The yellow water lily harbors all sorts of grubs for the various marsh birds to enjoy.Usually these flowers are closed into fairly tight blossoms or facing straight up way out in the pond so I always love a chance to see what they look like inside.I find them beautiful at all stages of degeneration. Beavers love to eat them and denuded the pond of them fairly early in the season last year. They reminded me of people enjoying a lovely treat.
This year in the marsh, however, the beavers’ dams have been taken over by muskrats who prefer green vegetation so there are still lots of these flowers at this point in the summer.
This time “Busy Muskrats!”
However, the real fun of the day was watching all of the smaller birds catching their evening meal. Flitting about were the Phoebes, Red-winged Blackbirds, Nuthatches, Kingbirds with the tips of their tails dipped in white paint, and the Cedar Waxwings with their tail tips dipped in bright yellow paint, the tips of their wings bejeweled with red rubies, and as I discovered only this time, even their hard palates are bright red!
Kingbird 
Nuthatch 
Phoebe (I think) 
Red-winged Blackbird 
Cedar Waxwing
The Cedar Waxwing’s markings are so stunning, here are a few more shots to enjoy.
Check out the red mouth 
Red wingtips 
A look at the ferocious hunters and their catch of the day! The cedar wax wing goes for it; as does a Kingbird. It’s worth expanding to see their tiny prey.
Finally, just some pretty birds in flight.
The Mid-flight Stall 
The Bullet
Beautiful! I would love to come out and join you for one of your expeditions. Fannie Stebbins, Rail Trail, whatever.