Songo Blue Skies

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Warbler Still in Breeding Plumage in Brooklyn Backyard

We were hit by quite a storm last Thursday and a tornado touched down not too far from my home. So, I was in the backyard late this afternoon looking at what still needed to be cleaned up. A tree man had come and gotten the top of my neighbor's tree out of the pool and from the branches above. Now if the cable company will come to get the wires out of the pool. Anyhow, my eye caught this flitting among the trees. The bird was so small I immediately thought warbler. He came and went and at a couple of points I saw two of them. At first all I could see was that it's belly was white and it had a black throat and it looked black above except for a white wing spot. I spotted it fly up from the ground once and got the impression that it was blue in it's upper parts. Could it be a black-throated blue warbler still in breeding plumage? I looked in my neighbor's yard and there he was foraging around; definately blue above with black face and throat. I was amazed and thrilled. The pictures are not great because it was so late in the afternoon and I had to run most of them through photo shop but I think you will agree with me that it is a Black-throated Blue Warbler. Two of them at least right here in a Brooklyn backyard. Who would have thought?




I had another small bird in the backyard as well this afternoon which I am trying to identify. I'll post the picture of that one tomorrow. I may need help figuring out its identity.


4 comments:

Dan Huber said...

Great captures Cindy - hope the start of autumn is going well for you.

dan

Andrea said...

How exciting for you! I remember you searching for a black throated warbler by school early one morning last spring. Just goes to show-There's no place like home!

FAB said...

What a treat to find this Warbler, probably blown in by the storm weather. I hope you didn't suffer too much damage Cindy. FAB.

Larry said...

What a great bird to see.The photos are really pretty good considering the bird.Those aren't easy to get photos of-I know-I've tried and missed.