Yesterday the weather was bad, until it turned nasty! Through the morning string winds blew out of the Northeast with drizzle and fog rolling in off Lake Superior. Apparently some of the last warblers to migrate south took advantage of the North wind and rode it down to the Duluth area. When I thought the weather was abating a bit, I drove to the Park Point Recreation Area to look for shorebirds. The continuing drizzle quickly convinced me to end my beach hike and return to the car. The surfers in their wet suits did not seem to mind the weather.

For some reason I decided to drive over to the boat launch located on the harbor side. As I rolled down the window, the wind and rain picked up and suddenly a major squall started. I was about to head home when I suddenly I noticed hundreds of warblers taking refuge in two cedar trees and some shrubs next to the harbor. It was hard to get any photographs. Although I did get out of the car, I had to keep a towel over my camera. Here are the few images I was able to capture. It was a fun, but nasty experience. I also saw lots of hummingbirds, but photographing them in the rain was impossible.

A few other comments. The squall must have really been nasty. This afternoon, 24 hours post squall I found four dead Tennessee Warblers in a one mile stretch during my afternoon bike ride. In addition, although both the Tennessee and Nashville were first ID’d in the volunteer state, neither of these birds ever nests anywhere near that state.

Almost all of these images are of immature or female birds. Note the water on the leaves.

Tennessee Warbler

Nashville Warbler

Yellow Warbler

Yellow-Rumped Warbler