I arrived at the Pole Farm a few minutes before the 6:44 a.m. sunrise today, and other than blue jays and catbirds I saw few birds on the trail loop I walked. As I returned to the parking lot, I passed my car and walked past the lot to see if any birds might be in the grasses just beyond it.
It was a lucky move. In a small tree poking out of the grasses, I spotted a small bird perched on a branch and nipping at its buds. My first thought was that it was a young Carolina wren, but I had my doubts. The bird’s lower breast showed some yellow.
When I got home and pulled up the images, I made a correct ID: palm warbler, the first of the season reported at the Pole Farm.
I was glad to see this returning migrant. In previous seasons, I often spotted palm warblers in small trees in the meadows. But some of those small trees have disappeared, and the other day I was wondering if that would cut down my palm warbler sightings.
I’ve been visiting Mercer Meadows regularly since 2019, long enough that I’ve begun noticing changes in the landscape. For example, two significant trees that often attracted birds have disappeared since the first of the year.
A tall, bare, spike-like tree not far from the Pole Farm parking lot often had Northern flickers perched atop it. The tree came down in recent weeks. It must have toppled either in a storm or from old age. I found it lying amid bushes the other day, its trunk snapped just above the ground.
Early in the year, on the Reed-Bryan Farm side of Mercer Meadows, a large “devil’s fork” tree that was a favorite perch for American kestrels and Northern harriers vanished. It was off the trails and not in a spot to which I could or should walk to see what remains of it.
The foliage will continue to change, and I expect the patterns of bird activities will shift as well. Nonetheless, the Pole Farm remains a terrific habitat for birders and us birders who appreciate their continued presence. 🦅
Nice find! One of the reasons I enjoy walking the same trails year in and year out is to notice the changing landscape. How the natural elements giveth…and taketh away. Sometimes I really don’t like seeing favorite tree now resting on the ground due wind or a lightening strike. But I also know it’s fulfilling a second chapter of it’s life, be it giving shelter to small animals or providing nutrients to the soil through it’s decomposition…thereby hopefully giving new life as well.
Thanks, Mark. I hang onto to that thought, that the tree in its post-life stage is still contributing.
Great writing Dan! Great you spotted the Palm Warbler! Hopefully the Ghost will arrive soon!
Thanks very much!