Boom Town in Brule

An Economy of Birds                       29 June 2015

Black-and-white Warbler, female, gathering food to feed her fledglings

Every once in a while, optimism triumphs over the ever-present specters of global climate change. A perfect summer, a perfect breeding season for insect-eating, forest-nesting birds, has come and gone. Last summer, for an entire month, I conducted breeding bird surveys in the Brule River State Forest.  In the "kick off" year of the Wisconsin Breeding Bird Atlas II, I lingered well into July, finishing around the 12th.  Birds were abundant, and one beautiful fact continued to rise to the top--the conditions in the Brule had been perfect.  Every species of Neotropical migrant bird seemed to have fledglings to feed.  It seemed that none of them were parasitic cowbirds. Warblers used their energies in raising their own young. Small flocks of bombarding fledglings told of success well beyond the grasp of the predators.  Wood warblers were vigorous and in great numbers.  A particular tent site along the waters of the Brule had, in a single moment, wood warblers of five different species, all of them feeding three or four fledglings of their own.  Wonderful birding mayhem!  A float down the river revealed the same--fledgies everywhere!  Life in abundance!

The thrashing of the caterpillar...

Pine Warbler

Black-and-white Warbler

Nashville Warbler

Those birds hatched and raised have already flown south, setting up winter territories from the Gulf Coast to South America.   This Holiday Season, I have a hope for the birds, a greeting or wish for our neighbors closer to the Equator.   My wish is for the bounty of our perfect summer to be with you now, nurtured and nurturing, thriving and growing in strength, readying for their return in the Spring time.  Hopefully, come Spring and Summer, our climate up here will care well for them again! May the abundance continue to grow and the strands of the ecosystem hold strongly!  Let's hope for another boom town of birds in the Brule!

Red-breasted Nuthatch, recently fledged and very close to the 300mm lens!

All images were made with a Canon 7D and a Canon EF 300mm L IS lens, a camera and lens that found their way to the bottom of the Brule. ...But that is another story...

American Woodcock at the end of a busy day...