Monday Motivation

     I woke up and had planned to get out and go birding, but then there was coffee made and my husband making his delicious pancakes. Going out upon waking, just was not my first inclination. Did a little back and forth in my head and did finally decide, I should just go. It's a gorgeous day and it would be silly to not enjoy it.

    I biked down and out to Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge and what a day to not stay in. It wasn't humid, it was a pleasant temperature, the mosquitoes must have taken the day off, and I even made a friend on my bike ride over, a nice gentleman who chatted with me down the bike path on Cross Bay Boulevard as we leap frogged each other on the Belt Parkway Greenway.

    I was hoping to see some terrapins, but today's heart stopping moments were all about the baby birds.

One thing Jamaica Bay has no shortage of is yellow warblers. They breed there and can be encountered just about everywhere.

Oh, and also gray catbirds, no shortage of them either.
As you can see, they also breed here.

This catbird flew down, practically at my feet, to gather these little roots that it tugged up from the soil.
It was incredibly cute.

Everywhere.

A song sparrow, singing its song. Not as many of these as there are of catbirds and yellow warblers, or so it seems.

I noticed a lot less nest boxes around. The tree swallows use these nest boxes for raising their own family. And I always love seeing their little heads poking out the fronts.

You hear these little fellas just about everywhere, but not so much see them. Got lucky, got to see one! A male common yellowthroat.

This gray catbird was preening and I loved its floofiness. And now I love it's floofiness with the texture of the tree it is on.

I took a gamble on walking through the more forested part of the west pond. Normally here, you get hit with a wall of mosquitoes.
But today I got hit with some fledgling yellow warblers begging their parents for food and a bunch of house wrens learning to fly.
And this house wren fledge was NOT having any of it.

None. Of. It.

Who knew that angry face could be so flippin' cute!?

This female yellow warbler came out and scolded me. I figured she must have babies around so I took a pic and kept moving. I empathize as a constantly stressed out mom.

Took a little trek o the east pond and got some good looks at a muskrat!

This guy just noshed away. I didn't even notice it at first, because I was looking through my binoculars and this little buddy was practically at my feet.

A rodent who like a beaver, lives in the water. Their tail is like flattened rat tail, versus that big flat paddle tail of a beaver. Muskrats are smaller, and just as cute!

So the best part of my day, came when I met this little fledgling yellow warbler.

I went to take its picture and it flew.
At me.
like at my face. Looking to land on my camera/arm.
As it got close it realized it made a very bad choice. As it did an about face in the air, fluttering, like an absolute pro, whooshing all that wind generated by those wings at my face.
I nearly wept, my heart raced.
And the little bird got a huge life lesson about not perching on potential predators/large animals and took a seat up high, keeping me in its sight as it too, likely, was catching its breath.

And then it cried for one of its parents to cater to its needs.

A perfect way to end my little outing, and definitely very memorable.
Godspeed, little nugget!