Every spring the wood-warblers come north bedecked in breeding finery and every autumn they head back south again in more muted colors. The trickle of migrants becomes a flood and then slows to a trickle again, leaving us New Yorkers with a host of Butterbutts and few other wood-warblers to tide us over until spring. This fall I again spent time out in the field documenting the wood-warblers moving through and enjoying the last looks I would get at them for six months or more. Now that it is October and the wood-warblers are mostly replaced by sparrows it seemed like a good time to share the fruits of my labors.

All of these shots were taken in the late summer and fall of 2011. I hope you enjoy these images and that you managed to see some wood-warblers heading south as well!

Northern Waterthrush Parkesia noveboracensis

Blackpoll Warbler Setophaga striata

Black-throated Green Warbler Setophaga virens

Tennessee Warbler Oreothlypis peregrina

Palm Warbler Setophaga palmarum

Common Yellowthroat Geothlypis trichas

Yellow Warbler Setophaga petechia

Cape May Warbler Setophaga tigrina

Blue-winged Warbler Vermivora cyanoptera

Tennessee Warbler Oreothlypis peregrina

Common Yellowthroat Geothlypis trichas

Black-and-white Warbler Mniotilta varia

Blackpoll Warbler Setophaga striata

Yellow Warbler Setophaga petechia

Black-throated Green Warbler Setophaga virens

Black-and-white Warbler Mniotilta varia

Yellow-rumped Warbler Setophaga coronata

Written by Corey
Corey is a New Yorker who lived most of his life in upstate New York but has lived in Queens since 2008. He's only been birding since 2005 but has garnered a respectable life list by birding whenever he wasn't working as a union representative or spending time with his family. He lives in Forest Hills with Daisy and Desmond Shearwater. His bird photographs have appeared on the Today Show, in Birding, Living Bird Magazine, Bird Watcher's Digest, and many other fine publications. He is also the author of the American Birding Association Field Guide to the Birds of New York.