Summer is in full swing now and our temps have easily been reaching highs of 80 to 90º. It's something I just don't feel very used to anymore especially after our long winter and slow, drawn-out spring. It would have been better to arrive earlier in the day to avoid the heat but unfortunately I got a late start around 11:30 today.
There wasn't much of interest until I'd gone more than half way around the park. On the east side I glanced up and noticed this Great Egret in a dead tree above a little pond. Maybe the warm weather will start to attract some more of them as their numbers seem to be down in comparison to previous years. In this very same area, I noticed an odd looking bird on the ground in the grass with his head cocked towards the sky. It wasn't easily recognizable so I looked closer and grabbed a few pictures.
He kept his head at this funny angle for quite a while before taking off. I only noticed after I got home that there were markings on his head that very much reminded me of an American Kestral. Could it have been a young one possibly? It is my best guess at this point. Almost the entire way around I'd been catching periodic glimpses of what I'd suspected was an Osprey.
It was circling around the park over the water and when it finally perched in a tall, dead tree I was able to confirm with my binoculars. When I got to the railroad ties overlooking the water, he was just overhead and I got to see him quite close up. This was the first positive ID I'd made of an Osprey at the park, although others have told me they've seen them before. They are quite fun to watch as they will hover for a few seconds before diving straight down into the water to grab a fish. My camera is not really meant to be capturing birds in flight but I tried anyway. That is the reason this photo is cropped so strangely.
There wasn't much of interest until I'd gone more than half way around the park. On the east side I glanced up and noticed this Great Egret in a dead tree above a little pond. Maybe the warm weather will start to attract some more of them as their numbers seem to be down in comparison to previous years. In this very same area, I noticed an odd looking bird on the ground in the grass with his head cocked towards the sky. It wasn't easily recognizable so I looked closer and grabbed a few pictures. 
He kept his head at this funny angle for quite a while before taking off. I only noticed after I got home that there were markings on his head that very much reminded me of an American Kestral. Could it have been a young one possibly? It is my best guess at this point. Almost the entire way around I'd been catching periodic glimpses of what I'd suspected was an Osprey. 
It was circling around the park over the water and when it finally perched in a tall, dead tree I was able to confirm with my binoculars. When I got to the railroad ties overlooking the water, he was just overhead and I got to see him quite close up. This was the first positive ID I'd made of an Osprey at the park, although others have told me they've seen them before. They are quite fun to watch as they will hover for a few seconds before diving straight down into the water to grab a fish. My camera is not really meant to be capturing birds in flight but I tried anyway. That is the reason this photo is cropped so strangely.
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