Northern Parula
A Northern Parula – a small warbler that’s often found in wooded areas near streams or wetlands – has been singing in the trees around our house since late March. Its buzzy, rising trill has become one of the most familiar songs of the morning – and much of the day.
This morning a Parula visited our deck, checking out all the ferns and other plants, and then pausing on a table for several minutes, just looking around – long enough for Clate to get some very nice photos.
Its blue-gray head, green back, and bright yellow throat and breast were vivid. It always feels like catching a glimpse of something magical to see a tiny, colorful woodland bird like this so close up, one that usually stays well screened in the trees.
Because the breast band was little more than a smudge – not the coral and black of a male – I think this one was a female, but it might also have been a first-year. I don’t know them well enough to tell for sure.
Either way, it was special to see, and a nice way to start the day.