Black & White Warblers: Summer Warblers of Northern Illinois

A Balck & White Warbler, Klehm Arboretum, Rockford, IL; 5/7/2011.

The fourth warbler of my "Warbler Week" series is a little warbler that I first saw many years ago while hiking through the Red River Gorge of the Daniel Boone National Forest in Kentucky. In early May, I had the opportunity to hike through the beautiful Klehm Arboretum in southwest Rockford (an area I don't often go to beacuse there is usually an entrance fee), I was able to capture a Black & White Warbler (Above) doing its tree-clinging thing. They often act more like a brown creeper or a nuthatch than a warbler, as they cling to the sides of trees gleaning insects from the bark crawling up and down the sides the tree trunks. These warblers look like little Zebra birds with striking black and white stripes covering their sides, throat, wings and head.

Another Black & White Warbler, Rock Cut State Park, Rockford, IL; 5/8/2011.

As luck would have it, after five years of not seeing these little guys, the day after I spotted the B&W in Klehm Arboretum, I saw another one in Rock Cut State Park (Above). Then I spotted another one in Arkansas outside the cabin we were renting along the Buffalo National River this past June - three times within a month and a half! Cool! I love watching them creep up the sides of massive tree trunks - and because of their markings and coloring, they are almost incognito as they blend into the texture of the tree bark.

Yet another B&W Warbler, Buffalo National River, Arkansas; 6/24/2011.

Sunset of the day, Arches National Park, Moab, UT; July, 2005.