Kinglets and Gnatcatchers at Warnimont Park in April

Both Ruby-crowned and Golden-crowned Kinglets and Blue-gray Gnatcatchers were plentiful at Warnimont Park this past week. While all 3 are common, sometimes it is easy to overlook them while trying to find other birds that are not as common. I enjoy photographing them each year, but I never edit or share the photos. This year I decided to change that! I was rather fortunate to have had several Ruby-crowned Kinglets, with their bright crowns sticking up, chasing females around. Usually that is very hard to photograph, since they are so fast moving and hardly ever sit still. They are everywhere right now and easy to find. Most of the male Golden-crowned Kinglets are already past us. While they have the fire orange down the middle of the yellow crown, the females still have a bright yellow crown, and are just as pretty. Their numbers are lower this late than the other two, but I usually find a few every time out. Blue-gray Gnatcatchers are starting to arrive in big numbers. The male is beautiful with the bold blue color, dark line across the eyebrow and bright white eye ring. They are rather tame and will feed in the shrubs right in front of you. The photos below were taken during the last week of April. Enjoy!