Oh, How Lovely was the Morning!

Great Horned Owl - I believe this is the father of the owlets near Avimor's entry towers.  I just love his white and black zebra stripes.

This morning was just one of those glorious mornings for birding.  At one point, I sat down on a grassy spot, partially hidden in the sage brush overlooking a riparian area full of brush and trees.  I had Nashville, Yellow, and Yellow-rumped Warblers along with Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Black-capped Chickadees, Western Wood-Pewee, a pair of Lazuli Buntings, and White-crowned Sparrows all feeding just feet away.  It was in a way a spiritual experience as I was overcome with the beauty and brilliance of the colors I was enjoying.  I admit that a wave of emotion came over me and tears welled up in my eyes.  Embarrassing, but true.

I wish my photography skills were sufficient to even capture a tenth of what I felt this morning.  When I got home I discovered that I had used one setting on my camera that made most of my photos worthless.  That's okay though.  The experience was almost too sacred to photograph anyway.  But here is a 1/1000th taste of my lovely morning:

I was really excited when I saw this:

First-of-year Lewis's Woodpecker

Notice the gray necklace, the dark-greenish back and wing feathers, the reddish-pink wash on the belly, and the red face.

As it turns out, we have three Great Horned Owlets at the nest near the entry into Avimor.  I had only seen and photo'd two previously, but my kids insisted there were three.  I believe them now.  Can you find all three babies in the photo below?

One below mom, one to the side of mom, and one behind mom.

Nashville Warbler

Sweet eye-ring!  Note the gray hood, yellow throat and olive-green upper parts that are important traits in distinguishing a Nashville Warbler from others.  Similar looking MacGillivray's Warblers in this area have gray throats and white eye-arcs rather than a complete eye-ring, like the shown Nashville.

This last photo is blurry, but it captured something that I have seen the in the field guides, but never had seen in the field.  See that redness on the crown?  Pretty cool, huh?!