After going to bed early last night I found myself up and wide awake around 6:00 am this morning which is unusual for me. I figured I'd go to the park first thing and so I arrived around 6:30 to find most of the park covered in a thick morning fog. It was quite peaceful and quiet. As I pulled into the parking lot on the west side, I could see a very large bird out in the middle of the baseball field. With the fog it was hard to tell and I figured it was a Turkey at first but to my surprise it was a Sandhill Crane!
Then I noticed a second one! I'm guessing this is the same pair that I'd been seeing in the park earlier this spring and it was the first time I've seen them again since late April. Fellow birder friends of mine have suggested that they likely attempted to nest in the park but were unsuccessful. Seeing them again today makes me think that this theory is right. I did manage a photo with both of them in it but opted to post this better closeup of just the one. You can see some of the fog hanging in the background. Overall it was a spectacular day for birding –it seems to be picking up again, or maybe it was because I was there so early.
In addition to this nice Cedar Waxwing I spotted on the north end, I also saw a female Rose-breasted Grosbeak, many different Gray Catbirds, Song Sparrows, House Sparrow, Flicker, American Redstart, American Goldfinch, Indigo Bunting, Great Blue Heron, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Northern Cardinal, European Starling, Mourning Dove, Blue Jay, Black-capped Chickadee, American Robin and Ring-billed Gull. I spent quite a bit of time watching and trying to photograph both the Redstart and Indigo Bunting but both of these birds like to hop around quickly in the treetops making them very difficult to photograph well. Later near the end of my walk I almost bumped into this male Cardinal who had just landed on top of a sign post to feast on something.
At first it looked like he was eating dark berries of some kind but the Buckthorn berries aren't ripe yet. After closer examination of my photos it appeared that he was instead eating an insect of some kind. It is great fun to see Cardinal so closely and this is one of the better shots I've gotten of one at the park.
Then I noticed a second one! I'm guessing this is the same pair that I'd been seeing in the park earlier this spring and it was the first time I've seen them again since late April. Fellow birder friends of mine have suggested that they likely attempted to nest in the park but were unsuccessful. Seeing them again today makes me think that this theory is right. I did manage a photo with both of them in it but opted to post this better closeup of just the one. You can see some of the fog hanging in the background. Overall it was a spectacular day for birding –it seems to be picking up again, or maybe it was because I was there so early. 
In addition to this nice Cedar Waxwing I spotted on the north end, I also saw a female Rose-breasted Grosbeak, many different Gray Catbirds, Song Sparrows, House Sparrow, Flicker, American Redstart, American Goldfinch, Indigo Bunting, Great Blue Heron, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Northern Cardinal, European Starling, Mourning Dove, Blue Jay, Black-capped Chickadee, American Robin and Ring-billed Gull. I spent quite a bit of time watching and trying to photograph both the Redstart and Indigo Bunting but both of these birds like to hop around quickly in the treetops making them very difficult to photograph well. Later near the end of my walk I almost bumped into this male Cardinal who had just landed on top of a sign post to feast on something. 
At first it looked like he was eating dark berries of some kind but the Buckthorn berries aren't ripe yet. After closer examination of my photos it appeared that he was instead eating an insect of some kind. It is great fun to see Cardinal so closely and this is one of the better shots I've gotten of one at the park.
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