A thrilling photo of a Worm-Eating Warbler --and a note of warning about the Green Heron nest

Photo by CAL VORNBERGER

Cal Vornberger, whose book The Birds of Central Park will be out next fall, took this extraordinary photo yesterday. It is a Worm-eating Warbler, one of Central Park's harder-to-find songbirds. He [singing warblers are almost always males] may have been the very same individual I saw this morning, singing away near the Polish statue at Turtle Pond. Its song is unmistakeable -- a loud, insect-like trill.

When I ran into Cal this morning, trying to capture [on film, of course] a Blue-winged Warbler , he reminded me to mention something I should have noted yesterday in my posting of the Green Heron nest.:

If you go to see the Green Heron nest at the Upper Lobe, look at it from the paved path only. Under no circumstances should birders, photographers, or ANYONE go down the little incline towards the nest itself. This would seriously disturb the birds, and might cause them to abandon the nest.