The trouble with warblers...

...is that they 1) tend to stay very high in the trees, and 2) they purposefully position themselves behind leaves, making a clean shot nearly impossible!  However, I am still choosing this as my blip for the day because it is the first Chestnut-sided Warbler I've seen this year and he was in full voice as he flitted, fed, and sang.  My friend, Cathy, and I were madly snapping shots as he flitted from branch to branch.  He put on quite a show for us, staying around for a good 5 minutes.  You can see how he gets his name, from that nice blaze of chestnut color under his wings.  Add to that some bright yellow accessories and jaunty black/white streaks and, well... wow!

We spent four hours walking, talking, and birding - great fun to catch up and a completely enjoyable morning.  We capped it off with lunch outside at a nearby pub.  The only downer was that we both had ticks - major YUCK!  I shed my clothes in the garage and ran upstairs to put myself in the shower and the clothes in the wash.  I HATE ticks!!

In the newest installment of the Tale of Two Kitties, the felines managed to get through the entire night without a fight, which may be a first.  There were some growls and stink-eyes being thrown about this morning but at least no fur was flying.  They are still giving each other wide berth, but I think we are slowly making progress.  And Charlie is definitely feeling much more like the master of his domain here.

Very excited that Peg and Kura are coming out for the weekend!  Last time I saw them was when they came to FL the week before we left - it was a great time and I know this weekend will be equally fun!

I have posted three other shots on Flickr, starting HERE - a white-crowned sparrow, a Scarlett Tanager and another shot of the warbler.  All year-firsts for me.

Happy Thursday...