On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
Happy Monday!
We’ve got a great mix of things this week. Should be fun!
(click on the schedule below for a bigger, non-blurry version)
Albatrossity
The rush of migrant birds increases after Tax Day, and each day usually brings species that have not been seen since last year. Birders have acronyms for lots of things, and so of course they have one for this occasion. FOS – First of Season, or FOY – First of Year. So let’s look at some mid-April FOS birds.
One of the highlights of spring here is the reappearance, for just a few days, of the Yellow-headed Blackbirds (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus). The Animal Science department at Kansas State University has a research unit less than half a mile from my house, and those large animal operations attract flocks of blackbirds at various times of year. Mid-April is when these magnificent specimens show up, with their unique squawks and whistles, and I look forward to it every year. Click here for larger image.
The retention ponds at this animal research unit attract shorebirds as well, although usually only in small numbers. Frankly, I would prefer to go shorebirding at a less smelly marsh or other wetland, but there are none of those very close. So I wander through the unit most every morning, and in April I am often rewarded with sightings like these Wilson’s Phalaropes (Phalaropus tricolor). These beauties winter on inland lakes in western South America, and summer on inland lakes and wetlands in North America. Look for them at a wetland near you! Click here for larger image.
A migrant that does not cover the vast distances traveled by the phalaropes, the House Wren (Troglodytes aedon) that shows up in my yard every spring probably winters in Texas or Mexico; dunno if they form caravans of migrants or not. But this species, represented by at least 31 subspecies, has the biggest latitudinal range of any North American passerine. House Wrens are resident year-round across all of South America, down to the tip of Tierra del Fuego. Tough little guys! Click here for larger image.
Warblers are the jewels in the crown of North American migrants, and one of our earliest arrivals is also one of the prettiest. Northern Parula (Setophaga americana). These tiny beings can be found in riparian woodlands across most of eastern North America, and are even more prized here, because we have relatively few woody areas and relatively few summertime warbler species. Click here for larger image.
Although many range maps do not show it, the Myrtle subspecies of the Yellow-rumped Warbler (Setophaga coronata coronata) winters in my corner of Flyover country. In the spring, however, our locals are joined by hordes of migrants from the south. There was some commentary about how to tell if a bird is molting in last week’s installment, so here is a composite shot to illustrate that. The bird at left has lots of brown feathers on the crown, on the back, and elsewhere. Those are old worn feathers, and they are being replaced by the darker black feathers of the breeding -season plumage. That bird is probably a local over-wintering individual, since it was still molting here. The bird at right has black feathers in the places where the other one had brown ones; it is probably a migrant since it seems to have competed its spring molt. Click here for larger image.
The other wrinkle in the story for Yellow-rumped Warblers is the fact that there are two subspecies currently recognized (NB that in the past these two were lumped into a single species, and may be lumped again in the future). The western subspecies, S. c. auduboni) is pretty distinctive, plumage-wise. They have a bright yellow throat, heavier/less streaky black bib, and more white on the wing (among other differences). We don’t see that subspecies very often here, but we do see individuals that show intermediate characters, probably intergrades between the two subspecies. Here’s one of those; the same individual is also in the next image. I will let you ponder these images rather than point out the differences; you might be able to see some of the other, more subtle, plumage differences as well. Click here for larger image.
In-flight image of the intergrade individual seen in the previous image. Click here for larger image.
Red-eyed Vireos (Vireo olivaceous) are another ubiquitous denizen of woodlands across eastern North America returning in mid-April. And yes, that eye really is red! Click here for larger image.
I would be remiss if I left waterfowl out of this discussion, since the springtime plumages of many of the returning and passage ducks can be quite spectacular. Here are two Blue-winged Teal (Spatula discors) couples (males in foreground, females behind) where the males seem to be good friends. Click here for larger image.
Finally, as is the case with other photographs, sometimes unexpected critters photobomb your subject. This Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes) had one place it wanted to land, and really didn’t care about my attempt to photograph a Wilson’s Phalarope. Click here for larger image.
Don
That Parula looks pissed! lol Thanks for starting my Monday so well, again.
Don
That Parula looks pissed! lol Thanks for starting my Monday so well, again.
SiubhanDuinne
I love the Northern Parula — such lovely colours. But that’s some wicked side eye he’s giving you!
eclare
Ha! That last photo is hilarious.
Spanky
I have never seen a Northern Parula, but I’ve been hearing that distinctive song in the pines across the street for three years now, since Merlin told me what it was. I’ve pretty much given up looking at this point.
scribbler
Wrong thread
J.
Great captures. And, wow, that yellow-headed blackbird! Beautiful!
stinger
Love the dainty colors of the Northern Parula, though it does seem to be saying, “Get that camera outta my face.” The compare-and-contrast shots of the Yellow-Rumped Warblers are so useful. The last image made me laugh, but I was already wondering who was in the background of the (more successful) Wilson’s Pharalope shot — it does not have yellow legs. Great Blue Heron?
SteveinPHX
Thank you! Wonderful start to the week.
Albatrossity
@stinger: That background bird is another Wilson’s Phalarope, with muddy legs
WaterGirl
Quick programming note: we have an Albatrossity Monday or two coming up – without Albatrossity – because he seems to think that a trip to Costa Rica trumps giving us a post in the morning.
I hope he gets his priorities straight pretty soon. :-)
Anyway, we’ll have Albatrossity next week on 5/20, but he’ll miss 5/27 for sure. Just wanted to let everyone know.
pat
We always called the Yellow-rumped Warblers “butterbutts.”
Thanks for the great pics. I’ve got to get out to the state park today!
StringOnAStick
I saw yellow headed blackbirds for the first time ever last week, in the cattails surrounding a small pond at Crystal Crane hot springs, near lake Malheur. Each set had babies hidden and peeping when they though food was coming. Such a good looking bird!
Lake Malheur is near Burns, OR and very rural MAGAT land. I was last through there 3.5 years ago and it looked so rundown, typical rural decline. Now it’s looking much more prosperous, new businesses and a big road improvement project, no doubt funding by Biden’s infrastructure bill. I didn’t see any tRump signs like before either but I still expect this area to vote for him.
Albatrossity
@StringOnAStick: Yes, Malheur is a lovely refuge for birding, but the politics of the locals, not so much…
Yellow-headed Blackbirds are expected breeding birds in at least one refuge in Kansas (Cheyenne Bottoms), but I only see them here in migration. The babies are pretty much ungainly adolescents, but charming in their own way!
pieceofpeace
@StringOnAStick: That’s the area of the infamous standoff on federal (indigenous?) land by MAGA ‘rancher, squatter Bundy.
pieceofpeace
Also like the Parula, and s/he couldn’t have chosen a more color-coordinating spot…
stinger
@Albatrossity: Thanks!
@WaterGirl: I think you need to cancel Albatrossity’s subscription. Or his paycheck. Or something. This is unacceptable.
mvr
That in flight warbler shot is amazing!
Thanks!
Yutsano
I had no idea until now that I needed yellow head blackbirds in my life until just now.