Wood Ducks, Warblers

I got out for about an hour and a half this morning before work and birded the new hike-and-bike trail where it goes through the floodplain property. Right off the bat I saw this male Wood Duck perched in one of the dead willow trees near the footbridge. There were 2 more nearby and the flew off heading north soon after I got this picture. A few months ago I thought I saw 2 Wood Ducks fly over this same location but I wasn't sure. It was nice to finally get a good look at one of these beautiful birds in the neighborhood.

Right across the bridge I added another new bird to the neighborhood list -- a male MacGillivray's Warbler. This is a rare bird in the Austin area because it summers in western North America and we are just at the eastern edge of its migration path. I usually see several of its eastern counterpart, the Mourning Warbler, on the floodplain property in the spring and the fall. Other northbound birds I found this morning were 2 Warbling Vireos, a singing Tennessee Warbler, a Magnolia Warbler, 3 Yellow Warblers, a female Chestnut-sided Warbler, a Wilson's Warbler, and several Common Yellowthroats. I got this picture of one of the yellowthroats.