Did you notice that the hummingbirds “disappeared” in June?  And that they came back in July?

Our ruby-throated hummingbirds really didn’t go anywhere.  They were busy nesting and gathering insects to feed their young.  Since they don’t feed nectar to their babies there was little reason to visit hummingbird feeders.

But now the “kids” are grown and the hummingbird population has surged.  Mom, Dad and the kids are jostling for space at the feeders. Males perch high on dead snags to protect their nectar kingdoms.  Steve Gosser captured this beautiful male on his way to a feast.

Once again it’s Hummer Time!

(photo by Steve Gosser)

Songbirds grow up so fast that within days of fledging they aren’t babies anymore.

Suddenly they are teenagers — able to find their own food, almost independent of their parents, a little cocky and a little unsure of the world.

Marcy Cunkelman captured these photos of teenage woodpeckers in her garden.

Above, a young downy woodpecker looks like an adult except for the colors on his head.  He fledged with a splash of red on top but that will soon be replaced with black feathers and the red will move to his nape.  Meanwhile he shows off an intricate black-and-white pattern on his forehead as he looks calmly at the camera.

Below, a young red-bellied woodpecker has subtle colors on his face and head with dull gray cheeks and faint orange on his nape. He looks startled. “What is a camera?  Is it dangerous?”

Perhaps your backyard has more starlings than woodpeckers.  (Mine does.)  Click here to see what teenage starlings look like.

(photos by Marcy Cunkelman)

Many warblers have olive-green backs, yellow breasts and black feather accents.  Think of hooded, prairie, Wilson’s and Kentucky warblers like this one.  Why are so many of them this color?

Steve Gosser’s photo shows why.

By the time a warbler nests in North America, the leaves are out and the forest’s light is soft yellow-green.  Seen by a predator from above, the warblers’ olive color matches the dark understory.  From below their yellow breasts match the light filtering through the leaves.  Their black accent feathers break up the colors and look like shadows.

In the winter the warblers live in leafy places in Central and South America where they continue to match the habitat.

Yellow is camouflage.

(photo by Steve Gosser)

Last Sunday I hiked  the Armstrong Trail at Sarah Furnace Road because I wanted to see a worm-eating warbler.

I’d seen them twice before — once at Enlow Fork, Pennsylvania and once at Magee Marsh, Ohio — but every time I’ve tried for them at Sarah Furnace where they’re known to nest I’ve struck out.  I hear them but never see them.

Sunday was slated to turn out the same way.  I walked to the old, closed railroad tunnel at the south end of the trail and I didn’t even hear one.  Perhaps I’d arrived too late in the day.  Perhaps they weren’t around.  I couldn’t tell but I was disappointed and hungry so I sat down — out of sight of the spooky tunnel — and ate my lunch.  Here’s what I mean about spooky.  I was all alone.

By 1:00pm I decided it was time to go.  With no particular object in mind I walked back to the tunnel once more.  I stood around for a bit and then I heard *him* singing near me.  A worm-eating warbler!  Eventually he flew out and acrobatically foraged in the dead leaves.  He was easy to see.  Best bird!

Meanwhile, back at the Sarah Furnace parking lot, Shawn Collins had arrived to look for a worm-eating warbler, too.  He recognized my car (it has this bumper sticker) but I was nowhere to be found.  However, there was a worm-eating warbler near my car.  He took its picture, above.

I walked a mile to find a warbler.  He found one near my car.  So now we know there are two.

The Best Birds are in the parking lot.   😉

(photo of worm-eating warbler by Shawn Collins, photo of abandoned railroad tunnel by Kate St. John)