Autumn Warblers on the Mississippi Flyway

Over the past few weeks, from late July into these crisp September mornings, our local stretch of the Mississippi Flyway has been alive with movement.

While the larger visitors are impossible to miss – grand formations of white pelicans soaring high overhead, robins gathering in the thickets, and waterfowl drifting along the riverbanks – it is the warblers that have completely captured my attention in the field these last few weeks.

These tiny songbirds arrive in silent, sudden waves. One morning the canopy is quiet, and the next, the branches are flitting with nashvilles, magnolias, and palm warblers, all pausing briefly to forage before continuing their massive journeys south. Watching a bird that weighs no more than a coin prepare to navigate thousands of miles never fails to fill me with awe.

In the Studio

In this new study, I wanted to focus on that energy and weightlessness. Warblers rarely sit still; their movements are quick, darting, and buoyant.

When laying down the initial strokes for a piece like this, my focus isn’t just on getting the anatomy and delicate feather tracts right, but on establishing the light filtering through the early autumn leaves behind them. Capturing the soft luminescence on their plumage against the rich tones of the late-summer foliage requires setting up careful value relationships right from the very first wash.

It’s a joy to translate these brief field encounters into lasting studies on panel, capturing a quiet moment in a very long journey. Have you noticed any of these little travelers passing through your area this month? I’d love to hear what migratory birds you’ve been spotting lately.