Pause to Breathe

May 24, 2026

Sunrise, May 16, 2026 - part sun and lots of clouds describes this week well.

Hello friends! It’s a holiday weekend and today is my birthday, so I’m taking a little writing break and trying to catch up on some of the things I didn’t get done while walking all those extra hours the last few weeks. But don’t worry, there are plenty of photos! It’s a good reminder to pause and take a deep breath more often.

Yellow warbler has the right idea for a holiday weekend.

Also, in honor of my birthday, paid subscriptions to this newsletter are on sale this week. As a little incentive, I am one subscriber away from hitting 100 concurrent subscribers. I’ve been close to 100 many times, but never quite gotten there. If we get there this week, I will create an mp3 download of bird song for every reader of this newsletter. I appreciate every one of you!

I appreciate all the birds AND it’s fun to see birds I rarely see, like this chestnut-sided warbler. They were plentiful this spring!

On to the birds! The weather wasn’t quite as cooperative this week, but the birds were still amazing. Swirls of swallows seem to bookend migration. In April, it was tree swallows. This week, it was a mixed flock of cliff swallows, tree swallows, northern rough-winged swallows, purple martins, and chimney swifts! I stood in that swirl for nearly two hours - twice! We’ll see if the videos come out well, but I haven’t gotten that far yet.

Cliff swallows are back! Their only speed is full zoom.

In addition, a hooded warbler appeared right in my favorite warbler spot! Life bird #283 is a nice birthday present. He did choose the place with the most mosquitoes, but a few bites on my fingers were worth it to hear this guy sing.

Hooded warbler! His song is as beautiful as his feathers.

Look at the throat difference between the two photos - that’s his throat warble!

The rest of the photos for today:

There are slightly fewer flashes of yellow warblers, but many are still here.

I’ve seen a lot of turtles this week! It finally warmed up enough for them.

God bless the mulberry trees. So many birds love them! Mr. Rose-breasted grosbeak feasted for quite a long time.

Mrs. rose-breasted grosbeak was hiding in the leaves.

The female birds, in general, are less likely to pop out and see me. (baltimore oriole)

This female orchard oriole was hiding back there, too.

Some of the baby birds have appeared this week, like these mallards. I also saw the fledgling eagle fly across the lake!

House finches have emptied their nest, too! This one was taken in my yard.

Swainson’s thrushes like to hide in the bushes, too, but mulberries will draw them out!

The bluebird started calling an alarm, and I looked up to see this red-shouldered hawk coming over my head.

Mr. Baltimore oriole seemed to be sharpening his bill by rubbing it back and forth on a branch.

An indigo bunting finally agreed to a photo!

Black tern showing us why they can be so hard to see!

The Forster’s terns were nice enough to make a few closer passes before they left!

So many warblers, so little time! The blackpoll warblers have been abundant this spring, too. I’m still seeing them this week.

Poetry in motion. (Baltimore oriole)

I hope you all have a peaceful and enjoyable weekend!