New-tropical Migrants [Poem]
Chestnut-sided Warbler
New-tropical Migrants
We have always seen warblers
as brilliancies of the North Woods:
lemon yellow of Black-throated Green
flame wings and tail of American Redstart
But the Redstart is Cuba’s “Little Candelita,”
the Black-throated Green flies his colors from Ecuador
Our boreal yellows, reds, blues are tropical,
burnt orange of Blackburnian,
orange-red of Bay-breasted
What do we send back?
Blackburnian with only the yellow,
Bay-breasted, Blackpoll, Pine we can not tell apart – –
“Confusing Fall Warblers.”
Color them up, we say.
Paint back the cheeks and flanks of Chestnut-sided,
brighten back the pigments of Black-throated Blue
Send these warblers back.
On the Big Day in May
in Sugar Maple and Tamarack
we will check off glories of the rain forest
fall Pine Warbler
Be sure to check out the new Maxwell Corydon Wheat Jr. website!
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Photos ©2006-2008Poem published with authors permission! |
Mon@rch's Nature Blog 
OMG another awesome poem and photos to go with it! How cool. “Color them up,” I love it. Thanks for sharing, Tom.
29 April 2008 at 7:53 pm
Max great poem and wonderful collection of photos to illustrate.
29 April 2008 at 8:14 pm
I came by your blog recently, and I really like it! Great job evoking the sense of nature here.
29 April 2008 at 8:36 pm
Oh excellent poem Max! sooooooooooo true!
and photos too of course-love the pairing!
29 April 2008 at 8:51 pm
Beautiful bird. Loved the poem, too. Is there a book of his bird poems?
29 April 2008 at 9:21 pm
Hey Tom. Allegany NP is approaching fast. Will you be there? Will you want to meet up with my group for herping at any point? We’re going for 30 species this year, to beat last year’s 25. Email me 🙂
~ Nick
29 April 2008 at 10:25 pm
The detail in the shot of the Chestnut-sided warbler is exquisite, but the Pine Warbler is excellent, too — so well composed. Bravo!
29 April 2008 at 10:54 pm
@ Pam – thanks and love seeing them colored up!
@ Lisa – Max makes me wish I was better at poetry! He is an inspiration!
@ Steve – thanks and we all need a little nature each day! Thanks for visiting and will go check out your site!
@ Marg – thanks and isn’t he right! He knows perfectly how to picture these birds with his words!
@ Rondi – I don’t know of any bird poems that he has but when I see him in September, I will be sure to let him know! I do know his daughter and Max checks this site . . . maybe that will encourage him to put one together! Did you visit his website?
@ Nick – Thanks and does the Pope live in Rome? I would love to meet you guys but it is a busy weekend . . . not sure to say when or where to start! I have two walks on Saturday!
@ Bobbie – thanks and thought they worked best with Max’s poem!
29 April 2008 at 11:35 pm
Oh my goodness! That is one gorgeous warbler and picture and love that poem! Super neat post!
30 April 2008 at 12:34 am
Great poem. The Chestnut-sided Warbler would be quite a prize to see. I have been wearing my bird book out on the Warbler section. So many Warblers and so many look almost alike. I’m sure looking forward to being able to tell them apart.
30 April 2008 at 1:14 am
OMG I love that warbler photograph.
Beautiful poem and photos.
30 April 2008 at 2:07 am
What a beautiful bird, and I love that you caught the “gleam” in his eye!
30 April 2008 at 6:40 am
Such beautiful close-up of the chestnut-sided warbler. The few warbler species we get up here have arrived. They spend a day or two and then disappear to points further north. It’s the most fleeting of the migrators.
30 April 2008 at 11:47 am
The color of those birds are absolutely beautiful. I love the spring when these seasonal birds come up here.
30 April 2008 at 11:50 am
Those warbler pictures are amazing. I love that Chestnut-sided photo.
30 April 2008 at 4:03 pm
That chestnut looks like a movie star!
30 April 2008 at 6:58 pm
adorable shots! Once again you’ve taken my breath away. (You should be honored to know you often set the bar with me!)
30 April 2008 at 7:18 pm
Beautiful bird. Your photo shows great detail…most of us would never see that from afar.
30 April 2008 at 9:26 pm
@ Bird Girl – thanks and I have never saw a poem by Max that I didn’t like~!
@ Linda – thanks and warblers are worth opening fast to! Should be a good year!
@ Toni – thanks
@ Jayne – thanks and this was the photo that we used for our hat!
@ Robin – thanks and we are seeing them most every day now! Just love this time of the year!
@ Scienceguy thanks and spring is a great time of the year!
@ Eva – thanks and it is nice seeing them up close!
@ Shelley – thanks and is the exact picture on our hats! It is a star!
@ Aullori – thanks and glad you enjoyed this! Thanks and you take many wonderful shots also! Wait till banding season when I can photograph others up close!
@ Mary – thanks and seeing these guys up close is the best way to see them!
30 April 2008 at 10:11 pm
Amazing photo and a nice poem to go along with it.-I’ll be looking forward to more of your photos this month.
1 May 2008 at 6:18 am
Great shot! Last Sunday I saw a flock of yellow-rumps with a couple palms in for good measure.
They’re baaaaaack! : )
1 May 2008 at 10:29 pm
Just wonderful! I’ve never seen either of the warblers you so beautifully photographed, but our local varieties are bulking up in numbers (Yellow-rumped, Yellow, Wilson’s, & Townsend’s are our most common).
2 May 2008 at 10:11 am
@ Lvn – thanks and wish i had more time to take pictures!
@ Dave – thanks and love those warblers!
@ Adam – thanks and would love to see a Townsends!
2 May 2008 at 9:48 pm
YOUR WARBLERS ARE BEAUTIFUL, MON@RCH!! ESPECIALLY WITH THAT LITTLE TWINKLE IN THE FIRST ONE’S EYE!!
9 May 2008 at 10:28 am