[birdky] Hooded Warbler photo and adventure story

We had quite an adventure this past weekend; we went on a camping/hiking
trip to Great Smoky Mountain NP, and on our short morning stroll before our
long drive home on Monday, we heard some loud calling in the underbrush.  We
located a female Hooded Warbler and a brand new fledgling (still had that
goofy, beak-too-big-for-my-head look, with those funky eyebrow feathers).
The two of them were at a nice respectable distance but we got good looks
through our binoculars.  The fledgling was hopping enthusiastically, when
all of a sudden it made a beeline in our direction!  Mother warbler tried
frantically to steer it in another direction, both of them calling to each
other, but it was determined to continue on its chosen path.  It was quite
good at hopping, though no good at flying at all.  It landed not more than 5
feet away, on a log where it was very well-camouflaged, so much so that our
camera couldn't find it to focus on.  The mother gave up her quest to
redirect the fledgling, and instead decided to do the "broken wing" routine
in nice camera view.  She did that, doing a good imitation of being wounded,
then tried hopping away as if to guide us from the baby.  We decided to take
her advice and follow slowly in the direction in which she was leading us,
so should could return to her independent-minded fledgling.

If you'd like to see the photo of the female Hooded Warbler in her broken
wing posture, you can paste this link into your browser:
http://www.bellhanley.com/Smokies200667b.JPG
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