The Northern Parula Warbler (Setophaga americana) is a summer resident in my part of Virginia, breeding in mature hardwood forests, preferring forest near slow moving water. Since it is often high in the canopies and hidden among the leaves, its distinctive soft, rising trill is often the only indication that it is near.

I was visiting one of my reforestation sites along the banks of Bull Run when I heard a Northern Parula singing from the top of the mature trees between my reforestation site and the edge of Bull Run. Patience yielded a positive visual ID.

As I watched it feed in the high canopy I thought of the young forest several volunteers along with our contractor had planted a few years before. We planted over 4 acres adjacent to the mature forest the Parula was foraging in.

It was unlikely the Parula would visit my young forest so low to the ground. But then I thought ahead to the future and hoped I might return someday and find Parulas singing from the tops of our trees.

Location: Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, Ottawa County, Ohio