Monday was a fine day for birding at the Arboretum. Spring migrants are everywhere to be found. I managed to see seven species of warblers alone!
I saw and heard a number of catbirds, many of them hiding inside bushes. The red underneath the tail feathers caught my attention for the first time.
Here are a couple of the warblers – black, white, and yellow.



I saw many birds constructing nests – grackles, orioles, and red-winged blackbirds among them. Here’s a red-winged blackbird grabbing some nesting material from the cattail heads.

Birds aren’t the only ones building their nests. I spotted this eastern yellowjacket (Vespula maculifrons) queen hovering around mud and mulch. These wasps usually build their nests underground, so watch where you walk!
