Families: Parulidae, Peucedramidae
New World Wood-warblers are small, active perching birds that are usually colorful. Most wood-warblers in the Americas are insectivores but some species feed on seeds, fruits, sap, and nectar. Many of these warblers are long distance migrators although there are some tropical species that stay in their ranges year round.
Two days ago my pulse quickened when I saw and heard my first of the season Yellow Warblers while looking for birds to photograph high up in the Wasatch Mountains.
Whatever the gender, I was delighted that the Myrtle Yellow-rumped Warbler perched in the tree long enough for me to take a nice series of images of it.
When I photographed this immature Yellow-rumped Warbler two days ago I couldn't tell what prey it had snagged so I was surprised when I got home and saw that the warbler had snatched a damselfly.
Here in northern Utah it isn't often that Myrtle and Audubon's Yellow-rumped Warblers are found perched in the same tree but four days ago that is what happened to me.
I haven't seen a Yellow Warbler in northern Utah for sometime now and it is pretty safe to say that these birds has taken wing and have headed to warmer climes for the winter.
For a few brief moments yesterday morning I had a lovely Yellow-rumped Warbler in my viewfinder at Farmington Bay that had perched in a leafy tree and I took full advantage of it being nearby.
When this hatch year Yellow Warbler popped out into an open area of a willow thicket in a beam of sunlight I was happy to take its photo.
I'm seeing more MacGillivray's Warblers this season than I have in previous years but I am still challenged by how quickly these warblers move and by how they can seem to disappear so quickly.
As a bird photographer I'm feeling a sense of urgency now that I didn't feel a few weeks ago because as I watch the migrants in the Wasatch Mountains getting ready for their long journeys I know that my time for photographing them this year is quickly running out.
Some birds that are molting can look a little odd and this molting male Yellow Warbler with a stubby little tails fits that description perfectly.
I could wish that the Orange-crowned Warbler didn't look as messy as it does but I am just so glad to have taken even one image where the orange crown is visible that I would toot a horn if I owned one.
I've been looking for Orange-crowned Warblers in the Wasatch Mountains to get better images of them this year and so far my best chance has been with this messy looking one I saw and photographed yesterday.
This MacGillivray's Warbler was foraging at the base of a serviceberry when I photographed it facing me and until I took photos of it I hadn't realized how big their eyes are for a warbler.
Yellow Warblers are small birds that look like feathered rays of sunshine that have come to earth and I am always delighted to photograph them
The first warbler species I ever photographed in Utah actually was a MacGillivray's Warbler at Silver Lake in Brighton on July 25, 2008 which was taken on my first bird photography trip to Utah prior to moving here from Florida.
While the male Yellow Warbler is small in the frame in both of these photos I think the inclusion of habitat provides visual interest and appeal.
Like the chokecherries I wrote about yesterday it seems that because of our wetter than normal spring the serviceberries are also doing very well so there should be plentiful fruit for the birds to feast on before they migrate this fall.
Before too long I expect to hear the "peep-peep" calls of Yellow Warbler chicks begging to be fed by their parents but in the meantime I am having a blast photographing the adults that I have been seeing.
Three days ago I photographed Yellow-rumped Warblers in the Wasatch Mountains, these warblers are a challenge because they move so quickly but they are always fun to have in my viewfinder.
The other bird I photographed that day in the high Uintas was a gorgeous male Yellow Warbler foraging in an aspen tree very close to where I sat inside a "mobile" blind at the edge of a dirt road.
I took a couple hundred images of the Yellow-rumped Warblers as they flitted around in search of prey next to the creek and after reviewing my images I only found a few that I felt were worth keeping.
The nicest surprise of the morning was when a female Belted Kingfisher perched on a branch close to a creek and the road.
On my second trip up into the mountains last week I was focused on a Barn Swallow perched in bushes near a creek when I caught a bit of movement in the bushes below the swallow and spotted this Yellow Warbler.
This Orange-crowned Warbler was only in my viewfinder for about a minute but she gave me great views and quite a few different poses to photograph and I was delighted with the photos I took.
I've had a like - dislike relationship with this male Yellow-rumped Warbler photo since I took it during migration last spring.
All in all, as 2018 comes to a close I realize how fortunate I am to see all the birds that I do throughout the year as a bird photographer, to be able to do what I love and to love my feathered subjects too.
I'm just posting this sweet, little Yellow Warbler this morning because I have been missing our summer birds. I have been missing all birds actually because it seems like forever since I have been out into the field.
I seem to have missed out on seeing lots of Yellow-rumped Warblers this year during their fall migration, I saw a few back in late September and early October but haven't seen any for some time.
I was looking through some of the images I took in August and came across this photo of an Orange-crowned Warbler foraging in the Wasatch Mountains and realized I hadn't processed or shared it yet.
Last month I spotted a male Wilson's Warbler perched on the top of a Fragrant Sumac bush in northern Utah and he stood out well because he was out in the open for a few seconds.