Friday, August 01, 2008

Chestnut-sided Warbler

It gets a little more difficult as the summer progresses to identify warblers. At this time of year the first season appearance of new babies is introduced to the mix as well. Wearing their transitional patterns, colours and design their identification can often be a confusing mystery. I was pretty excited when I first saw this little warbler earlier this week, with its olive cap and very prominent white eye ring! I was quite sure I had found a new life bird to add to my life list, but with a check in my Sibley's, Birds of North America, I found that I had photographed a first winter non-breeding female Chestnut-sided Warbler wearing its August - March seasonal garb. The photo above is of an adult Chestnut-sided Warbler.

16 comments:

Tink *~*~* said...

Pretty golden cap on this little fella. Happy Friday!

Tink *~*~*
My Mobile Adventures *~*~*

Leora said...

They don't look real. Thanks for teaching me about warblers. It looks like someone spilled olive-colored paint on his head.

me ann my camera said...

tink:
I like a bird that wears a pretty cap; I think it is so distinguishing :-)

leora:
I think it would be a sweet bird to attach to a canvas. Warblers are beautiful little birds and I don't see them often enough. They flit about so fast among the leaves its often difficult to get a good photo of them. I was lucky with this one.

kjpweb said...

What a cutie! Kudos for finding it!
Cheers, Klaus

me ann my camera said...

klaus:
I sure wish we had a few bigger birds around like those gorgeous one you post as they wouldn't be so difficult to find among the leaves!

Mary said...

I adore that first picture! She has such an inquisitive look. Very sweet. You are so good at giving all this helpful information about these birds. The difference between this one and the older adult is startling. These photos are so clear and detailed.

me ann my camera said...

mary:
When you are standing alone in a field or at the edge of a woods and a beautiful little creature looks you right in the eye, I think there is a bit of an inquisitive bond that momentarily links you together.

Anonymous said...

Inquisitive bond - yes, the perfect description - and you certainly captured it! Well done, all of them. I don't know if you have an interest in art as well, but I have always referred to warblers in fall plumage as the "Andy Warhol warblers" in reference to the double page of them in the Golden Field Guide, and comparing them to Warhol's pop art images (just do a Google image search using "Andy Warhol repeated images"). Probably the most challenging birdwatching one can do, along with the small sandpipers!

me ann my camera said...

deborah:
Thanks for the mention; I shall google Warhol as you suggest. As a previous middle school art teacher my thoughts are often influenced with comparisons of nature to other great works of art.

Anonymous said...

Awwww... what a cute little guy this is! I would have been excited to see this one too. Great shots!

Becky said...

Fantastic pictures Ann. I haven't been able to find any warblers all summer. Thanks for sharing.

Ruth said...

These warblers dropped by our neighbourhood in May for about 40 hours during spring migration. It was a lovely treat to see them. Beautiful set of pictures.

Mike said...

What a beautiful little bird, great shot of it too.

i beati said...

inquisitive face sk

Jane Hards Photography said...

These are wonderful.

yeahme.123 said...

Hey!

I really like the pictures you have. I just wanted to know though what type of turtle is the one you posted called? I have that turtle but can't find what the name of it is. If you don't mind can you email me the name thank you very much