Just a few warblers

Most of the migrant warblers have moved through, and the reports on the local list-servs are slowing down a bit. Now it's time to pay closer attention to our local breeders. The weather was unusually hot yesterday - mid 90's - and should be again today. I got out for a little bit, but was really not dressed appropriately. Here are a few quick photos I snapped - really just so that I'd have something to post. (I promise, no more Prairie Warblers after this unless I get something really stunning.)




Meanwhile the birds at work have been a little boring, though with tsome interestng behavior. I have a few House Sparrow fledglings that have been sitting on the branch next to the suet feeder, peeping and wing-fluttering while mom runs back and forth to the suet to feed them. Don't know where my Downys went.

Also, one of my co-workers called me yesterday because there was a crow running back and forth across the parking lot with twine wrapped around it's leg and seemed unable to fly. I grabbed a scissor and a box-cutter and went out to see if I could help. I found a rather small young crow (even still fleshy near the corners of the mouth) tangled with the twine in a small bush, barely able to move at all any more. Two adult crows above let me now that they were pretty upset by my presence. The twine was really wrapped and knotted around it's leg, so I made the first cut as close to it's leg as possible to free it from the bush and before it did any harm to itself. (Needless to say, it was pretty upset.) As soon as I got him free of the bush, he ran off as fast as his little lets would take him. (Shaking the leg with the twine every couple of steps.) He didn't try to fly, which leaves me to believe he really wasn't ready to yet. I felt bad that I didn't get more off his leg. Since he obviously wasn't doing a lot of flying yet, and there was so much of it there, it makes me wonder if the crows had used the twine in making the nest and the fledgling bird grew with it's foot tangled in it. I'll be curious to see if they are able to get it off themselves now that it's not dragging as much.