The last couple of days were overcast with slight rain and this evening was the same. I couldn't believe how dead the park was. It was just quiet as heck -even the birds weren't moving. Then bam, like someone turned off the faucet, the sky cleared up in the west and sun bolted through lighting up the horizon. It was pretty late in the day though and for the most part, nature seemed to be still asleep.
Upon rounding the northeast corner though, I spotted what I thought was a dead leaf still clinging to the top of a bare tree. When it didn't seem to change direction correctly with the wind, I realized it must be a SMALL bird. Only after zooming in all the way with my camera did I recognize the long skinny beak and realize it was a Hummingbird!
This was pretty cool to see way up in the treetops and not anywhere near a feeder. One tends to only see these birds within the vicinity of a nectar feeder where they are easy to spot. It's amazing how small they are when you can place them in the same woods as other birds. Later at the south side I spotted my first Monarch Caterpillar in years. As a kid I used to go out and harvest these by the dozens, feeding them in a small aquarium and watching them cocoon and hatch into butterflies. Seems like there are fewer and fewer of them these days so it was fun to spot this one -less than an inch long yet.
The last couple of days were overcast with slight rain and this evening was the same. I couldn't believe how dead the park was. It was just quiet as heck -even the birds weren't moving. Then bam, like someone turned off the faucet, the sky cleared up in the west and sun bolted through lighting up the horizon. It was pretty late in the day though and for the most part, nature seemed to be still asleep. 
Upon rounding the northeast corner though, I spotted what I thought was a dead leaf still clinging to the top of a bare tree. When it didn't seem to change direction correctly with the wind, I realized it must be a SMALL bird. Only after zooming in all the way with my camera did I recognize the long skinny beak and realize it was a Hummingbird! 
This was pretty cool to see way up in the treetops and not anywhere near a feeder. One tends to only see these birds within the vicinity of a nectar feeder where they are easy to spot. It's amazing how small they are when you can place them in the same woods as other birds. Later at the south side I spotted my first Monarch Caterpillar in years. As a kid I used to go out and harvest these by the dozens, feeding them in a small aquarium and watching them cocoon and hatch into butterflies. Seems like there are fewer and fewer of them these days so it was fun to spot this one -less than an inch long yet.
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