Slideshow: Prothonotary Warbler at Brazos Bend State Park
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Last month when I was walking the Pilant Slough Trail at Brazos Bend State park, I came across a great photo opportunity. I had walked the length of Pilant Slough to where it meets up with the Elm Lake Trail. The trail is densely wooded and even though I could hear many birds, I couldn’t see them. I had not taken many photographs and decided to walk a short distance along the southeast end of Elm Lake to rest at at bench behind a fishing pier. There is a shallow, heavily wooded marsh at the end of Pilant Slough there on one side of the trail and Elm Lake on the other side.
While resting, I had snapped some shots of a large alligator in Elm Lake and was thinking about calling it a day and heading back to the car. I had rested the tripod at the side of the trail with the lens pointing back into the woods so it would be out of the way of the hikers and folks riding bikes. As I got up to leave, I could hear the chip-chip of a cardinal in the woods but couldn’t really see anything when suddenly a female cardinal followed by a bright little yellow bird flew down to the water in the marsh about 15-20 feet from where I stood with my camera on tripod already pointing in that direction. The sun was shining through the branches and provided great side and back lighting and made for a great relection in the water.
At first I though it was a gold finch but it was much smaller and more brightly yellow than the gold finches I had seen elsewhere. I snapped a good series of photos of it while it splashed and preened and felt very lucky to have been at the right place at the right time. I don’t think I would have been able to capture these shots had I not already been standing and the camera already been set up and pointing in that direction. I was using my Canon EOS 50D and Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM lens. I didn’t have my EF 1.4x II Extender yet, but wish that I had.
When I got home I did some research and found it to be a Prothonotary warbler. They are common to southern bayous, wet woodlands, marshes, and streams. Another local name for them is the Golden Swamp Warbler. It has a brilliant gold head, neck, throat, breast, and stomach with blue-gray wings, back, and tail. Another distinguishing feature is its jet black eyes and beak which contrast with its bright yellow head. The name “Prothonotary” refers to clerks in the Roman Catholic church, whose robes were bright yellow.
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Gallery: Prothonotary Warbler at Brazos Bend State Park
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