On yesterday morning’s kayak outing, I observed a pair of Prothonotary Warblers (Protonotaria citrea) preparing for nesting. These “P” warblers normally nest in tree cavities. In this instance, the pair had decided on a cavity inside a tree stump that stood in the middle of the creek that I was kayaking. Here are some of my favorite images from yesterday’s activities.
In this first image the female has just flown to the nesting site, with a mouthful of nesting material (looks like moss collected along the creek, most likely from a downed log in the water):
After placing the material on the nest, the female peers outside the cavity, before flying off … probably to collect more material:
Meanwhile, the male warbler sits in a tree overlooking the nest site (and directly in front of my kayak!). Site Security Officer?
With good conditions (if we climb out of the drought conditions), I’ll continue to monitor this nest site by kayaking close to the stump. Hopefully, I will be able to grab some images of little “P” warblers! :o)