Tag Archives: songbird

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Craig Tooley found this small songbird recently, a Common Yellowthroat.

Notice the black "mask" across this bird's eyes. That tells you it is a male. The call of the male Common Yellowthroat is described as "witchety-witchety-witchety."

You can hear the call for yourself at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology at this link: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Common_Yellowthroat/sounds It is quite a distinctive call!

Thanks to Craig for allowing me to share his photo with you here. To see much more of Craig's nature photography, here is the link to his website: http://www.ruffimage.com

After some tropical moisture came in late yesterday, we had some light rain and flashes lightning. All is sunny and fresh today.

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One of the birds that migrates into our area in the spring is the Wilson's Warbler. Craig Tooley recently photographed one.

Wilson's Warbler perches by Craig TooleyIt looks like it is wearing a black toupee! This warbler often raises its tail and flips it from side to side. You can hear its whistling call at this link: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Wilsons_Warbler/sounds

This small songbird eats insects and berries.

Wilson's Warbler by Craig Tooley

Thanks to Craig for allowing me to share his photos with you here. To see much more of Craig's nature photography, here is his website: www.ruffimage.com

Craig is going to be at the Four-eyed Frog Bookstore in Gualala this coming Saturday at 2 pm. He will show tips on how to take wonderful nature photos, especially the ones that are in the book we did together, Mendonoma Sightings Throughout the Year.

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Perhaps it was one of the recent storms that blew this rare visitor to Point Arena. Leslie Dahlhoff wrote, “How exciting! Eric, the non-birder, actually spotted it in our backyard and told me I should check it out. There I saw the sunniest, yellowest bird seriously chowing down on aphids in the artichoke.”

A rare visitor - a male Prothonotary Warbler by Leslie Dahlhoff male Prothonotary Warbler by Leslie Dahlhoff

This songbird is usually found in wooded swamps in the southeast. Wow, is this bird off course! To hear its call, here is a link to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Prothonotary_Warbler/sounds

Thanks to Leslie for allowing me to share her photos with you here.

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Yellow-rumped Warblers are arriving on the Mendonoma coast to spend the winter here. Their song can be heard from trees. I learned on the Cornell Lab of Ornithology website that they are the only warbler that can digest the wax of the berries of Wax Myrtle and Bayberries.

Here's a link to their site where you can hear their sweet call.
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Yellow-rumped_Warbler/sounds

Craig Tooley has photographed this small songbird several times and has kindly allowed me to share them with you here.

To see more of Craig's work, here is a link to his website: http://web.me.com/theruffians1