Friday Sunrise Walk

I arrived at the park again at 5:30am this Friday morning. I was slightly less tired today and eager for a good walk. The sky was incredible when I first set out and I took a few shots just near the parking lot. There were more great birds to be seen today. In fact I had a great, close encounter with both a Baltimore Oriole and another Rose-breasted Grosbeak. It was just too dark yet though and none of the photos turned out. Later I saw more Tree Swallows, Sparrows and a Pheasant. As I was making my way down the east side I almost walked right past a Flicker who was actually sitting right on the sidewalk just off to my left. I've read that they like to eat ants so it made sense. I'd never been so close to one and I was quite shocked at how large he was. Of course he flew off as soon as I noticed him there but I followed him for a bit and watched him drinking water from the slough area nearby. Growing right along side the water was a tree with bright pink blossoms. I'm guessing maybe it's some kind of Crab Apple Tree but I'm not sure. I'll have to check back to see if it has any fruit on it. As I was heading back I saw a female Red-winged Blackbird fairly close to the trail so I took a couple of shots. Some sexes of birds are so similar, with just minute details setting them apart, while others like Red-winged Blackbirds are completely different from male to female. The female is not black, nor Red-winged at all!

Thursday Sunrise Walk

Lately I've felt like I've been in such a slump. My routine has become monotonous and the days are going by way too fast -despite the longer daylight hours. I'd been considering shifting my walks to the morning hours before work versus after but I am soooo not a morning person. Today I gave it a shot though by waking early and arriving at the park by 5:30am. It was kind of weird being there that early but I did have the park mostly to myself -which is near impossible this time of year. Even this early I started seeing birds. First some Tree Swallows, then Goldfinch, then another Flicker again on the north side. There were also a fair amount of Deer visible this morning and as I approached the foot bridge I noticed 2 Deer standing on the bridge! They hurried across as I came closer. I then stopped on the bridge to watch a family of Canada Geese with young ones. The two goslings lowered their heads to drink water from the Creek and it was a great photo opportunity that my camera let me down on. It was just too dark in the area with all the trees overhead. Further down the trail, a couple of Mourning Doves were eagerly awaiting the sunrise. I think I'm noticing these Doves more recently as I'm always on the lookout for another Kestral and the two have a similar shape and size. When I got back to the south side I paused for a while at my favorite place where the Shingle Creek flows back out of the lake. It had been overcast and cloudy all morning and then it suddenly passed. Everything green lit up with brilliant color against a darker sky in the west. It was about this time I realized I needed to get home and get ready for work. What a drag.

Quick visit Wednesday evening

This Wednesday evening both myself and my significant other badly needed to de-charge after a stressful day at work. The weather was awesome but we made our way around rather quickly. Though I saw 1 or 2 Yellow Warblers, the birds were quite inactive. On the north side we spotted some Mallards with Ducklings and watched them zip around like little bugs. The Plum trees are blooming now and certain parts of the trail are filled with white blossoms. Hopefully they will continue blooming at different times because they smell fantastic.

Yet more new birds

This Sunday was definitely the nicer day of the weekend. It was sunny and 65º and it made for one of the nicest walks this year so far. The amount of Bird species one could see at the park seems to still be on the upswing. In this visit alone I will have positively identified 3 more species. This first one I've seen plenty of and become very familiar with. I've been seeing -and hearing- lots of Gray Catbirds for a few weeks already. They're not the most fun to look at but sure are fun to listen to. They mimic other Birds and I swear I can hear a Robin call in there among all the other noise they make. There were a pair of them just above me on the woodchip trail and I couldn't resist such a close shot. As I was making my way towards the baseball fields on the west side I noticed a bunch of small Warblers in the woods. I paused to watch and see if I could get any shots when I caught a glimpse of one with stunning colors. He, along with the others didn't sit still for very long and I caught only this very poor photo. Pretty sure it is a Chesnut sided Warbler! On the north side I spotted a larger, Robin sized Bird that did not look familiar at first glance. He was perched high up in a Willow Tree so I checked with my binoculars. It was a Red-Breasted Grosbeak, a fairly common Bird but the first one I've seen at the park. I went for my camera but I was about half a second too slow and caught him launching into flight. Between this and my next photo I saw all kinds of stuff including another Flicker, Brown-headed Cowbirds and a Green Heron. I'd walked up the edge of a pond to watch the Heron for a bit when I noticed a colorful, orange and black bird land just out to my right. I'd seen my first one only yesterday but managed to get a photo this time of an American Redstart! The Redstart is a member of the Warbler family and if you ever try to catch a photo of these types of birds, you'll understand why I'm so happy with this picture.