Bring on Spring!

Today's weather was unbelievable. It was already 49º by the time I arrived at the park around 9:20am. There was a stiff breeze but it continued to warm up even more and it was truly like a Spring day. The first thing of interest I spotted was a pair of Wood Ducks near where the creek flows back out of Palmer lake. They didn't stay put long but I managed to catch the Male before they both flew off. I'd also spotted a group of 3 Deer along the way and got a few good pics but am not posting them today in favor of some much more interesting sights. As I got to bridge over Shingle Creek on the north side, I immediately noticed a large group of Turkeys heading down the creek bank! It was a fantastic sighting as they were closer than I normally get to them and they were quite active and not spooked by my presence. I watched two of them walk all the way down to the creek for a drink. But if that weren't neat enough, the decided to fly one-by-one directly across the creek to the other side. I was able to capture 2 or 3 of them in flight and this is the one that turned out the best. Now on the other side of the creek they were even closer to me and took tons of photos. I counted 8 of them and there was about an equal mix of toms and hens. I wanted to get as many as I could in one shot but of course they didn't stay that close together. This photo was taken right from the bridge as I steadied my camera on the hand rail. Eventually all 8 of them made their way up the creek bank and filed in line across the paved trail to the wooded area behind the apartments on the north end. This was the most Turkey's I'd ever seen in one group at the park!

Red-winged Blackbirds Return

It's been staying light out longer and longer now and it's all the more obvious in the past week. Also our high temps are still above average reaching into the 40s and sometimes 50s. On Thursday I rushed home from work as quickly as I could and arrived at the park by 5:45pm. I had limited daylight so I walked quickly and not seeing much. Was hoping for some better pics but I was more or less "skunked." One thing I did notice -and hear- however were a few Red-winged Blackbirds out near the middle of the park. I was not expecting them back this early yet but I assume since most of the country is above average in temps that spring migration will be early this year. As I was watching one through my binoculars, I swore I saw a Northern Shrike chasing after one of the RWBs but I can't say for sure. It may have been a Blue Jay. That would have made for cool photo. It began getting too dark for photos only about half way through my walk and I found the only thing of interest to be a full moon overhead periodically draped in passing clouds.

Raptors Galore

Today was slightly warmer than yesterday but still just below freezing. There was a constant wind making it feel colder than it looked with the bright blue, cloudless sky. I was walking with a friend today and to my surprise, he pointed out an odd looking bird on the north side that turned out to be a Northern Shrike. It was kind of facing away from us for most of the time but turned it's head for this photo. We would later spot him again -or possibly a second one on the other side of the park. Today's walk was dominated by Hawk sightings. We seemed to notice at least one every so often, usually with Crows or other birds nearby so it was possible the Crows were keeping them moving past us. On the southwest side we glanced up to see a pair of large Hawks circling high overhead. They didn't seem to be Red-tails as they were strikingly white colored in many areas including the tail from both above and below. The eventually came almost right above us and showed us all their wing details. I'm definitely not a Hawk expert but I would guess that they were Rough-legged Hawks due to the very obvious difference in color near their "wrist" and to the black bands near the tip of the tail. The pair glided near each other once or twice but never managed to get a good shot of both of them at once. And if we hadn't had our share of Raptors for the day, we were in for one more treat shortly later on the south side. We'd spotted a bright white patch way out in the middle of the park that turned out to be a mature Bald Eagle upon closer inspection with binoculars. Then we saw a second one, perched about the same height but in another tree further away. This one would nearly disappear when it turned it's head a certain way and we realized the second one was immature. Crows eventually flushed this one out, but he circled back and came to roost on the very same branch as the other one. Even from this distance their size was impressive. A good day for Raptors for sure.