[TN-Bird] The migrants are coming soon

Despair not.  Awake from your slumber.  The migrants prepare themselves in 
order to bring spring unto ye.  Cry ?Havoc? and release the birds from the 
South! (OK, I?ve been reading too much Shakespeare of late. Sorry.)

However, there are lots of signs that spring migration is not that far away. 
  Consider:
WILSON?s Warbler:  The most common warbler in our neck of the woods.  These 
days all birds I see have their cute black cap on.  (Females in the fall did 
not.)
CHESTNUT-sided Warbler:  These have already developed lots of chestnut on 
their sides and  some facial and head markings. (One of the most dramatic 
seasonal transformations among the warblers.)
BALTIMORE Oriole.  In the fall I saw almost entirely females and/or 
immatures.  Now all I see are males in full adult plumage.  (OK, a limited 
sample of late, but the change is remarkable?how many of those dull fall 
birds were first-year males I wonder.)
TENNESSEE Warbler.  I saw a male yesterday with a distinctly gray head.  And 
this species?which was so common in the fall but disappeared in December?has 
now returned to our area.  (The center of this species? winter abundance is 
Costa Rica.  But before it leaves here in April it tends to move from the 
low-mid elevations to the mid-high elevations [that?s us!].)
ROUGH-WINGED Swallows.  I saw my first of the winter a week ago.  This 
species stays mostly in the lowlands until it is ready to start migrating in 
March (That?s one week away!)  Maybe it?s appearance up here at 5000 feet 
means something, I don?t know.

Other Notes:
BLACK-n-White Warblers.  These are among the first warblers to leave Costa 
Rica (in early to mid-March).  But they are still abundant here right now 
(Feb. 21).
WORM-eating Warbler.  I finally saw my first in CR this week. Hurrah!
HAIRY Woodpecker.  Would you believe this bird lives and breeds this far 
south?  What a range for a woodpecker!  From Alaska to Panama (no 
migration).  We heard one two weeks ago at 7000 feet near the Panama border 
and I said ?That sounds like a Hairy.?  And then we found it and it was!  
What a surprise.  While the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker can also be found this 
far south (rarely), that is only during its wintering period.

Reporting from Central America,
Dev Joslin
Monteverde, Costa Rica
PS  I will let you know when any ?waves? starting coming through.


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