Mike in the Wild

After spotting my first hermit warbler on Saturday, I came to the realization that it takes a very active outdoorsman to see this family of birds.   As much success as I've had attracting a multitude of birds to my feeders in Prescott, only the yellow-rumped species of warbler has ever joined in the food frenzy.  The many other varieties elusively hide in the surrounding forests, above the hiking trails, and far from the comfort of my cozy cabin's deck. The easy-to-spot yellow-rumped actually winters across much of Arizona.  Several other warblers, like the American yellow, black-throated gray, red-faced, and the painted redstart breed in our state's higher elevation forests over the summer.   Meanwhile Townsend's, MacGillivray's, Wilson's and the hermit are on stop-overs as they migrate through the state.  I've stumbled upon every one of these warblers by chance as I've traversed the many mountain, creekside, and wooded trails around Prescott and the ...