In mid-Michigan, getting to see a Yellow-throated Warbler is uncommon. When I’ve had the thrill of seeing them here, they have always been fairly far away on the top of Sycamore trees near water. Usually, the only reason we’ve found one was because others had posted their sightings on eBird, so we knew when and where to go. Once on site, we listened for the bird’s call and hoped to catch a glimpse of it. Getting a good photo under these conditions would be near impossible.
Fortunately (sort of), I was able to get my photo references for this painting in southern Florida, where they aren’t as uncommon. Several years ago, we were on a family birding trip in southern Florida. On the drive between Everglades National Park and the J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge, at Kirby Storter Roadside Park, all stops I highly recommend, I couldn’t get warm and started shivering. Sure enough, I came down with a bad case of the flu. The next day I had to sit out meeting up with my brother and heading to Ding Darling. I definitely didn’t want my brother to get sick at the beginning of his vacation. What a let down! Instead of having fun, I was lying in bed wearing all the clothes I had packed, with the heat cranked in the room. Although I was a bit out of it, between naps I noticed a Yellow-throated Warbler in a coconut palm outside the hotel window, and I managed to snap a few photos. Those became the references for this painting. It’s nice to have something positive come out of such a horrible day. Thankfully, I was on the move again the next day, and no one else got sick. (This was a pre-COVID experience, so we didn’t have to worry about the possibility of that complication.)
Let me know if you’re interested in buying the original watercolor or a print of this painting. Some of my work is also available for licensing.
