Today is, for me, the REAL first day of spring: Opening Day of the Major League Baseball season. I plan to be watching when Mariano Rivera throws out the ceremonial first pitch at Yankee Stadium this afternoon.
Because it’s spring here in North America, and the beginning of the new season for what some of us still like to think of as the national pastime, I’m taking a break from the Australian and New Zealand birds. Today, here is another sure sign of spring in much of the continent, the chestnut-sided warbler.
This little guy spends the winter months in a range from Central America to northern South America—something I’m trying to persuade my wife we should do, too. But by now, he’s on his way north to the breeding territory in the northern U.S. and Canada.
I took this picture last May at the Magee Marsh in northwest Ohio, a spot where thousands of warblers stop on their way north. That’s why it’s home to an event called The Biggest Week in American Birding. If you’re a bird watcher, this is a festival you should attend at least once. Warblers like this are typically hard to spot, because they spend most of their time high up in trees, flitting about almost constantly. But at the BWAB, they’re right at eye level. It’s amazing! The festival has a great website that will have all the information you need.
Happy spring and happy birding to all. And if you’re a baseball fan, have a great season, even if you’re a Red Sox fan.