Butter Butts...

William Wise Photo Nature Notes is a wildlife, landscape, birding and nature photography blog documenting the beauty, design and wonder of God’s creation. "Great are the works of the LORD, studied by all who delight in them. Full of splendor and majesty is His work." Psalms 111:2

Yellow-rumped Warbler Butter on tree branch in Walton County Georgia

Thursday, 9:52 AM - Two days ago I was up at the Duckweed Bog again. A couple of flittering, tiny birds bathed themselves in the dew on the green bog grasses; dipping their beaks in the droplets and tossing their heads back with a vibrating  ripple that ran down through every feather on their backs and out through the end of their tails.

After bathing, one of them took a pose on a picture perfect stump not far from me. Grayish upper-parts and head, white ringed eye, white wing bars, faint barring on the breast and a bright yellow patch right in his armpit. I was again stumped since it didn’t seem to match anything in the Warbler Quick Guide. (I have since learned the warblers don’t bear as distinct colors and markings in the fall as they do in the spring.) Back in my office, Katy with Oconee Rivers Audubon Society replies to my email, “Yellow-rumped warbler (affectionately known as butter butts and formerly known as Myrtle warbler). These guys stick with us through winter and signal an end to fall migration.”

Yellow-rumped Warbler "Butter Butt" on tree branch in Walton County Georgia

Getting into this warbler thing, I took advantage of a slow point at work yesterday and walked through the now draining swamp near the back of the jail.  I noticed quite a bit of bird activity in a line of trees and shrubs. Zooming in my lens, it was those Yellow-rumped Warblers again! I could see the yellow patches on their sides as they flitted up and down in the branches. Walking closer, I recognized their purpose in gathering in this location: Bayberry fruits! Allaboutbirds.org says, “The Yellow-rumped Warbler is the only warbler able to digest the waxes found in bayberries and wax myrtles. Its ability to use these fruits allows it to winter farther north than other warblers, sometimes as far north as Newfoundland.” I'm learning more about these "little yellow birds"!
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Desiring a better-butter-butt photo, I stood beside the thicketed drainage ditch in front of the shelter this morning and spied a flurry of activity; dozens darting in and around the branches. Just two days ago I saw my first Yellow-rump, and today they are everywhere! I wasn’t surprised to later read on the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s  website, “Yellow-rumped Warblers are impressive in the sheer numbers with which they flood the continent each fall. Shrubs and trees fill with the streaky brown-and-yellow birds and their distinctive, sharp chips.”

Standing still for about ten minutes, they braved my presence and came closer. I finally got a good photo of what Katy "affectionately referred to" earlier: a bright yellow butter butt! When I photographed them on Tuesday, I didn’t see the bright yellow patch on their rumps. But here it was today, plain as butter, right before me!
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Walton County, Georgia. ​

Yellow-rumped Warbler "Butter Butt" on tree branch in Walton County Georgia