A male Townsend’s Warbler perched on the branch of a piñon pine tree Friday on Barranca Mesa and is lifting spirits all over Los Alamos. Townsend’s Warbler was first noted to science by John Kirk Townsend, an American naturalist who collected a male specimen near the mouth of the Columbia River in what is now Oregon, April 16, 1835. His discovery followed a long cross-continental trek. Townsend was accompanied on this expedition by English botanist Thomas Nuttall. Dozens of western plants and animals bear the names of these early naturalists. Source: www.allaboutbirds.org. Photo by Selvi Viswanathan

A A male Townsend’s Warbler perched on the branch of a pinion tree Friday. Photo by Selvi Viswanathan

A A female Townsend’s Warbler in a pond at a home Friday on Barranca Mesa. Photo by Selvi Viswanathan

A A female Townsend’s Warbler lingers around a pond Friday on Barranca Mesa. Photo by Selvi Viswanathan