When I’m not on vacation, my favorite place to bird is Theler Wetlands. Birding often seems a little slow during the summer, but I usually see enough birds to thoroughly enjoy the day. We weren’t seeing many birds on June 7th, so I was excited to spot a small flock of Cedar Waxwings flying back and forth. Unfortunately, they didn’t seem to want their picture taken. So, we ended up spending a lot of time standing, waiting for them to settle down.
While standing there, we heard a Common Yellowthroat calling right in front of us. I quickly switched to hunting for it, fully expecting that it would be long gone before I ever located it. After all, we commonly hear them but seldom actually see them.
Amazingly, instead of ducking back into the vegetation, its normal behavior, it flew right in front of us,
landed a few feet away and made louder calls than before, definitely attracting our attention.
As I stood there capturing multiple poses, another bird flew into view, a female Common Yellowthroat with a large bug in her beak
Clearly, there must have been a nest nearby, which made me assume that the male must have been trying to get us to move away from the nest.
I took one more shot before quickly leaving the area.
I was thrilled by the whole experience and am convinced that this is the best picture I have taken so far this year.
What a treat — Your images are always amazing, but I also love the way you (once again) weave together a compelling story about this rare sighting.
What a chest! Nice waiting, Loren…