After four or five days sadly the Ruby Crested Warblers disappeared. All was not lost though as I wandered down to work on a special project I was greeted by joyous birdsong and new colors flashing about the trees and shrubbery. Tiny bits of bluish gray and yellow moving all about the bushes! Say hello to the Yellow Rumped Warbler. It was a beautiful sunny morning by a stream we've come to love.. My son played in the water while I watched birds. After it a while it seemed too quiet but I noticed more movement further downstream. I did not have appropriate footwear for the water so we followed a deer path through the rushes to get the stream bank further down. Yes we make sure to look for ticks every time we venture to the creek. My son and I chatted quietly as the show began. Five or six Yellow Rumped Warblers came out to feed around some dead trees and brush. They would flit from branch to branch pausing for a quarter of a second here and there. Talk about an autofocus workout! The morning light was perfect capturing these tiny colorful darts! I even manage a photo of one pruning itself! They moved on once they ate what they could in that spot. My favorite shot of the Yellow Rumped Warbler was taken as it stood in front of a well worn trunk full of holes and bore lines. We followed the stream just a bit further before returning to our "spot." I saw some movement in the brush upon our return. It was not the Yellow Rumped Warbler but a type I had never seen before. It was a small yellow warbler with two chestnut stripes on it's head. It was very pretty. I made sure to take lots of photos of it and later looked it up in the my field guide. Turns out it was a Palm Warbler. The warblers hung about for a few days, bringing us much joy with their delightful songs and colors. Then they disappeared over night. I was hoping they would stay but it turns out our "spot" was just a pit stop along their long migration. Well, hope you enjoy the photos as much I did in creating them!
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Julie MetottNature Photographer, wife, mother, lover of outdoor adventure! Archives
November 2022
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