These are one of our regular Spring migrants and there are a few local places where I can be almost guaranteed to find them, particularly before the trees have fully leafed out. After that it's mostly identification by song which has become more difficult for me as I get older.
The aforementioned Yellow-rumped and Palm Warblers, two of the earliest arriving warblers in Spring.
One of the earliest arrivals among the returning warblers in the month of May is the Black and White Warbler preceded by the Palm Warblers in April and Yellow-rumped Warblers, many of which overwinter here in this province.
The Sapsuckers arrived back in April, this male stuck around for a couple days refusing to let the other woodpeckers near the suet log. I caught a quick look at a female a few days later but she didn't appear to stay long. I checked out a local spot that had a maple tree riddled with sapsucker holes. Curiously, two years after they seemed to be nesting in that area there was a Sapsucker occupying the tree when I first arrived back there.
The Red-winged Blackbirds are back and nesting around the edges of the local pond. I'm not sure if they have young mouths to feed yet. These shots are from last Summer. Lots of other wildlife in the pond including Wood, Ring-necked and Black Ducks, with at least three instances of young ones amoung the Black and Wood Ducks.
