On the morning of Sun, June 9 I looked out our kitchen window and saw several hummingbirds in the yard.  This wasn’t unusual, but they seemed very interested in our watercourse and I saw more than one landing on ‘staging sticks’ I have positioned near the watercourse.  As I watched I also saw what was obviously a Golden-crowned kinglet in the watercourse, but it was significantly different from any I had ever seen.  It was lacking its signature golden crown.  But there was no mistaking the bird’s identity.

I grabbed my camera and headed out to the yard.  Before the dust had settled I had taken about 70 photos of the bird.  Unfortunately just about the time I got set up clouds rolled in and I had to shoot in poorer light (and therefore reduced shutter speeds) than I would have liked.  However I managed to keep too many photos… maybe 12-15 of the best.  And before it was over I realized that there were actually two of the juvenile kinglets in the yard.

We usually only see kinglets in the extended winter months, so this sighting means that there was a breeding pair somewhere in the greater neighborhood.  (There was no sigh of the parents, but the juveniles seemed to be doing very well on their own.)

Just to relieve the monotony I’m throwing in this photo of a Spotted towhee who had just taken a bath and was busy preening.