Townsend’s Warbler

Our backyard had been relatively birdless for the past two weeks. On a rainy, gray 1 December 2019, a large flock of songbirds bounded into the yard. Among them were at least six Townsend’s Warblers. I ran for my camera, because the banding office commented “really?” when I reported banding this species during November. Due to the lousy weather, my banding nets were closed. Despite the wet weather, the Townsend’s Warblers were particularly attracted to our water feature, which also brought in a few of the Golden-crowned Kinglets in the flock. Our species tally included: 1 Black-capped Chickadee, 1 Chestnut-backed Chickadee, 10 Bushtits, 10 Golden-crowned Kinglets, 2 Ruby-crowned Kinglets, and 6 Townsend’s Warblers.