The Louisiana waterthrush

I photographed this songbird on April 10, shortly after a thunderstorm had passed. The bird was sitting alone on a limb of a small bald cypress tree calling and bobbing its tail.

This bird is named Louisiana waterthrush, but it actually is a warbler.

It is one of the first warblers to migrate north in spring.

This warbler is unusual in that it sings like a warbler, looks a lot like a small thrush and acts like a shorebird.

It spends much of its time close to water, where it forages for aquatic insects, water snails and small crayfish.

The Louisiana waterthrush can be seen walking the shoreline, bobbing its tail and occasionally uttering a pleasant warble that sounds somewhat like a gentle babbling stream. Its call is a more recognizable, distinct single "chip."