Tap-A-Tap is back...

[Joseph Przybyla]

Last year at our house a Palm Warbler would come everyday to a Bottlebrush Tree outside our window. The little bird would feed on the blossoms and fly up from the branches to tap with it's bill on the glass of the window. He did this for the three months of our winter in Florida. Dottie, my wife and I nicknamed it Tap-A-Tap from the daily tapping. In late spring it was there no more tapping, we felt heartbroken that it had left having become used to it's daily presence. A few days ago we heard the familiar tapping on the window glass, Tap-A-Tap was back. The questions that cannot be answered but exist are. Is it the same Palm Warbler? Would two have the same mannerisms and activity? Where did it go during the summer?

Comments and critique welcomed and appreciated. Thank you for viewing.

Nikon D7000
Nikon 80-400mm F/4.5-5.6 VRII AF-S ED shot at 400mm (600mm FFE)
1/250 F/5.6 Matrix Metering + 1/3 EV ISO 250, captured through the glass of the window
Post processed in Lightroom 5 and Photoshop Elements 10
Cropped from horizontal to vertical for composition, cloned out a couple leaves in the upper left hand corner, cleaned up a reflection from the window in the eye

[Karl Egressy]

Nice story and image, Joe. I'm pretty sure it came up to North to do the nesting.

[David Salem]

After many interesting encounters over the years with migrant birds returning to a same location months or years later, I would figure this was tap-a-tap.
It's amazing that a small bird like this can travel hundreds or even thousands of miles, only to return to the same neighborhood and the same tree year after year. Talk about killer internal GPS!!
I mentioned this fact on one of my last posts with a male Kestrel with a dragonfly in his beak. He migrated from who knows where back to the exact same spot and was feeding on the exact same food within a few days of the year before. Not only killer GPS but timing to the day!
Glad it's back

[Ian Wilson]

Looks good Joe. Nice bird and interesting story. I hope you have some more opportunities to show us some different angles, perhaps with more DOF. Regards, Ian

[Joseph Przybyla]

Thanks everyone for viewing and commenting, very much appreciated.

Ian, depth of field was razor thin. I tried to balance between the bird in focus and the branches and leaves out of focus. With the parts out of focus I considered cropping as a portrait/head shot, I may still try that option. Thank you for commenting.

David, what your write is so true. Birds are fantastic, to see them in the same spot year after years is truly amazing.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Chances are more than likely this is the same bird indeed. It also came up north for the breeding season. Birds truly are so remarkable!

I like the pose and setting, perhaps just a little large in the frame.