Much like ice fishing, catching or capturing a specific bird in digital form takes patience, the right location and of course, mostly luck. Even though we had eight years of birding in memory, our vireo species photo album was missing with in action.. The vireo family, consisting of 52 separate vireo species, shares a limit of 7 who visit Alberta, with a few others being rarities, should they be seen and reported by bird watchers.
Having encountered my first vireo in Cold Lake Provincial Park in 2017, I had no idea getting photos would be such a challenge. Over the next 8 years, even seeing a vireo was a rarity. We didn't know where to look, when to look and totally missed learning the vireo song and call “book”, an important skill in finding any vireo.
It's late summer now and migration has started for many species. Included in the incredible flights to South America are vireos. With a lot of luck, we've seen 4 vireo species over the month of August. Joining our sightings of both the Eastern and Western Warbling Vireos, we were fortunate to see the Red-eyed species at Confederation Park in Calgary. In every instance, we weren't vireo-searching with intent, but with the hope of getting photos that show any and every species in all its glory. And so it was on Saturday, August 22nd, while standing in a thicket of shrubs, along the park watercourse, a flurry of feathered friends flew within a few feet of my position. Birds were energetically searching every nook, cranny and leaf underside for minute insects, an early morning breakfast.
With these fast moving birds, thick foliage to hide under or behind, there are mere fractions of seconds to focus and photograph each exposed feathered friend. Not really thinking about what the bird was that I photographing, it was more of a reactive focus and shoot and work on identifying it at home. Realizing that wood warblers were not the species of interest, it became clear that a small flock of vireos presented a nearly 360 degree opportunity.
The majority of the vireos present were Red-eyed vireos. This petite songbird, about 6 inches in length is beautifully colored. Its head is black striped setting off a white eyebrow and gray crown. Flank and belly colors are a light yellow and white. The red-eye, for which it is named, can be hard to see. Young vireos have brown eyes and one needs just the right light to see the red in the eye.
Totally concentrating on pointing the camera and pressing the shutter, time flew by. Once the vireos had moved on, I came to realize that a half dozen shutterbugs had almost encircled my location, enjoying the birding action with these energetic vireos. There's magic in birding. Your mind flies with the birds, taking one away from the daily worries each of us face. Warbler or vireo, the music of each species welcomes you into their world and for a moment one can fly free.