Reifel Bird Sanctuary, April 29. The Yellow-rumped Warblers were everywhere, in way larger numbers than I ever remember seeing. They wouldn’t sit still for long, so it was sometimes super frustrating to capture them; but, there were so many I still managed more great shots in one day than in my entire previous birding career!
Incidentally, I wonder if they temporarily pushed out the locals. There seemed to be fewer chickadees around, and I think it’s chickadees and kinglets—similarly tiny, quick little fluffballs mostly hanging out in trees and eating bugs—that would be most affected.
And speaking of yellow, I’d heard there was a Yellow-headed Blackbird at Iona! It’s not a lifer for me, I’d seen one and taken its photo way back in 2021, but I figured that since 2023 Nic has better gear and more experience, so I could take way better photos. We swung by, but sadly though I did catch a few glimpses I could only get a couple of terrible shots.
So I went back the following day, feeling like a bit of a Moby Dick quest. This time my white whale (well, they have a bit of white) was right there on the boardwalk, getting fed by some guy.
And a good thing I did, because that was my last chance to go birding before my trip to Europe! I would have really hated to leave that bit undone. More about Prague and Vienna in another post…