Yellow-browed Warbler
Watercolour and oil
pastel
©2019 Charlene Brown
Warming temperatures are causing the habitats of some
species of plants and animals to shift to higher latitudes and altitudes. In Canada we are seeing insect and bird
species, until a few years ago only found in the United States, moving further
and further north.
The recent and very rare sighting on Vancouver Island
of a Yellow-browed Warbler was not one of those however. Exciting as it was – birders came from
mainland British Columbia and Washington state –this was simply an example of
an Asian resident blown off course.
This warbler – there was just the one, not the family group in the painting – is referred to as a ‘vagrant’ and, considering how far he is
from his normal migration route between Russia and South-east Asia, likely a ‘hitchhiker’
as well, for at least part of the distance.
