BIRDS IN THEIR ELEMENTS

Starting Sunday afternoon, the local Audubon email alert was going wild.  Best Warbler day ever, I read.  The hotbed of activity seemed to be the south end of Boardman Lake around Medalie Park and the Boardman Lake Trail.  After the third alert, I couldn’t stand it, so I headed out.

My first sighting was this beautiful male Northern Cardinal.  It was nice to see the bird in a natural surrounding versus on my feeders.

It didn’t take long to spy another of my favorites, a Red-winged Blackbird.  This species’ birdsong fills the spring air with their beautiful trills.

I followed this beauty as it moved to a cattail spike.  It was fun to watch as it put its whole body into vocalizing.

And nearby was a female Red-winged Blackbird.  Can hardly believe these two are both RWBBs!  Like several species, the males and females are markedly different in appearance.

While I hadn’t yet seen any of the exotics yet, I began seeing birds new to me.  This Song Sparrow likes the marshy area where I photographed it.

This Eastern Phoebe was coming into its summer breeding grounds.  So far, I’d seen some new birds, but none of the warblers I’d heard about.

Then I hit the jackpot with this beautiful Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) Warbler.  This male was definitely migrating to its summer habitat.

The warbler turned my way for this goofy-looking front pose.  Then it took off.  I felt lucky to have sighted three new birds, including one of the exotic warbler types.  A banner day for birders.