White-eyed Vireo

Even though I posted a couple photos of a White-eyed Vireo back in March of this year, I have another to post today. The photos I posted in March were from Florida, where they are year round residents. Today's photo is of a migrant passing through DGCA in Virginia this past April.

The sound of vireos in the trees and underbrush is welcome sign that spring has returned. While there is no shortage of the endless singing of Red-eyed Vireos, hearing the "chik purr-ee-ay chik" song of a White-eyed Vireo is little less common and always a special find. This individual was singing his song repeatedly, moving fairly quickly from perch to perch within the confines of a bushy area next to the trail. I stopped, watched and waited with my camera until he eventually came out onto a perch that was not obscured by any vegetation.

White-eyed Vireo

After I got my photos of the Painted Bunting, I stepped out of the way to allow others to get their look. As I moved to the back of the crowd, several of us noticed that a mixed flock of birds was passing through the trees and underbrush right next to the feeders. One of the birds in that flock was a White-eyed Vireo.

As the flock moved through, it was interesting to me how close these birds were to us. In fact, the White-eyed Vireo was so close that I had to put my camera down. He was too close to photograph. I was using a 100-400mm lens because I expected to need it to get close to the birds. But not for this vireo. As he hopped around the brush just in front of me I had clear looks at the white eye from which he gets his name. As he moved away from me into the brush, I did manage to get a photo of him. The second photo is of another White-eyed Vireo, found later in the day.

[edit: fixed weird formatting caused by using Safari instead of Firefox]