Blog – Page 157 – CrazyM Bird & Nature Photography

Songbirds & Shorebirds

After some volunteer work at Reifel there was still time for a walk. The weather was not the greatest with overcast skies and intermittent showers. I started by watching a few groups of sparrows, always on the lookout for something out of the ordinary.

But it was just the regulars present today.

Then there is the bane of the songbird world.

The Brown-headed Cowbird is a brood parasite. They make no nest of their own with the female laying her eggs in the nests of other species. These other birds will then raise the young along with their own.

Some shorebirds have been frequenting the inner ponds the last few days.

This Lesser Yellowlegs foraging and catching what looks like a small invertebrate.

Along with some Least Sandpipers doing the same.

A Little Variety Today

For some it is still nest building time.

Here a Barn Swallow is gathering nesting material.

For others, new arrivals are here.

A little better luck today with getting a Wood Duck family together.

Yellow-rumped Warblers were busy hawking for insects from the trees.

While watching and photographing the warblers,

… this Rufous Hummingbird stopped briefly on a branch before flying off.

And this Red-winged Blackbird paused momentarily in the cattails.

There were also a few Orange-crowned Warblers around. I located and stuck with one to try and get a photo. Unlike the Yellow-rumped which would sit in the open, the Orange-crowned were foraging for insects amongst the branches of the trees.

This one never came completely out in the open and this was the best I could do today. Such is the life of bird photography, but there is always next time.