Copyright ©2015 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
This morning I went back to the reserve where I went a couple of weeks ago; where I saw my first Yellow Warbler hoping to see it again only closer, and longer. I was seeing lots of Sparrows, and Yellow Rumped Warblers, the pair California Towhee’s were present, and so too was the Blue Jay, and a Northern Flicker flew in, but he kept his back to me only giving me side looks. Stuck up bird! 🙂
40 minutes after I arrived a yellow blur caught my eye and there it was! I quickly swung my rig around and fired off 3 rapid bursts. Then the bird was gone.
My first shot caught him landing and was so blurry it was unusable, the middle shot the bird was there, and the 3rd frame…no bird in it at all. I wouldn’t know for sure if I had a keeper image or not until I saw it on my computer. Though it did look promising in playback.
I didn’t see the Yellow Warbler again, and I stayed in the area until well after 9AM when it began to get busy with runners, dog walkers, and Saturday morning strollers.
He’s a beauty. I’ll be heading back over there again soon hoping to see him, and that Northern Flickr again.
Nikon D700| AF-S Nikkor 300mm f/4| SanDisk Extreme Pro Digital Film| CS6
More to come…
Addendum: It’s been brought to my attention that this isn’t a Yellow Warbler after all; it’s a Lesser Goldfinch Female. Thank you https://myrsbytes.wordpress.com/ !
I’ll keep trying to capture that Yellow Warbler, but I’m glad I saw and was able to make an image of this little beauty especially since she didn’t hang around long!
Circadianreflections Blog 
He’s a beauty!
Than you Cybele!
Nice catch! Warblers are tough to captured.
Thank you!
Oo, I’m so glad you went back to the reserve and saw a variety of little birds. Lovely photograph of the speedy yellow bird :-)! I don’t think it is a Yellow Warbler because of the shape of its beak. Warblers have much finer beaks. I think it might be a Lesser Goldfinch female. What do you think? I saw a picture of the Lesser Goldfinch female on All About Birds.
You might be right! I’ll look at the two more closely. Thank you!!!
Addendum: After studying the two more this morning I find the tails are different as well. You’re right! I’ll change the title.
Well, I won’t say I’m not disappointed; I am. I’ll try again and hope to see the Yellow Warbler again one day. Thanks for your ID help!!
Thanks for introducing me to the Lesser Goldfinch :-). I’ve never seen one in the flesh. Initially I thought your bird was a female Western Tanager, since I had looked at a picture recently. But the beak and colors weren’t quite right. Your little goldfinch is wonderfully cute and yellow but I am still looking forward to your next photo shoot with a Yellow Warbler.
Wow what a beautiful little guy! I love how he is sitting looking down! Such fast birds great shot!!
Thank you Lynn! They are quick!
such a pretty yellow!
What a great photo. It looks like he posed for you!
Thank you Dan! I wish he wasn’t so flitty and had stayed posed a little longer. 🙂
wow
Thanks!
Congratulations on your catch Deborah, it is a beauty
Thank you so much Harold!
I’ve been meaning to ask you if you’ve experienced any of the AF issues that have been reported with your new lens?
Short answer is no, only a couple of times it wouldn’t auto focus and that was because what I was shooting was too close and when trying to shoot a bear with my 1.7tc on. The Bear was black, in dark surroundings and it was almost nightfall. Basically was asking more of the lens than it was capable of delivering. My wife and I are going to be heading south for the winter in the near future and my sister in-law was telling me about Monarch Butterflies in Southern California, do you know when and where they show up at?
So happy to hear your copy is working perfectly! My old 300mm f4 is beginning to act up again. 😦
Monarch Butterflies in SO CAL…research the San Juan Capistrano area. Here in No. CAL they’re showing up in Santa Cruz where they winter every year. Come here! 🙂
Love the photo! How exciting to see exactly what you wanted to 🙂
Thank you so much Nicole! I’m so glad birds are territorial and return to the same place over and over again. That has helped me more than anything when it comes to finding birds.