Warblers feeding fledglings in the park

Just over a week ago, Dave and I were drinking our morning coffee on the front balcony. We noticed some unusual bird activity in the park across the road: flashes of black and white on the tree trunks. So we took our coffees over there to see what was up. There were a whole pile of warblers over there – several different species. All of the activity was because there were fledglings, only a day or two out of their nests, up in the treetops, and the adults were scurrying around scooping up bugs to feed them.

So I went back for my camera. Warblers are very hard to photograph: they are typically high up in the trees, flitting behind leaves and branches, and they move very quickly. This was a photo opportunity at my doorstep!

Here are a few highlights. In addition to warblers (yellow, black-throated grey, and yellow-rumped) there were baby nuthatches and woodpeckers too, and a group of cedar waxwings also flew through.

The yellow-rumped warblers were by far the most active: swooping low over the grass to flush flies, and probing cracks in the bark on the tree trunks to find spiders and other arthropods.

The yellow-rumped warblers were fighting with the yellow warblers, all competing for the same territory. This guy gave me a funny look after one of those encounters.

And this one was a treat – a warbler that is not exactly rare here, but you just don’t see them much: a black-throated grey warbler.

Warblers were not the only ones with babies out: here is a ragged little downy woodpecker.

And this little red-breasted nuthatch was just hanging’ around with his spider.

Quite an unexpected but very interesting couple of hours of avian interaction! Especially amazing that all of these guys must have been nesting right here, in front of my house – but they have been so quiet until now.

If you want to be in the loop about my projects and adventures, touch base with me over at my Contact page!