The warblers are here!

I hit “publish” on this yesterday, but found it in my “drafts” folder today, so I don’t know what happened. Sorry that you didn’t get to see it until now.

Sure, folks have reported seeing them for at least a week, and the waterthrush I showed you yesterday, which the experts have since confirmed is indeed a Louisiana waterthrush, is technically a warbler, but this morning I finally captured images I can show you of a bird with the word “warbler” right in its name. Yay!

This is a yellow-rumped warbler by the pond and aptly named for the little patch of yellow on its back, just above the tail, that you can see here just under its wingtips.

I saw at least 5 different individuals throughout the park this morning, and here’s a nicer picture of one by the river. These are both males of the “myrtle” variety.

This one, with the subdued coloring is a female, I believe.

Another new bird for the season is this ruby-crowned kinglet, who was doing its very best to avoid showing us its ruby crown!

You can just make out one little ruby dot on the back of its head in this not-quite-as-nice image.

And, to round out the trifecta of new birds for the season, I finally spotted this trio of blue-winged teals on the river.

Also on the river, I saw both a male and a female belted kingfisher fishing at different points. Here’s the male, with his plain white belly, below the falls, …

And here’s the female, with her “chestnut belly band”, above the falls.

Plus, I caught both buffleheads up out of the water for the first time.

Meanwhile, up on the pond, there were a full dozen wood ducks, including two couples, …

one, as yet, unattached hen, and seven bachelors all vying for the last playoff berth. Here are six of the drakes with the one hen on the far right. It was quite a circus.