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Posts Tagged ‘poison ivy berries’

Yellow-rumped Warblers

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on October 22, 2022| 4 Comments »

I almost never get an unobstructed view of a warbler. Most of the time I see them flitting about in the foliage, making it difficult to get a clear shot of one. If I am lucky, I manage to capture an image, like the final one, when the warbler pokes its head out of the brush for a moment.

Last Wednesday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, I was shocked and delighted when I was able to take a series of unobstructed shots of a Yellow-rumped Warbler (Setophaga coronata) as it was feeding on some poison ivy berries. The first three images shows some moments from that encounter.

As I look at these four images, I am strangely drawn most to the final one. Despite the clutter of the branches in that shot, the warbler stand out—the branches serve as a kind of frame for the central subject. Now I really do like the way that the first two images capture the action of the bird and the way the third shot provides the best view of the perching warbler, but someone the environmental shot appeals to me most this morning as I am composing this posting. What do you think?

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Yellow-rumped Warbler

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Slim pickings

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged , , , , , on January 12, 2022| 8 Comments »

Desperate times call for desperate measures. I am sure that this Yellow-rumped Warbler (Setophaga coronata) would have preferred to find the juicy insects on which it gorges during warmer weather, but they are off the menu for the season. Instead, like many other birds, this warbler has to settle for whatever berries it can find during the winter.

In this case, even the poison ivy berries seemed to be picked over, with only a few wizen berries remaining. The warbler had to work had to snag those berries, using all of its acrobatic prowess. Momentarily satisfied it moved on, hoping perhaps that the pickings would not be so slim at its next stop.

I am always shocked to see any warblers in the winter. Most warblers pass through our area during the spring and the autumn, but Yellow-rumped Warblers hang around for most of the winter. According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology website:

“Yellow-rumped Warblers are perhaps the most versatile foragers of all warblers. They’re the warbler you’re most likely to see fluttering out from a tree to catch a flying insect, and they’re also quick to switch over to eating berries in fall. Other places Yellow-rumped Warblers have been spotted foraging include picking at insects on washed-up seaweed at the beach, skimming insects from the surface of rivers and the ocean, picking them out of spiderwebs, and grabbing them off piles of manure.”

In addition to its versatility in foraging, the Yellow-rumped Warbler has an amazingly robust digestive system. “The Yellow-rumped Warbler is the only warbler able to digest the waxes found in bayberries and wax myrtles. Its ability to use these fruits allows it to winter farther north than other warblers, sometimes as far north as Newfoundland.”

We may complain about poison ivy when we encounter it during the summer, but its berries serve as an important food source for birds like this Yellow-rumped Warbler that help them to survive the winter. Are you willing to put up with some minor inconvenience for the sake of these beautiful little creatures with whom we share this planet?

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Yellow-rumped Warblers

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Don’t eat like a bird

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on November 6, 2021| 17 Comments »

Has anyone ever told you that you eat like a bird? This somewhat weird expression is based on the mistaken notion that birds don’t eat very much—many birds have high metabolisms and actually eat at lot, relative to their size.

Some birds also consume things that are hazardous to humans. This week at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge I have spotted multiple Yellow-rumped Warblers (Setophaga coronata) feasting on the abundant poison ivy berries. Poison ivy berries serve as an important food source for a variety of overwintering birds, including these warbler. One of the consequences of the consumption of all of these berries is that the seeds pass through the birds and are spread everywhere, guaranteeing future supplies of the poison ivy berries.

No matter how nutritious or tasty they are for the birds, there is no way that I am voluntarily going near poison ivy or tasting the berries. The berries may not kill me, but I am pretty sure they would make me really sick.

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Yellow-rumped Warbler

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

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Feasting on berries

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged , , , , , , on December 29, 2020| 12 Comments »

Homemade cranberry sauce made a wonderful complement to the turkey at the Christmas Day feast that I shared with the other two members of my “pod.” Many birds are also feasting on berries at this time of the year, though I cannot recommend that you taste the poison ivy berries that they are consuming.

Last week I spotted this White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis) at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge and watched as it picked berries one by one from a cluster of poison ivy and consumed them in place. Most of us do not like to have our photos taken while we are eating, but this pretty little sparrow was so focused on its feast that it did not seem to mind.

white-throated sparrow

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Happy warbler

Posted in Birds, Nature, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on December 2, 2020| 7 Comments »

This Yellow-rumped Warbler (Setophaga coronata) seemed to be celebrating the fact that it had snagged one of the few remaining poison ivy berries when I spotted him in mid-November at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. I decided not to crop this image too closely because I like the way that the autumn leaves and the gumtree seedpods provide a real sense of the environment in which I found this beautiful little bird.

Yellow-rumped Warbler

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Yellow-rumped Warblers

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on October 28, 2020| 8 Comments »

On Monday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge I spotted Yellow-rumped Warblers (Setophaga coronata) multiple times.  However, there is a huge difference between getting a glimpse and getting a shot of one of these hyperactive little birds, particularly when many of the trees still have their leaves.

I captured the first image when one of the warblers was feasting on clusters of poison ivy berries. I definitely was not complaining when he did not offer to share his “treats.” I was surprised to learn several years ago that these berries are a primary food source for a number of small birds during the winter months.

In the second image, I believe the warbler was getting ready to move to a new perch or may have just arrived at this one. In either case, I think it looks pretty cool to see the one wing partially extended.

The composition of the final photo is the simplest—it is just a shot of the perched warbler. However, I really like the way that some of the foliage shows through in the blurry background. You may have noted that the backgrounds are light-colored. On the day when I took these shots, the skies were completely overcast and appeared to be a solid white.

 

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Yellow-rumped Warbler

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Eye on the prize

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged , , , , , , on February 22, 2020| 12 Comments »

This Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Regulus calendula) had its eye on the prize, with the prize being a cluster of wizened poison ivy berries, yesterday morning at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. These tiny songbirds rely on seeds and fruits to make it through the winter.  I won’t be long, though, before they revert to a diet of primarily insects—I like to think of them as seasonal vegetarians.

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Kinglet and poison ivy

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , , on December 5, 2019| 7 Comments »

I was shocked the first time that a friend identified little white-colored berries like those in these photos as poison ivy berries. I had no idea that poison ivy plants produced berries and, upon learning that they did, I assumed they must be poisonous. I was both right and wrong. These little berries are definitely poisonous for humans, but they are an important food source for many birds during the winter. It is amazing to me how birds that eat almost exclusively bugs during the warm months can switch to a plant-based diet in the winter, but it helps to ensure their survivability.

Last week I spotted this Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Regulus calendula) as it poked about among several clusters of poison ivy berries. The kinglet was in constant motion and was mostly in the shadows, but I was able to capture these images. I like the way that you can see some of the details of the vines wrapped around the branches and the way that the distant branches provide some shadowy forms in the background.

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Berry happy

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on November 17, 2018| 3 Comments »

When I spotted a small bird hanging from a branch, I zoomed in with my telephoto lens and discovered that it was a Yellow-rumped Warbler (Setophaga coronata). I could also see that there were numerous clusters of poison ivy berries on the branch, so I waited to see if I could capture an image of the warbler grabbing a berry.

The warbler turned its head away from me when it pulled the berry from the cluster, but fortunately turned back in my direction with the berry still visible in its mouth. I was really happy to get the shot and the warbler seemed to be berry contented.

Yellow-rumped Warbler

yellow-rumped warbler

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Autumn Flicker

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on November 15, 2018| 7 Comments »

Northern Flickers (Colaptes auratus), the most colorful woodpeckers in our area, prefer to eat ants and other insects. Now that the weather had gotten colder and insects are scarcer, they have switched their diet to include more berries and seeds.

Earlier this week I spotted this male Northern Flicker (males have moustaches and females do not) foraging among the clumps of poison ivy berries in a tree at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. The photos give you a sense of the wonderful colors and patterns on the body of this incredible bird.

I didn’t get to see the insides of the wings of this particular flicker, but Northern Flickers on the East Coast have beautiful yellow-shafted feathers on the underside of their wings and tails. On the West Coast, Northern Flickers have red moustaches and red shafts on the underside of their wings and tails.

Northern Flicker

Northern Flicker

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

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A change in diet

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on October 20, 2018| 10 Comments »

Yellow-rumped Warblers (Setophaga coronata) eat mostly insects in the summer, but when the weather gets colder they switch to seeds and berries. This past week at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge I captured a number of shots of Yellow-rumped Warblers as they munched on what I think are poison ivy berries.

In the past, I have seen birds eating these berries only during the coldest days of the winter, leading me to think they were the only available food source. Who knows, maybe poison ivy berries are a real delicacy—though I am not will to try them to see if that is true.

 

 

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Yellow-rumped Warbler

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Warbler and poison ivy berries

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, Winter, tagged , , , , , , , , on January 14, 2018| 17 Comments »

A Yellow-rumped Warbler (Setophaga coronata) really seemed to be enjoying the poison ivy berries that it managed to find on a frigid morning earlier this month at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

This little bird was so focused on finding food that it was not disturbed by my presence, which allowed me to capture a series of images.

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Yellow-rumped Warbler

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

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