Conversations at the Water Cooler


I’ve come to realize that our backyard pond is one of our greatest assets. From the get-go, it’s been a wildlife attractor — the sound of the waterfall has called to toads, frogs, birds, dragonflies, and the like. But the raised pond, formerly someone’s discarded hot tub, also provides a type of wildlife protection that regular in-ground ponds don’t.

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It is a pond with a view, allowing birds and other creatures to drink safely while avoiding ambush. Furthermore, the deeper water stays cool in the hot summer, and we have minimal evaporation (as well as minimal maintenance) all year long. Win-win!

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Nashville Warblers

Granted, it’s migration season right now, but I’ve never seen so many birds in our yard all at one time. I’m saving hummingbird photos for the next post, because the warblers have me obsessed right now — not that I don’t love my little hummingbirds, but they got the attention last time!

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Can you spot the Nashville Warbler in the Lindheimer’s Senna?

So far I’ve seen at least four warbler species, and at least a couple of vireos. The Nashville Warblers are the most numerous. They have an insect buffet in the Lindheimer’s Senna and nearby plants, and then they move over a few feet to have a (cool-water) hot-tub party.

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Sometimes they invite friends.

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Yellow warbler, maybe?

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Wilson’s Warbler

How about a size comparison?

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Seeing a warbler in the trees can be very misleading — they are much smaller than one might realize. Since most of us know cardinals, and because a cardinal and warbler both decided to pose for me in a moment of gracious cooperation, let’s compare. A Northern Cardinal is about 21-23 cm long and 42-48 g, while the Nashville Warbler is about 10-12 cm long and weighs a mere 7-12 g. That the cardinal is considered “mid-sized” is plainly obvious in the image.

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A female cardinal then took a turn as a model. For whatever reason, the lady Cardinals have all had their crest feathers in a pronounced up-do lately. Did they all go to the same salon?

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Black-Throated Green Warbler?

 

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Hmmm — this one has me stumped. Could it be a Warbling Vireo, maybe?


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Likewise, here.

At least I know this next one, a Bewick’s Wren. Seemed less skittish than my Carolina Wrens, so I got far more Bewick’s pictures in 2 minutes than I’ve ever gotten of all my Carolinas put together (not including babies in a nest that couldn’t fly away from my camera). I’ll just show one, though.

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I just love watching the way wrens look for insects in their very efficient, no-nonsense manner.

Other new visitors to the garden have been a White-Eyed Vireo, a Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher, a Broad-Winged Hawk, and another much more speckled hawk that the Blue Jays aggressively chased away, but all I have to show for all of them is one rather sucky picture of the gnatcatcher that I’m not bothering to post (actually, several very, very sucky pictures of the gnatcatcher, with only one picture slightly less sucky than the rest). Needless to say, you get nada, zero, zip.

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But I promise to hop out there to try again.

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Black-Crested Titmouse

Enough chattering! Get back to work!

20 thoughts on “Conversations at the Water Cooler

  1. What a treat! You’ve set me on alert to watch my yard more closely for different species of birds. By the way do you have any wide shots of your hot tub pond? I’d love to see it.

  2. What fantastic pictures. I could watch the birds in my garden all day, and it’s most fun to watch them around the birdbaths. Having a little pond is a dream I hope will come true. The lady cardinals in my garden are sporting that same perky up-do!

  3. Abbey, the details on the pond are on the link in the post — or visit “Our Pond” on the sidebar. Definitely be watching for birds — they’re on the move!

  4. Alan, it was indeed a party — I hope to have another one tomorrow!
    Ginny, it’s easier than you think to have a pond — we have two other small ones that only cost us about $50 to make.

  5. I do find it really funny that there are so many birds that I didn’t even notice because they were so small – generally the cardinal is about the smallest I see, and I totally freaked out when I saw a really bright big yellow bird at the water dish the other day (I think I figured out it was an oriel) when all i’ve seen up until now have been much, much smaller.

  6. Your photographs are amazing. I can’t even imagine how much time (and patient waiting) it took to capture them. I’ve never seen a yellow warbler (we do have yellow finches). They are beautiful little birds. Their colors are subtle yet rich, all at the same time… and they look like they were posing for you!

  7. Thanks, everyone! Cathy and Steve, I find it amazing how close they are letting me get, still several feet away, mind you, but close enough for some pictures. Our residential birds are quite used to me — perhaps the warblers pick up on the other birds’ tolerance of me.

  8. Incredible photos of the warblers. I know how much patience it takes to get good bird photos! I agree about the Carolina wrens – they don’t stay still for long enough to to get a decent pic. I like the idea for creating a bird pond. I never thought of doing an above-ground pond. Hmm …

  9. Your images are exceptional. My favorite is fifth from the end, with that wonderful branch and the bird, against the sky. Do any of the “Nashville Warblers” carry little guitars? I followed the link and enjoyed reading about the pond construction. I might NEED a pond.

  10. I think you are right about the Yellow Warbler. You can see the barring on it’s chest.
    I think you are right on the Black Throated Green Warbler as well.
    The one below that is a Tennessee Warbler I think.
    I’m not sure about the Warbling Vireo, but it could be.
    It’s pretty easy to look these up with pictures as good as yours are. Just stunning photos.

  11. Hey now, we’ve been overrun with goldfinches, but now I’m wondering if some of those we assumed were females were, in fact, some sort of warbler. Now that would be exciting! My very modest cat-litterbox-with-aquarium-filter water feature draws lots of birds – $15?

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