Hooded Warbler at Boston Public Garden

I am back to birding, just about two weeks after my back surgery.  Though I did have a great time slowly meandering around the yard in western mass, seeing what I could without exerting myself too much (finding a number of yard birds), it was nice to go looking for a specific, slightly out of place, bird today.

After wandering around the garden for an hour, with little hope of finding the bird due to high winds, I spotted him on the ground feeding (with a cigarette perfectly placed for scale).




Apparently these birds do a lot tail flicking and fanning as they feed.


And as a result you get great views of the white in their tail.



A pause for breath.


It spent most of its time close to a small maintenance building, flycatching from perches, or feeding in a bush, staying clear of the wind.