Wednesday, August 06, 2008

Summer Wood Warblers

I did get to see a few warblers two weeks ago when we were up at Hasty Brook. There were a few yellow-rumped warblers mostly hunting insects among the thick beaked hazelnut bushes. I did take a walk along the path down on the creek level. I covered myself in DEET, put on a cap and headed down the steps. The first thing I noticed was that there was NO breeze. No air moving at all. Within seconds the mosquitoes were everywhere. If I opened my mouth they'd fly in. They were in my ears and behind my glasses. I stayed long enough to quickly scan the trees. I got several good looks at a golden-winged warbler but the branches were too thick and my camera couldn't autofocus on anything. I'm too slow at manual focus on my Canon- that's yet another thing I need to work on. It's a very birdy area down there but the bugs beat me down in very little time so I scrambled back up the steps.Back up in the breeze it didn't take me long to locate this pretty male chestnut-sided warbler. He stayed in the branches over my head, darting in and out of the shadows.
He seemed quite pleased with his beautiful self and sang for all the world to enjoy.

I did pick up on another familiar warbler song but just couldn't get my eyes on the singer. I got out my Birdjam and played the song just to confirm the song id. In a flash the singer got louder. I played the song one more time and the singer called back, this time I saw a flash of yellow down low in the brush around a birch at the edge of the clearing. I was alternating between my binoculars and camera. I'd get a glimpse of yellow, bring my camera up- nothing. Finally I got a good enough look to confirm the common yellowthroat but he just wouldn't stay out of the brush long enough for a photo. He'd pop out of the dense brush just long enough to take a look around then he'd dive back down out of sight. You can see the little speck of yellow in the brush above.

I zoomed to the spot where he would pop out and waited. Snap! Got him!


I tried out my mad pishing skilz and VOILA! The (not-so-)common yellowthroat!
So pretty and worth the wait.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I've added a new section on my sidebar. There is a group of us (bird bloggers) going to the New River Birding and Nature Festival April 27-May 2, 2009 in Fayetteville, West Virginia. Julie Zickefoose describes her time at last year's festival here, here,and here. Mary from Mary's View tossed the idea of attending out there a while back. Mary's idea took on a life of it's own and now we are eight bird bloggers renting a cabin in the mountains of West Virginia! Some of us will attend for the whole week, some for half. It is guaranteed to be a good time. Good birding, lots of laughter and fun will fill my week. I am most excited to meet face-to-face many friends that I have "known" through blogging for the two plus years I've been at it. I'll be able to add to my Blogger Life List !
Check out the New River Birding and Nature Festival website. They have the 2009 festival information up. Think about joining us. There are all sorts of accommodations: hotels, cabins campgrounds. Read Katdoc's posts here and here. She attended the festival last year and recommends it highly.

31 comments:

Kathie Brown said...

Oh Lynne, I'm so jealous about the festival. I wish I could go! What fun! I can't wait to read about it on everyone's blog posts!

As for your birds today, I have yet to see a chesnut-sided warbler. I'd have a hard time dealing with those mosquitoes too. What nice pics you got. Congrats on the common yellow throat also!

Heidi said...

That's going to be so much fun at the festival for you and everyone else!

Gorgeous bird pics you posted today... I'd say braving the mosquitoes was worth it.

beSmart beGreen said...

w.o.w. amazing.

Lynne at Hasty Brook said...

Kathie- The festival will be fun for sure. Can't wait to meet the bloggers!

Red- The mosquitoes were tolerable for a bit. Thankfully I don't react to the bites with big welts any more.

besmart begreen- Thanks for the comments and for visiting here! I appreciate it.

Anonymous said...

Bugs really can drive a person crazy. You did get some perfect photos, though, up in the breeze! Your trip sounds so fun. I know it is beautiful down there.

NCmountainwoman said...

Great shots. And we do appreciate what you went through to get them for us.

Guess the mosquito really is the unofficial State bird in Minnesota.

PJ said...

I've been to your blog before and was really impressed with it. Tonight is no exception. Have a wonderful time on your birdig adventure.

KGMom said...

Lynne--I note that Blogger acknowledges identifying some blogs as spam, and they promise to work on it.
So, your pain has been heard.

Lynne at Hasty Brook said...

Linda- Yes, you know our mosquitoes don't you!

ncmountainwoman- They seel T-shirts here with giant pictures of mosquitoes on them!

PJ- Thanks for the comments and for visiting here!

KGmom- Blogger put my (and many others) blog in lock-down last week but realizing their spambot error, released us all on Saturday. Hrmph...

Q said...

The Commonthroat is beautiful! Would be lifer for me. The Chestnutsided Warbler is also beautiful! I really need to get out birding more. Your pictures are great
You will have lots of fun with every one! Renting a cabin was a good idea. I bet no-one will get any sleep....
Looking forward to hearing all about it.
Sherry

LauraHinNJ said...

We're gonna have a blast, I think!

I'm in awe of your bird pics, Lynne. Wow!

Jayne said...

Love, love, love your Hasty Brook warblers! :c) Hmmmm.... April 26- May 3rd... will have to explore that as a perfect birthday gift to me.

Eve said...

Great warbler shots Lynne! The common yellowthroat is very much that here at my place. Siskins are not! Thanks!

Ruth said...

Which Canon are you using Lynne? Your pictures are great. The festival sounds like it will be lots of fun!

Marsha said...

Your warbler shot and yellow throat shots are fantastic. I really need to try that Phishing if you can get the elusive yellow throat to come out like that!

VJ said...

The yellow bird is so pretty, and you got a great shot of him!

Thanks for sharing.

Julie Zickefoose said...

Completely ossum pix, Lynne. Amazing. Also amazing: the prospect of seeing eight bloggrrls all together in WV. Now that is some kind of something.
Thanks so much for helping make it happen.

XO

JZ

Richard said...

Great pictures. Mosquitoes are down here but ticks are way up. When shooting in foliage try setting camera on macro setting with center focus. Works well to focus on bird and not leaves.

Corey said...

That second shot of the Yellowthroat is AWESOME!

I will be taking a look at that festival in WV as well . . trying to get out more!

jalynn01 said...

Love, love love that chestnut sided warbler. Great shots!!! nice yellowthroat too. Your outing with the bloggers sounds delightful! Maybe more bloggers will sign up.. Make history!

Mary said...

Lynne,

The photos of the warblers are awesome. I know that photographing birds is time consuming and also takes lots of patience but the end result is wonderful.

Thanks for stopping by my Writing Nook. I hope you will visit again soon.

Blessings,
Mary

Kathi said...

Nice warbler photos! The Common Yellowthroat is gorgeous. He is one of the easiest birds to "pish" out of hiding - too curious for his own good. You bagged 'im!

Keep practicing your warbler photography and you will come home from New River with a whole memory card full of birds.

~Kathi, pleased to be one of the Flock

RuthieJ said...

Gasping at your fabulous warbler pictures on my monitor!! That Common Yellowthroat is one difficult little bugger to catch sitting still, but you got him. Awesome job Lynne!

Mary said...

Linne, boo hoo, whine whine whine. Why don't I see such pretty little warblers??? Huh? I guess it's because I don't have a Hasty Brook and I'm stuck with pigeons, starlings, and other unmentionables in my backyard. That's why I'm heading to the hills of WVA with ya'll. I'll bring DEPENDS. After all, I have BINOCS now :o)

Your photography is getting better and better, you know.

Hugs,
May

Anonymous said...

What wonderful photos of the warblers. The colors of these guys are always beautiful.

possumlady said...

Such a bright yellow! Perfect shot! Hmmm, New River Birding Fest ehh? I might have to think about this since it is definitely driveable from DC.

Anonymous said...

We have a lot of Yellowthroats, but I have never seen a Chestnut Warbler. I did see a new one for me the other day a Blackburnian Warbler. It was right in front of us at MacDonalds. Of course, I had a burger in my hand instead of a camera!

Your trip sounds like it is going to be fun.

troutbirder said...

The warbler pictures are just great!!!!

Lynne at Hasty Brook said...

bird girl- (blushing) thanks for all the nice comments!

Sherry- I'll bet you're right about the sleep! It'll be a blast.

LauraH- Yep- blast.

Eve- Come on up for the siskins.

Ruth- Canon XTi. Thanks.

Masha- I tried the pishing on the yellowthroat again this weekend and it worked!

VJ- Thanks, and thank you for
visiting here.

Julie- The numbers are growing- we're up to 18 bloggirls!

Richard- Thanks for the macro pointer. I tried it on my pont and shoot and it worked great. Not so great on the DSLR.

Corey- Come to WV!!! Even if only for a day- it would be so fun to meet you!

jaylinn01- We WILL makw history!!

Mary- Thanks for visiting!

Katdoc- I'm going to need to buy a few more memory cards to hold all those new memories!!

Ruthie- I was especially excited to catch that yellowthroat. They are TWITCHY!!

MAry- Yeah, whine all you want, YOU get all the perfect hummer shots!! Better get a case of Depends!

scienceguy288- Thank you sir!

Sandy- I've only seen a Blackburnian once- it was the prettiest bird I've ever seen.

Christine- Come to WV...come to WV...come to WV...

Carolyn H said...

Chestnut-sided warblers are one of very favorites! Great photos, i'm jealous!

Carolyn H.

Larry said...

Great Warbler photos! Golden-winged Warbler would be a real prize around here.