Nature Note: A Naturalist's Travels Through Nature

I had the great fortune of visiting a wonderful preserve yesterday in search of warblers and spring migrants. As this month marks the main passage of spring migrants in the Mid-Atlantic region, I have decided to do a big month to try and see as many different warblers, for as many points as possible. I made up an arbitrary point system where common species are worth 1 point, harder to find species are worth 3 points, and life birds are worth 5 points. I also added in the possibility of seeing Brewster's and Lawrence's Warblers for 10 and 12 points respectively. As of this morning, I have 9 points after seeing 9 species over the past two days. In the morning, I visited an excellent birding area called Bowman's Hill Wildflower Preserve, located near my favorite artisan town of New Hope, PA. As I exited the car, birdsong surrounded me. The sweet, squeaky notes of a Black-and-White Warbler ( Mniotilta varia ) rang down from one of the nearby trees, while a Blue-gray Gnatcatch...