Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Much later in the day, I went outside for a short break, and watched a Ruby-crowned Kinglet moving through the low branches and small, faded leaves of a water oak near the porch. It was close enough to see in beautiful detail – a tiny gray bird with a green tint over the back and short white bars in the wings, a white ring around the eye, and a pale gray breast. The ruby crest wasn’t showing, but even without it, the kinglet looked bright and vivid. It moved quickly, often flitting from spot to spot and flicking its wings, and it chattered a dry, stuttering jidit-jidit now and then. Twice it flew up to catch a small flying insect, but mostly it searched the drab orange and brown and yellow leaves and picked off very tiny things, mites and insects much to small for me to see. It seemed to be finding a lot of something, and it stayed and went from leaf to leaf to leaf, sometimes also capturing something from a twig or branch. The little bird with its crisp colors and movements looked like an animated jewel among the dry and muted leaves.

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