Soaking Wet MacGillivray’s Warbler After Leaf-bathing
Yesterday I was allowed a peek into the leaf-bathing behavior of this MacGillivray's Warbler I photographed high in the Wasatch Mountains.
Yesterday I was allowed a peek into the leaf-bathing behavior of this MacGillivray's Warbler I photographed high in the Wasatch Mountains.
Despite the difficulties I have finding and photographing MacGillivray's Warblers I will keep trying to take better images of them.
When this adult male Yellow Warbler landed in a willow near me I was more than happy to photograph him surrounded by the willows.
Almost one year ago I spent my morning photographing so many Yellow-rumped Warblers that they seemed to almost drip from the trees.
Eight days ago I photographed my first male Yellow Warbler of the year and two days ago I had some luck with my first females of the season.
Three days ago I was able to take my first of season Yellow Warbler photos when a male came up close to where I sat in my Jeep in a high mountain canyon.
This female MacGillivray’s Warbler popped into view briefly two years ago high in the Wasatch Mountains and even though she never came out into the open I enjoyed how she was surrounded by the white blooms of a Utah Serviceberry.
Yesterday I had a blast photographing a pair of Mountain Bluebirds at a natural nesting cavity at the edge of a forest along with some other woodland birds.
Two days ago my pulse quickened when I saw and heard my first of the season Yellow Warblers while looking for birds to photograph high up in the Wasatch Mountains.
Whatever the gender, I was delighted that the Myrtle Yellow-rumped Warbler perched in the tree long enough for me to take a nice series of images of it.
When I photographed this immature Yellow-rumped Warbler two days ago I couldn't tell what prey it had snagged so I was surprised when I got home and saw that the warbler had snatched a damselfly.
Here in northern Utah it isn't often that Myrtle and Audubon's Yellow-rumped Warblers are found perched in the same tree but four days ago that is what happened to me.
I haven't seen a Yellow Warbler in northern Utah for sometime now and it is pretty safe to say that these birds has taken wing and have headed to warmer climes for the winter.
For a few brief moments yesterday morning I had a lovely Yellow-rumped Warbler in my viewfinder at Farmington Bay that had perched in a leafy tree and I took full advantage of it being nearby.
When this hatch year Yellow Warbler popped out into an open area of a willow thicket in a beam of sunlight I was happy to take its photo.
I'm seeing more MacGillivray's Warblers this season than I have in previous years but I am still challenged by how quickly these warblers move and by how they can seem to disappear so quickly.
As a bird photographer I'm feeling a sense of urgency now that I didn't feel a few weeks ago because as I watch the migrants in the Wasatch Mountains getting ready for their long journeys I know that my time for photographing them this year is quickly running out.
Some birds that are molting can look a little odd and this molting male Yellow Warbler with a stubby little tails fits that description perfectly.
I could wish that the Orange-crowned Warbler didn't look as messy as it does but I am just so glad to have taken even one image where the orange crown is visible that I would toot a horn if I owned one.
I've been looking for Orange-crowned Warblers in the Wasatch Mountains to get better images of them this year and so far my best chance has been with this messy looking one I saw and photographed yesterday.
This MacGillivray's Warbler was foraging at the base of a serviceberry when I photographed it facing me and until I took photos of it I hadn't realized how big their eyes are for a warbler.
Yellow Warblers are small birds that look like feathered rays of sunshine that have come to earth and I am always delighted to photograph them
The first warbler species I ever photographed in Utah actually was a MacGillivray's Warbler at Silver Lake in Brighton on July 25, 2008 which was taken on my first bird photography trip to Utah prior to moving here from Florida.
While the male Yellow Warbler is small in the frame in both of these photos I think the inclusion of habitat provides visual interest and appeal.
Like the chokecherries I wrote about yesterday it seems that because of our wetter than normal spring the serviceberries are also doing very well so there should be plentiful fruit for the birds to feast on before they migrate this fall.
Before too long I expect to hear the "peep-peep" calls of Yellow Warbler chicks begging to be fed by their parents but in the meantime I am having a blast photographing the adults that I have been seeing.
Three days ago I photographed Yellow-rumped Warblers in the Wasatch Mountains, these warblers are a challenge because they move so quickly but they are always fun to have in my viewfinder.
The other bird I photographed that day in the high Uintas was a gorgeous male Yellow Warbler foraging in an aspen tree very close to where I sat inside a "mobile" blind at the edge of a dirt road.
I took a couple hundred images of the Yellow-rumped Warblers as they flitted around in search of prey next to the creek and after reviewing my images I only found a few that I felt were worth keeping.
The nicest surprise of the morning was when a female Belted Kingfisher perched on a branch close to a creek and the road.