Yellow-rumped Warbler

December of 2010 was extremely rainy in Southern California. We got about 10 inches of rain that month alone, and our annual total rainfall average is just 13 inches. Christmas Eve of 2010 saw a break in the weather. Unlike the rest of the month, it was bright, sunny and warm.

What this meant at our place is the enormous termite hive lurking under my house that apparently had been feeling all cooped up in the rain took this moment of warmth and sun to swarm.  Which, in turn, attracted a whole bunch of bug-eating birds.

So the depressing sight of tens of thousands of wood-destroying pests taking wing in my yard was offset by the fun of watching little bird predators snapping up the bugs midair.

These are Yellow-rumped Warblers.  

The name is more obvious in this picture.

Yellow-rumped Warblers, December 24, 2010, shot with the Nikon and Sigma 500 lens.