What stands out most on an early September hike in Prescott right now is the lush green landscape and the kaleidoscope of colors bursting from the endless varieties of blooming wildflowers. The summer monsoon storms might have dumped close to fifteen inches of rain in the area, irrigating the parched landscape after an especially dry winter and dotting the green hillsides with red, violet and yellow flowers.
Another striking sign of a seasonal change is the arrival of our rufous hummingbirds, making short stops across the state during their long migration from their breeding grounds in the Pacific Northwest to their winter homes in Latin America. This past weekend I discovered a Townsend's warbler, another bird joining this tough-as-nails traveler on a similar journey.
Just as colorful as the abundant wildflowers, its bright yellow markings made it stand out like many of Prescott's more common warblers such as the yellow-rumped and Wilson's. Like all birds in the warbler family, it flits about tree branches in search of small insects for food. But on Sunday's hike I stumbled upon an individual that was investigating something low on a remote trail just before it flew into some oak and juniper branches a few feet above my head, affording me a lucky opportunity to photograph it.
The pictures allowed me to positively identify my discovery as my first Townsend's warbler - a female in the species and a bird that doesn't call Prescott home for any length of time. Like numerous other avians, she's on her long end-of-summer migration southward. And like the shortening days she's a harbinger that the area's longer-term seasonal residents such as the summer tanagers and black-headed grosbeaks will now begin their own departures, following in the same direction to quite possibly the same destination.
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| A female Townsend's warbler in Prescott, Arizona. |
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| A female Townsend's warbler in Prescott, Arizona. |
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| A female Townsend's warbler in Prescott, Arizona. |
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| A female Townsend's warbler in Prescott, Arizona. |
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| A female Townsend's warbler in Prescott, Arizona. |
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| A female Townsend's warbler in Prescott, Arizona. |
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| A female Townsend's warbler in Prescott, Arizona. |
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