Spotting Species

One of the reasons we love what we do is the chance to get out in the field and observe wildlife. Recently, Mark was able to do just that on a job site in Laurel, Maryland.

Spotting several Yellow-Rumped Warblers (Setophaga coronate) feeding on insects and berries he captured a few of the “Eastern Myrtle Warblers” that are common to Maryland with their telltale white throat. Yellow-rumps breed throughout Canada and Alaska and overwinter from Maryland into Central America.  They are common spring and fall migrants, but uncommon to rare in the winter in Maryland.  As they pass through twice each year, they are found in every County, but more commonly on the eastern shore, as they are able to digest the wax of bayberry, and also like wax myrtle, eastern red cedar and poison ivy berries.

Keep an eye out for these migrating birds when spring rolls in again. One of the best ways to observe them is to listen for their “contact call” that they constantly chirp in order to keep the flock together.