Myriam (Myr's Bytes)

Warbling Vireos

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The Sunday before last (July 24th), I felt a deep, unsatisfactory lack of vireo sightings in my life. I know this registers at a whopping 0.0001 on the life-threatening scale, but I was remembering other people’s photos of Calgary vireos and I really, really wanted to be one of those people too. Internet to the rescue! I found some photos of warbling and red-eyed vireos on the Birds Calgary blog, many of them taken at Carburn Park. So that’s where I went!

Along the trail between the Bow River and the middle pond, I heard many little birds in the mature balsam poplars and in the bushes beneath them. They were hard to spot and when I did spot one, it would fly away or move continuously from one partially camouflaged branch to another. When I finally saw a vireo, it was with two others of its kind. I took 6 unfocused photos (so many branches in the way!!!) and on the 7th try, my camera decided to focus on a bird. Yay! I walked up the trail on the other side of the bushes to see if I could get a better view, but all I got were a few more quick glimpses. So I went home with one clear photo of two warbling vireos. Success!

I also enjoyed watching the cormorants that were sunning, swimming, fishing or flying along the Bow River, just north of Carburn Park.

14 comments

  1. Cheers for your tenacity! Terrific capture, not even thinking of the odds the camera would actually focus on what you were really looking for and not all the branches and leaves in between. It is not as if the small birds flitting from spot to spot are easy to find, they have to be subtle in color as well…which makes the sighting all the more special. Congratulations on finding your Vireo…and not just one but 2!

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  6. I’m so happy you were able to fill your vireo -sized hole in your life, Myriam 🙂 That is so satisfying, and you got a wonderful photo. Will you paint it? That would be neat. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a vireo. One of these days I will take my eye off the leaves and gaze at the birds!

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    • Thanks for appreciating my vireo moments and photo, Melissa :-). Like leaves, it is a treat to meet birds in person. The subtle colours of the vireos and the bright greens of the leaves would be lovely to paint. I may have to wait a while though. I’m going back to school in September and I’m sure that will keep me quite busy. I’m going for a second BSc – in Ecology. Your blog, comments and book recommendations were a big inspiration. Thank you :-)!

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