I had hoped to be full time on the new computer by now, but what has probably been the case since KENBAK-1, upgrading/migrating is a total pain in the ass. I lived IT day in and day out for over 31 years – you’d think this would be a walk in the park, especially now in the digital age of 2023. Nope! Now have purged most of the ghosts in the machine (“if it’s something we can’t buy, there must be another way”). Fingers crossed the final bits will fall into place in the coming week – too many January Texas pictures left to process before we head south! In the meantime, thought I would go with a featured feathered friend I was working on before the new computer showed up.
Here at Intrigued our motto has always been “Story First, Images Support”. This post is a perfect example of that philosophy as I’ll admit right up front, these shots are not technically sharp. Don’t get me wrong, we strive to bring you the best images we possibly can. In the case of this colorful specimen – this constitutes the best I could deliver given the circumstances (over the last three years!).
Hit the jump to learn about our brightly colored Warbler.
This particular Warbler is a Mangrove habitat aficionado. Translated – good luck at getting more that sporadic glimpses of it and be prepared to waste a lot of digital memory when you do. For those not familiar with the Mangrove, it is a mass of tangled branches with thick bunches of leaves.
These particular “Black” Mangroves as I’ve recently learned, are found at South Padre Island Bird Viewing and Nature Center (link here). Yes, one of my top 5 birding destinations and has been featured heavily on Intrigued over the years thanks to SPI being our wintering destination. A beauty to behold, a nightmare to photograph through. Our digital darkroom floor is knee deep with shot after shot that look like this.
During our stay on SPI since 2019 I’ve stood at this particular spot hoping and praying for a chance to get this rare visitor to the US in the tin. To finally dispense with the suspense, this tiny bird is often referred to as the Mangrove Warbler. That is not technically correct as it really is a subspecies of a much more common North American Warbler. Try to focus on the upper breast and the light auburn streaks that adorn it.
For those lucky to be in their region, you might recognize the similarity to the Yellow Warbler (link here). Discounting the auburn/rust coloring on the head, they pretty much look the same, although this particular one had a darker olive tone that is seen more on the juvenile specimens. It was overcast that day and with all the shadows in between the branches it might have produced more of a darker feel than it really had. This was the best visuals I have had with this particular species since the first one arrived in 2019 – and thus the first time I’m willing to show you the results of those outings ha.
A bit of background thanks to the RGV Chapter Texas Master Naturalist Blog (link here). Unlike their parent species, the Mangrove is not migratory, preferring to stay with their chosen Mangrove crop. One specimen showed up in 2019 and set the place abuzz. Finally a chance to witness one of these beauties without having to get on a boat and travel off the southern tip of Texas. Over the years, the Black Mangrove has been moving north bringing with it new territories for their favored species. SPI had developed a very robust Mangrove habitat at the end of its boardwalk (straight out from the visitor center). The best chance of spotting this flash of yellow was just after the first right turn on the boardwalk and at the corner where you can go left out towards the second viewing pavilion (just look for the likely other birders staking out the spot). Stand there, get your camera tuned to the light conditions and prepare to be frustrated. If nothing else, you will get a nice workout if you are sporting big glass.
I did not know until reading their web page that they lost a quarter of their Mangrove thanks to the ice storm they had back in 2021 (we got out of there just in time before that hit in January). Truthfully, that worked a bit to my advantage as you can see some of the shots were taken when it passed through the dead areas. They were concerned of the impact that would have on what had become their signature bird – as you know now…it didn’t have an impact on them – in fact, they even had a nesting pair for 2022 which introduced their first offspring into the habitat.
The resident female and their now juvenile sightings were being reported while we were there, but no luck in getting those in the tin. I did see the juvenile briefly once when I first arrived, but mistakenly took it for a female Yellow-Rumped Warbler (link here) – we all have too many shots of those ha. Note, that article ends with vibes this new Mangrove family is getting more comfortable with all the birders on the boardwalk. Excited about that, but cautiously optimistic based on the battle it took to get these few shots at the beginning of the year.
I do need to thank the two guys that were there with me the day these shots were taken. You may be aware of the birding adage “One must sacrifice for the benefit of others”. More specific, at least one of the birders in the group must leave before the sought after target will appear. Okay, maybe I just made that up, but the number of times it comes true is shocking. In this case, those two guys gave up after an hour or so – 10 minutes later Mr. Rusthead came out for the show. Yes, they came back soon after it had darted back into the darkness never to return that day. I tried to hold it back, but they saw my smile and proceeded to stream an equally colorful string of vulgarities (I sympathized).
You can see that deeper olive coloring down the back and into the tail in the shot above. That shot is more out in the open so they definitely have a darker tone than our standard Yellow Warblers. Also noticed this specimen has quite the wear on its tail feathers – probably from flying through all those thick groves.
Hope you enjoyed this look at a fairly elusive rarity to North America.
As a parting note, you might want to check out the full lyrics to Spirits in the Material World (link here). Rather shocking how prescient philosopher Arthur Koestler was.
Meanwhile I’ll be cranking this while continuing to battle this new Alienware beast.
Life Intrigued 