Crestwood Village 1/11--Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Last weekend record low temperatures cancelled two field trips. Today, record high temperatures, great--but a soaking rain prevents us from going on today's field trip. That's three in a row. Tomorrow's field trip still looks likely.

A brief, very brief, pause in the rain this morning sent me out the door to get my walk in. I traipsed through the WMA for the first time this year and found next to nothing except for scads of juncos. When I got to the pond it started to drizzle, so I turned around and walked back through the streets of Crestwood Village. The rain abated so I detoured and looked at the pond on Stonybrook. I was hoping for some ducks but it was empty. A few birds were flitting through the trees so I walked along to see what was there--chickadees mostly, but then I saw a very small bird in the underbrush--a kinglet. My first reaction was Golden-crowned, as they're the most common 'round here but once I focused my bins on it I saw the huge (for such a small bird) saucer-like eye and knew I had my first Ruby-crowned Kinglet of the year. As if to confirm the i.d., it flashed the eponymous patch. Then it started to rain again.

Meanwhile, in our backyard, the Pine Warblers continue and continue to try to eat peanut butter on the fly. However, today I saw the male perched on the cracked seed feeder, maybe looking for easier pickings, or perhaps, as someone suggested, there are little bugs in the seed for it to eat.