I spent most of yesterday birding, adding three new birds to my life list! I have been hearing about the Yellow-Rumped Warbler that wintered at Kelly's Brook. After the third set of directions, I found my way to the small brook that runs behind the ball park off Empire Avenue. I really wasn't expecting to see it. I have been to Long Pond in search of a Black-Backed Woodpecker seven times, and I still haven't found it.
When I arrived, I began walking the trail by the brook and things were not looking hopeful. The warbler is such a small little bird and the woods were thick. At any rate it was a nice walk. When I got to the end of the brook by the bridge, I had accepted that I wouldn't see it today. Then, there it was flitting in an open tree. I saw it for about 10 seconds but couldn't get my camera set up. It was gone. I was left wondering if I had really seen the warbler or some other little bird. I certainly didn't see any yellow. I decided to wait and see if it would come back. Then out of the blue I saw two Green-winged Teal. They kept me busy for a while. I'll post those shots another day.
I started my walk back along the brook and decided to dart into the woods a bit to see if I could get a better shot of the teal when I saw a little bird. It was so far away that I couldn't identify it. Nevertheless, I got my camera working and started shooting.
I posted this shot just to illustrate how big the above crop is. This image is a 90% crop of the original shot. The Warbler in flight posted above is about a 7% crop of the original picture.
I know that Rule #1 for photographing birds is to ensure that the eye and the beak are in focus. However, Rule #315 is when the name of the bird is a "Yellow-Rumped Warbler" and you are able to capture the yellow rump, then you can post the picture anyway!