Cape May Warbler and Balsam

The Cape May warbler is one of the many species of migrants which winters in the tropics and breeds in the northern forests. Since my childhood, I have thrilled to the bountiful display of song and colour during the spring migration. On a good day in May I have seen over a hundred species of these eager travellers.

But in recent years, tragically, the numbers have been rapidly declining. There are many reasons for this, but two obvious ones are the cutting of forests and the spraying of pesticides. The tropical wintering grounds are almost out of control in both departments. Forests are being cut for plantation agriculture and for burgeoning peasant populations. Since Rachel Carson's Silent Spring we in the north have banned the worst pesticides such as DDT and as a result the bald eagle and peregrine falcon have made a miraculous comeback. However, this dreadful stuff is still being made and sold in the tropical world where the environmental standards are at a lower level.

Even so, we are still spraying other poisons in our northern forests. For example, the spruce bud worm spray program is an unnecessary affront to our northern ecosystems. Spruce bud worms actually prefer balsam fir. So when you repress the bud worm you encourage balsam fir, a commercially unimportant species compared to spruce.

In the long run it is best to let nature take its course. The spray program, however, is very popular because it means action and jobs in the forest communities, it means empire building for the bureaucrats and it means profits for the chemical companies.

In this painting, I have shown the tip of a balsam fir with its rich bounty of cones. I enjoy their soft, purplish bloom in contrast with the warbler. Let us hope that nature and common sense will prevail and the warblers will not only survive but multiply back to their former populations.