A Little Bird Fallout

Yellow-throated Vireo

Galveston saw a very rainy front move through on Saturday and on Sunday morning my back yard was alive with little migrants. Alas, there was lingering cloud cover of the dark, brooding, sun blocking type, so I was mostly confined to enjoying my birds via binocular. I wish I had more photos to share but most of what I got was just too horrible.

I am officially renaming this blog to No Sunshine for Old Men.

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

The good news is: 3 life birds, including the above gnatcatcher, some Northern Parulas and the spectacular Black-and-White Warbler. Also seen were some hoodeds and the Yellow-throated Vireo. These were all clustering in the large live oak out by the alley and there was enough activity that it actually attracted a hawk (don’t know what kind) that was quickly harassed from the premises by several Blue Jays. The neighborhood jays are like the U.S. Marines!

In the afternoon the sky cleared up along with most the bird activity, but I saw this gnatcatcher light in the pecan 3 quick times and on the 3rd I swung the lens and clicked and got lucky. If not for the photo I’d have no idea what I saw. My first off-hand guess was Blue-headed Vireo, but that crisp, round, uninterrupted eye-ring ruled that out.

Black-and-White Warbler
Northern Parula
Yellow-throated Vireo
Hooded Warbler
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

UPDATE: It’s a sunny day today and the gnatcatchers are out in force.