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.

Second set

Another Hooded and Blue-winged Warbler showed up in the nets, both young females.

Manomet

Four days in and we're up to 25 species! Lots of catbirds and Carolina Wrens, but otherwise a great mix, with ten species of warbler so far.

Northern Waterthrush from this morning.


My lifer Hooded Warbler.  The photo's a bit bright, but this was a stunning bird.  Big too!


My first Prairie Warbler in hand...wait, no, they were the first birds I ever worked with, back in 2009 in Montague!


Our only Brown Thrasher so far, which made all sorts of wonderful sounds in hand.