A female golden-crowned kinglet, Regulus satrapa, pauses momentarily at Ashbridge’s Bay this week. © BCP 2011
Yup it’s true! The golden-crowned kinglets (Regulus satrapa), adorable little songbirds distantly related to Old World warblers, are back.
(Although if you want to be persnickety about it. . . they didn’t all leave in the late fall. A few hardy ones managed to stick around all winter.)
Now the trees at Ashbridge’s Bay are full of the kinglets’ high-pitched chatter, as they constantly call to each other as they feed. Hear them here at the Cornell lab’s website.
I think the bird I got a shot of, above, is a female, as the crown is quite yellow. The crown in the males is a vibrant orange.
Everybody loves the busy busy tiny kinglets, constantly in motion, flicking their tails, flying from branch to branch, tree to tree. In fact, these birds are so hyperactive that over the years I have found it nearly impossible to get a clear shot of one. Just when you think you have your specimen lined up in your sights, with a flick of its tail, it’s gone.
For some reason, this little guy slowed down just long enough for me to squeeze off a frame or two.
Bird photography — like all wildlife photography — it’s all about timing. And luck.
© BCP 2011
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