Return of the Red-wings and other FOY Birds!

Each year as I hike around Palmer Lake Park, I've come to learn there's nothing quite like the return of Red-winged Blackbirds to the park. Though they're not the first migrant bird to return, their presence and familiar sound are more of an "official kickoff" to Spring and quite an exciting thing to a bird watcher! This year my first sighting comes exactly one day after the first day of Spring. I always forget though that they're not as easy to photograph when they first return, as they have a habit of perching high in the treetops the first week or two and then seem to move down into the cattails as time passes. I caught this one relatively lower to the ground on the east side of the park near the little pond. After stopping at the Duck Pond and watching the Mallards for a bit, I found myself in the woods on the North side of the park watching a couple of Black-capped Chickadees flitting about. In watching and photographing birds over the years, I've learned that Chickadees are one of the toughest by far to photograph well. Like other small birds they are constantly moving but Chickadees present a unique challenge in that their dark eye is surrounded by the black feathers on their head. So even if I'm lucky enough to get a non-blurry shot, the eye(s) are usually barely visible. Thus I've put Chickadees on a list of birds that I often avoid wasting my time trying to photograph. But all that changed in just a minute or two today after not giving up on this little guy! I knew I had maybe one or two keepers in there but I was nicely surprised to see how well this one came out once I viewed the photos at home later. There was truly a LOT to see today at the park including Deer and even other FOY (First of Year) birds. One bird I had seen weeks earlier but missed photos of was a Pileated Woodpecker. Today I heard one drumming loudly on a dead tree and followed the sound to the bird. A handsome male stayed perched here in the same place for over 10 minutes while I tried to manage a photograph that didn't look like I took it from underneath. No such luck on that part but at least I did get a focused photo. There were plenty of Robins out today as well and though such a common bird, they can really show personality if you watch them long enough. This one stayed right above my head picking off Buckhtorn berries one after another. I snapped a few shots but didn't even realize I'd caught this moment until later when reviewing my photos. I really like the photo but wish it had been a bit more sunny at that moment. I was really taking my time walking around the park today and it kind of turned into an epic journey of many hours. I would end up spending a huge chunk of time on the east side near the pond that was attracting not only Red-winged Blackbirds but also Common Grackles! The Grackle is also in the Blackbird family and tend to arrive around the same time or earlier than the RWB's. This was also a first of year sighting for me and I was intent on capturing some good images of them because I really think they are a beautiful bird. This bird has some degree of iridescent plumage over most if not all of it's body, but it's head is the really special part, distinctly emblazoned with coloring that can look black, blue or purple depending on the light and angle. After sitting for some time I was able to spy a couple close to the ground perching above the open water of the pond. I'm really happy with how this one turned out and I think it really shows how uncommonly beautiful the Common Grackle really is!