Yellow Warblers are anything but mellow instead  they are frenetic, hyperactive, frenzied, energetic and move so quickly they sometimes make me dizzy trying to track them with my long lens. But they are fun to photograph and to watch hurrying around looking for prey to snap up with their tiny little beaks. Usually when I see them I have time to focus, fire and then watch as they take off and fly away.

Yellow Warbler male on a thin branch, Little Emigration Canyon, Summit County, UtahYellow Warbler male on a thin branch – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/800, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light

More often than not the Yellow Warblers I see are the males, they sing on top of shrubs and trees and are quite the songsters plus they also seem to be devoted parents because I see them feeding their young far more frequently than the females. They flit around looking for insects under the leaves and branches of trees and shrubs and sometimes all I see is a flash of yellow before they are gone from my sight.

Male Yellow Warbler foraging on the ground, Little Emigration Canyon, Summit County, UtahMale Yellow Warbler foraging on the ground – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/2500, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light

And at times they even forage on the bare ground and in the grasses. There is an ant in front of this male Yellow Warbler yet the warbler left it alone and flew off to a shrub to look for prey instead. Maybe they don’t like the taste of ants.

Perky Yellow Warbler male, Little Emigration Canyon, Summit County, UtahPerky Yellow Warbler male – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/1250, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light

I took these Yellow Warbler photos yesterday up in a Wasatch Mountain canyon. I don’t think these four photos are of all the same bird. I believe there was more than one male foraging in the area because the reddish streaking on the breasts of two birds in my images seems more vivid than on the other two. This male warbler seemed quite perky on the branch he perched upon.

Male Yellow Warbler in a Hawthorn tree, Little Emigration Canyon, Summit County, UtahMale Yellow Warbler in a Hawthorn tree – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/800, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light

I know I have been sharing a lot of Yellow Warbler photos since May but these bright yellow warblers are only with us for a few months of the year and I am taking full advantage of their presence now.

Life is good.

Mia

Click here to see more of my Yellow Warbler photos plus facts and information about this species.