I spent more time in the yard on Sunday, 8/25/2014 with good results.  I’m still having difficulty sorting out what are either some brightly-colored Orange-crowned warblers with no visible orange on their heads despite being photographed from various angles and what might be Yellow warblers.  That research will continue, but that has no bearing on my special Sunday visitor.

On Sunday I had about my third visit this summer from a vireo, and unfortunately it too is providing something of a challenge with regard to identification.  It’s either a Red-eyed vireo (with no evidence of a red eye!) or a Warbling vireo that seems to have the head shape of a Red-eyed vireo.  I’ve looked at three different references and I’m still having difficulty differentiating the two species, and in addition there’s the possibility that a current year hatchling has thrown itself into the equation.  So without at this point providing a positive identification, here is a welcome, but rare visitor to my yard…

And as long as I am on the subject of vireos, when I was in Texas in late spring (it felt like summer!) I photographed White-eyed vireos there.  It was one of my favorite birds with a mysterious and concerned “expression” always evident.  The bird had the habit of bathing by quickly flying into the water and then out again… too fast for me to photograph even at very high shutter speeds.  The vireo that was in my yard has the same habit.  I have never (in either location) seen one come down to the water and land for a bath.  The one that was in the yard on Sunday visited three different water features in the yard, but never landed at any of them.