May 26, 2005 [LINK]
Yellow warblers
I saw a Yellow warbler in the wetland meadow on Bell's Lane this morning, and heard several others singing. There were a few Willow flycatchers as well. There seem to be just as many breeding pairs of both those species in that prime piece of "real estate" as there were last year.
I have heard Blackpoll warblers near our abode several times today, but so far none have popped into view. To my surprise, however, I did see a bright male Yellow warbler out back, quite unusual for inside the city limits. He was singing, in spite of the nearby construction noise, and it makes me wonder: Will a pair settle down and nest in our neighborhood? For at least two weeks we were seeing Northern rough-winged swallows out back every day, and some of them had started to build nests inside the ventilation ducts of the condo building being built, but then the workers covered the holes with vents. I hope no nesting females were trapped inside... A pair of Carolina wrens have built a nest inside a box on our back patio, so we look forward to seeing more baby birds in two or three weeks.
Beetle romance
Since it's "that time" of the year again, I thought this picture of these amorous gold-headed beetles would be appropriate. I took it several years ago, in Charlottesville. They were on the hood of my old Isuzu, of all places!