House Wren on the Tuolumne River

After some extensive travels last week, I'm finally getting back to the river trail that I love patrolling. The Tuolumne River is still running high, about 1,500 cubic feet per second as the snowmelt in the Sierra Nevada continues. I've seen a few new or unusual birds this week. I saw but didn't get pictures of a Great Horned Owl, and got pictures of a Vireo that I haven't seen before. But the nicest moment today was a quick photo opportunity with a small House Wren (Troglodytes aedon)

House Wrens are not all that uncommon (you can tell from the name) but I've only seen a couple of them along the trail. When I have seen them, they're usually up in the branches and hard to photograph. So I was surprised when this one landed on a thistle stalk right in front of me.

Addendum! I was out again a day later, and another House Wren was singing away. Here's the video (sorry for the shakiness). It was interesting that a pair of Ash-throated Flycatchers were sitting less than two feet away.