So Far to Sing

Oil on Panel - 4 x 4 inches I subscribe to a small number of birding magazines and keep a record of articles about bird species. The most recent one in my collection about this bird, the Blackpoll Warbler, is from Living Bird’s 2024 winter issue. In one single night, 954 birds died after flying into the McCormick Place building in Chicago during a massive migration event on the night of October 4, 2023. Blackpolls were among the dead. Fall migration is now in full swing, and it is dangerous, no doubt. Blackpoll Warblers carry the distinction of traveling further than any other warbler during migration – a whopping 1,800 miles from the Atlantic Coast to Columbia’s northern coast. And when they get to South America, they are greeted with the rainy season and large numbers of caterpillars to feast upon. Sadly, these birds are in steep decline, losing approximately 71-90% of their population in the last 50-60 years. I...