Eric Clapton and the Cream at the Fillmore East? I don’t know when my ears became destined to lose the high notes. But they definitely have, and more so as I get older. So, no wonder that each spring I give hearing aids another try - 100 days, no risk. Because late April and Early May brings the annual spring migration of warblers through New Hampshire. Warblers don’t just warble, they do so at the highest of pitches. And because they are tiny and often prefer to flit about in the tops of tall trees, spotting them is almost impossible without hearing them first. This year’s trial set of hearing aids will arrive next week - I can’t wait. Maybe I’ll decide to keep them this time!

Luckily for me, though, I happened to gaze up into the tops of two 80 foot beech trees last week and caught the rustling of small branches followed by a dark, tiny form shooting out a few feet from the treetop and then back among the leaves. Needless to say, I didn’t hear a thing, but surely a sound was there too. It was a yellow-rumped warbler and then a second one. Scanning the two trees with binoculars, I also spotted a little yellow ball and then a round grey one barely larger than a hummingbird (but neckless and much fatter) - a yellow warbler and a ruby-crowned kinglet. Two of my favorite spring warblers and a first sighting for me of a kinglet (which is not a warbler).

Spring has brought these three little birds long distances, especially the yellow warbler. All of them breed in the northern US and Canada in the summer. The kinglet makes a relatively short winter migration to the southern and southwestern US and Mexico, while the wee yellow warbler may fly all of the way to Costa Rica or northern South America crossing the widest part of the Gulf of Mexico in a single flight. The yellow-rumped warbler lands somewhere in between in Mexico or northern Central America, but may not even leave New England in the winter so is sometimes referred to as a winter warbler (say that fast five times).

These three lovely birds are not considered endangered, but due to climate change their migration ranges are definitely shifting northwards. While this does not pose immediate problems for them, it eventually will begin to affect their habitats and, therefore, their food supplies.

By now you may be asking, “what ruby crown?” The bird in my photo may be a female as only the males have a red crest. Or, a male, since the males only display their red crest when aroused - either by a member of the opposite sex or by a threat to their territory. Here’s a photo (not of mine) of an aroused male.

Turn up your hearing aids, here are some sample songs. Yellow warbler, Yellow-rumped warbler, and Ruby-crowned kinglet.

Jim Harrison is one of my favorite authors. His little poem about yellow-warblers appeared in his last book of poetry, Dead Man’s Float.

Warbler

This year we have two gorgeous
yellow warblers nesting in the honeysuckle bush.
The other day I stuck my head in the bush.
The nestlings weigh one-twentieth of an ounce,
about the size of a honeybee. We stared at
each other, startled by our existence.
In a month or so, when they reach the size
of bumblebees they’ll fly to Costa Rica without a map.

“Warbler” by Jim Harrison from Dead Man’s Float. © Copper Canyon Press, 2016.