I was both shocked and delighted to spot this brilliant male Prothonotary Warbler (Protonotaria citrea) on Monday during a trip to Huntley Meadows Park, a local marshland refuge. All of the other times that previously I spotted these colorful little birds were during the early spring and I did not know that they were still around in our area.
It is hard for a bird so brightly colored to hide itself completely, but I am used to seeing only flashes of yellow amidst the foliage high in the trees. In this case I spotted the warbler when it was perched on a wooden fence. As I got a little closer, it dropped down to ground level, but I was able to find a small visual tunnel that gave me an unobstructed view of this beautiful little warbler and was able to capture this image.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
So cute!
Thanks so much. “Cute” is a perfect descriptor for the bright little bird.
Very welcome! Loved the bright yellow, brought a smile!
Very Bright & Colorful Mike!
He’s a cute little guy. I’m glad you were able to get this photo, Mike.
Thanks, Dan. I was exited when I saw it and totally psyched when I managed to get a shot of the warbler.
What a beautiful little warbler. Nice catch, Mike.
Thanks, Steve. In a pinch, my macro lens can serve as a birding lens–with my crop sensor camera, the 180mm macro has an equivalent field of view of 288mm. 🙂
Color almost too good to be true LOL. Nice catch.
A few other warblers have a yellow that intense as does the male goldfinch, but none of them seem to have such a large patch of bright yellow feathers. The only other kind of birds come to mind that have a color that looks like I went heavy on the saturation slider are the bluebirds–sometimes the blue of the males is unbelievably intense. 🙂
Great capture! They are not an easy bird to photograph like many warblers they are moving quickly. Wonderful shot!
Thanks, Lisa.
Wow! What a great shot!
Thanks. I was fortunate that the warbler hopped off of the fence down onto the ground instead of flying aways. That gave me a fighting chance to get the shot.
Aren’t you blessed!!!!
Blue Rock Horses Frederick County, Virginia bluerockhorses.com
Indeed I am. I am amazed quite often at the number of things that I manage to see and to discover.