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Thursday, June 10, 2010

Uncommonly Common - Common Yellowthroat

Today, while I was supposed be folding laundry and paying bills to make use of a rainy indoor day, I was stalking birds. If you don't think it was wet, look at these photos. You'll see the water dripping from the Spruce needles. I was concentrating on a fledgling Chipping sparrow whose parent was feeding it. I was not moving, in spite of the rain because I wanted the adult Chippie to come along so I could photograph the feeding (I was successful and will post that later). In the mean time, this Common Yellowthroat warbler almost landed in my lap. That will give you an idea of how still I had been and for how long. Black flies like this same kind of weather,too. I had to let them bite me. They especially like going for the area around the eyes. So, now I look like a boxer on the wrong end of a hard right-left combo punch. Maybe I could borrow a mask from one of these little guys. Common Yellowthroats are just that: common. However, they are not so often seen because they are secretive and favor thick brushy areas. They are insect eaters and prolific breeders. The females are yellowish all over and don't have the black head nor this snazzy mask. I've seen male Yellowthroats before, but never this close. It was only about fifteen feet from my face! This New World wood warbler is migratory wintering in Central and South America. Seems like there should be more to say about a little bird that's this flashy but that's really all there is to it. Now, I must conduct a thorough tick check as I think I feel something crawling on me inside my clothes. David is not home, so he is neither the source of the sensation nor the solution.


Thanks to David Allen Sibley, The Sibley Guide To Birds, Wikipedia and allaboutbirds.com for some of the information.
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12 comments:

  1. That patience certainly paid off with some fine images!

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  2. What great photos !!Maybe Sibley would like you to work for them !!

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  3. Thank you, Andy. Maybe Audubon would like me to work for him, too. :)

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  4. Not certainly common here - I have never seen this bird before!
    Thank you for these excellent and beautiful images!

    Nice day to you!

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  5. Love those CYTs and you captured them so well. It is tough to pull the eye out of the black mask and you managed a wonderful catchlight. Well done, Robin.

    And while I have you attention, I really like the irises in the header. Very cool.

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  6. Thanks Leena. I'm tickled I could share something that someone has not seen before. Pretty flashy little bird!

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  7. Ed, the CYT made it as easy for me as it gets, actually. The only really tricky part of this was that I was shooting in the rain and the bird was so close that I was afraid my long lens would be too much! Oh ya, and did I mentiion the black flies and ticks?

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  8. Stonking piccies Robin.

    Cheers, Seumus

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  9. No matter what I may have ever thought of my work in the past, "stonking" never made the list. But, I think it should have!!! Love that! It makes me feel truly special. Stonking special, actually! Thanks, Seumus!

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  10. Fantastic photos of the common yellowthroat! One nests in my swale every year and I enjoy his singing so much. But I have never seen him that close! Marvelous!Thanks so much,Jo

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  11. These photos should be your 2010 Christmas card!
    HG

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  12. Thanks, HG. Now that's a thought for the card isn't it? I would not have thought of that either as by the time i get around to picking one, images like this from summer have nearly left my conciousness!

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