Perfect Perches, Part V

Blue-winged Warbler and Ironwood                         9 May 2010

There is something wonderful in the colors, textures, and sense of place that ironwoods lend to the Saint Croix River valley.   As the land begins to receive its annual influx of enthusiastic Neotropical migrant birds, the baby leaves of the ironwood elegantly unfurl and begin powering the photosynthetic life station of our river valley's contiguous forest.   To capture this image of the Blue-winged Warbler, a species at the northern extent of its breeding range along the Upper Saint Croix, and to pair that bird with the river valley's characteristic ironwood, is to portray the essence of this place and time.

This image was made using a Canon 300mm f4 L IS lens, Canon flourite 1.4X converter, and Canon 30D digital SLR.