Chestnut-sided Warblers and Indigo Buntings Nest in the Garden

This gorgeous Chestnut-sided Warbler has been singing away, circling our garden since late spring. After following him around for weeks, a few days ago I finally got this picture. I felt like we knew each other.

Here is what he looks and sounds like.

Many warblers breed in dense forests around here, but this one likes to breed at the edge of a woodland, near a weedy field. So while some species lost habitat when this patch of woodland was cleared for development, this one gained the habitat it prefers – especially once we let the meadow grow.

The same is true for this species (left), the Indigo Bunting. They love to nest in black raspberries, which is now the dominant plant on our backyard slope. This female here is trying very hard to find and feed her fledglings, but I am afraid they didn’t make it through a short but ferocious storm which came through just before Hurricane Beryl. The storm was so powerful we stood at the window speechless as the wind thrashed the trees and the rain fell in a solid, horizontal sheet.

The male had stopped singing but he is now singing with renewed vigor – a sign they are probably re-nesting.

I have been mesmerized by these two species since late spring. They’re not the only migrants here for the breeding season, but they are the most visible and colorful and the most constant songsters. I am thrilled we are able to provide habitat for them to raise their young.