Cape May Warbler!

My original plan for today was to take my girls to the insect festival at the university.  But a Cape May Warbler showed up at Peña Blanca Lake on Thursday and changed all that.  We made the hour drive and arrived at 9:20 a.m.  We found the bird immediately in the same spot where it was seen yesterday.  Incredible!

 

  

I wish all lifers were this accommodating!  This is a very rare bird in Arizona with only 11 previous records.  It breeds in the boreal forest of Canada and the northern U.S. and can be found in the eastern states during migration.  What a gorgeous bird!  Even my girls were able to get good looks at it.

There were many other warblers around including Townsend's, Yellow, Yellow-rumped, Nashville, and Orange-crowned.  There was even a Palm Warbler, a very good bird for the state.  But the show belonged to the Cape May.

Nashville Warbler

Orange-crowned Warbler

Two families of Least Grebes have been seen recently totaling 11 individuals.  I got this poor shot of one:

 

A Great Blue Heron cruised by a couple times.

What a great way to start the weekend!