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Female Yellow Warbler at Blue Hills

My boyfriend and I made a trip to Blue Hills last weekend and I was thrilled when he wanted to go to Fowl Meadow. We hadn't been there since our first trip in January 2007 when I tried out my new camera. This time of year there's much more activity there, as many of you locals know.
Steve got some really great pictures of a Female Yellow Warbler:


We were tipped off about a Rose-breasted Grosbeak and about halfway through out hike we encountered a male that was very active and tended to stay high in the canopy, hence the crummy pictures:


We also encountered a Mallard family as we went through a swampy area. I heard them first and then saw the mother and babies making their way away from the path to the other side of the swamp. The male was actually in the trees above us and did a lot of squawking and flying around in distress. This died down of course as we got further away from the family.


Here are some non-bird pictures I got while in the Fowl Meadow. This is an iris that I saw along the main path that leads in from the parking area. Are there any flower experts out there? I'd love to know what species it is.
Here's a little violet or Johnny Jump-up I believe.

Here's a Garter Snake that Steve got.

We also encountered some Great-crested Flycatchers I believe (they were flycatchers and I'm assumed Great-crested since they're the most common around here) but didn't get any good pictures. Also lots of Yellow Warblers, Red-winged blackbirds and Song Sparrows. It was a great trip and I can't wait to go back and spend more time there.
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Comments

Larry said…
Congratulations on that Yellow Warbler pic! You are starting to get some good results with that camea.-You said you were determined and you have made a belever out of me!
May 29, 2008 at 6:19:00 PM PDT
Bluebird of Friendliness said…
We used to live in Boston and Cambridge and once made a trip to Blue Hills, like you. This was long before I was a birder. But the thing I remember most vividly about that trip (May or June 2004)was my encounter with literally thousands of the tiniest frogs or maybe toads I had ever seen. They were smaller than my pinky fingertip and they carpeted the walking path in vast numbers. I never investigated what they could be, but that was just an awesome moment. I think I let one climb onto my hand for a bit. I love a moment of magic in nature!
May 29, 2008 at 9:21:00 PM PDT
dguzman said…
Nice pics -- we have yellow warblers falling out of the trees around my house this year. I even saw one prairie warbler--but he must've just been passing through.
June 6, 2008 at 11:56:00 AM PDT
Birdinggirl said…
@Larry: thanks for the kind words! I was excited with our results from that trip. Can't wait to make it back there soon.

@Leah: That's really cool! Do you remember what part of Blue Hills you were in when you saw the frogs? I'll have to check it out.

@dguzman: Yes, yellow warblers are quite numerous here as well. I got excited about the female we saw, thinking it was some rare type of warbler but in the end it made the most sense it was a female since there were so many males on the same path.
June 7, 2008 at 7:15:00 AM PDT
Amila Salgado said…
Hi BirdingGirl,
Nice photograph of the Yellow Warbler. It looks a lot like one of our birds. Snake's cool too.
June 16, 2008 at 7:39:00 PM PDT
dguzman said…
That flower is beautiful--maybe an iris of some sort?
June 18, 2008 at 7:25:00 AM PDT
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