The Now Common Formerly Uncommon Common Yellowthroat At Prophetstown State Park

This was one of the first warblers that I saw a few years ago. It was so cool looking to me, but I didn’t make the photo. The encounter was only a few seconds and I missed my chance. These little birds do not like to be around humans for too long so when you see them you had better make your chance count. I did not see them for a long time so I started calling them the uncommon yellowthroat. Of course when I started seeing them more often my name for them turned into a Monty Python sketch. It is always great to hear them call though while walking knowing that there is a good chance that it will eventually pop up.

When It Pops Up In The Perfect Spot

I was leaving the park on Thursday seeing the rain coming in quickly when I saw this little guy pop up right where I had come from. I doubled back using the growth as a little cover. I made a few photos of it before finding the right spot. I talked about Joel Sartore on the blog the other day. Here is one spot where working the scene like he will in the field paid off. I made the photos that I could right away. They would have been okay, but not the best. There were stray sticks and other things in the way. With a safety in the can I could then work the scene to get everything just how I wanted it. You don’t always get this long with a bird, but here I was mostly covered so it worked out. Even though I didn’t have much time to spare I am glad that I took the extra time to work this photo a little.