Birds and Nature

I saw two more eastern warblers at the Convention Center gardens on SPI today. Though I didn't get a pic the first time I saw a male Hooded Warbler today was on the boardwalk where one had ventured briefly from the vegetation adjacent. The one pictured here was foraging in gardens area. This Yellow-troated Warbler came in to take a bath at the water feature. SeEtta

I found two more pics of the male Hooded Warbler that were of such good quality that I could crop them for even a little more close-up views than those I posted yesterday. I believe that the feathers that look somewhat silvery/gray (see on cheek and at margin of chest) are likely being molted off the bird. The lore feathers (described in Birds of North America online as 'tipped in black') are usual male plumage. It is amazing that these birds retain this very colorful plumage year round. SeEtta

The only pics I got of this male Hooded Warbler out in the open were when it was on the move, flying into a thicket of vegetation that was so dense that it just disappeared into it. In the top pic, the bird just landed very briefly. I got the bottom pic just before it disappeared in the thick undergrowth. SeEtta

Today I returned to Pueblo Mountain Park to look for the rare Hooded and Grace's Warblers that had been reported there but I had given little time or energy to find during the past visits while concentrating on the Acorn Woodpeckers. Well, I bombed on the Grace's Warbler, either too late in the morning to hear it singing (the only way I have found them before is by their singing) or they may no longer be singing. Also did not hear this male Hooded Warbler sing either but did hear it's loud 'chink' calls that gave it's general location away; however, I had to 'dig' it out of the thick undergrowth that is it's preferred habitat. Though the top two pics give some notion of how I had to take photos of this bird through the twigs and leaves, the bottom pic shows what I was often tracking in hopes of a clear shot. More pics to come. SeEtta