree with leaves is a challenge and sometimes I have to make adjustments after the fact to lighten the shadows and/or darken the highlights to bring out the details in these little birds.
Nice set, Mike. These fellows do know how to stay undercover, good for their longevity I expect.