Western Kingbird on the bluffs above the Tuolumne River

I wandered out to the future river park in Waterford today, and saw my first Western Kingbird of the season. They spend their winters in Central America and migrate north to breed across the western United States. I saw quite a few of them last year, so I've been watching for their return.

The Kingbirds are in the flycatcher family, and like to spend time in open fields with high perches. They'll dive down to capture bugs on the fly. They are very territorial during the breeding season, sometimes chasing away much larger birds like Kestrels and Hawks.

From its appearance here, it looked like it was about to chase me off! Or yawning...