Warblers....

Another nice day today, albeit a bit on the breezy side......

I think the water levels were up slightly today.  While I was standing trying to decide if the water had come or not....

I managed to spot this male Yellow Warbler hiding behind some leaves - they are always hiding behind leaves these days!  The reddish stripes on the breast are the for sure identifying features.  

heading towards home I spotted this female Yellow-rump Warbler with a mouthful of nesting material.  I hope she has better luck than the last Yellow-rump Warbler nest I knew of in our complex.  That one had been built down low in a roadside shrub.  It was decided the shrubs were in need of pruning.  Now pruning carefully with hand held pruning shears is one thing - taking an electric hedging shear to them is another entirely!  The nest and it's occupants went flying and even though the nest was put back, the parents were so traumatized they quit feeding the youngsters.

in the same vein....I was on my way to check on a friends Oriole feeders when I spotted this American Robin.  You will note he only has one leg.  The first time I spotted him was the day I was so upset with the massacre of the latest mature tree in here...whether the two were connected I don't know but I wouldn't be surprised.  He does seem to be managing OK with his handicap....he is puffed up in the photo because he was drying off after a bath.

a first year male Bullock's Oriole was at the feeder....

and a visit to the garbage containers netted this female Black-headed Grosbeak.  Again today I had people commenting on the lack of birds, especially swallows...but then we realized, there are no mosquitoes!  Now this could fall into the 'be careful what you wish for' category but it does seem very strange that there are none yet and of course swallows (not to mention bats and a great many of our summer avian visitors) eat mosquitoes, so if there are none here, they are either going to have to go where there is food, or starve.  Another factor is lack of nesting sites.  The Barn Swallows especially are having a hard time of it.  The other day I had noticed a pair building a nest on a home in here, today the owner of the home has destroyed the nest - what makes a human think they have more of a right than the birds that were here first!