Birds were out this past Monday and once again I went through the mostly frustrating process of trying to get some shots. I managed to get this unintentionally soft-focused image that I like. The angle of the shot is strange and the bird seems almost distorted, possibly because of the way in which he is sticking out his neck, but I love the blue markings on the wings. The blue color, in fact, helped me to identify the bird as most likely a Cerulean Warbler (Setophaga cerulea) for it turns out that there are not that many blue-colored birds.
UPDATE: Joel Eagle has corrected my false identification. It’s a Nuthatch, not a Cerulean Warbler. The name may not be as cool-sounding, but the bird is still as beautiful. Check out Joel’s blog “Pops & Mojo Photos” for some wonderful insect photos (and birds too).
Nuthatch
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Hi Mike, I have these guys in my backyard quite often, it’s a Nuthatch.
Yikes, foiled again in my attempt to identify a bird. Thanks for the help. I added an update to the post and changed the title.
Thanks Mike!
Nobody said identifying birds was easy. A good way to learn bird is to do Christmas Bird Counts. They’re held across the country. My kids and I started birding that way.
If I decide to get into taking photos of birds, I will certainly consider doing something like the bird counts, as you suggested. Thanks for the tip.
The kids and I did bird counts for years. It’s a good family activity. States do counts by county too. I was compiler for our county. It can be a competition too. Wasn’t for me though.