A few fellow birders had told me that they'd already spotted Yellow-rumped Warblers nearly a week ago but I'd not seen any myself. This Saturday I spotted my first one and was able to get kind of a neat photo. I almost didn't recognize it as it was much darker than I remember them from last year and it was not in a place I was expecting to see one.
This one was by himself on the south side and sitting in some dead grasses near where Shingle Creek flows under 69th Avenue. He must have felt safe in that grass because I kept walking closer and surprisingly got right above him. I took a bunch of shots not knowing if they'd turn out because of all the grass but at least you can see the majority of him here. On the southwest side I came up the wood chip trail and spotted one lone turkey just standing still up ahead of me.
I didn't go any closer once I saw it and just knelt down taking photos. Eventually it started walking around not paying much attention to me until some other park goers came down the trail. I pointed it out to them and we talked for a bit but the Turkey hung around and eventually even came right out onto the trail in front of me. I didn't see any others around anywhere. Near the end of my walk I was walking and talking with another acquaintance from the park and noticed two Woodpeckers up ahead that didn't look quite like the ones I'm used to seeing.
The thing that caught my eye was a vertical white stripe along it's wing. Also they seemed to have kind of a "skinnier" neck than either a Hairy or Downy Woodpecker. I've actually never seen one at Palmer Lake before but I guessed correctly that the pair were Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers! This one is a male with red coloring on both the crown and the chin. I could also just barely see a hint of yellow on his upper breast. Wish I could have gotten a better photo but this is my first!
This one was by himself on the south side and sitting in some dead grasses near where Shingle Creek flows under 69th Avenue. He must have felt safe in that grass because I kept walking closer and surprisingly got right above him. I took a bunch of shots not knowing if they'd turn out because of all the grass but at least you can see the majority of him here. On the southwest side I came up the wood chip trail and spotted one lone turkey just standing still up ahead of me. 
I didn't go any closer once I saw it and just knelt down taking photos. Eventually it started walking around not paying much attention to me until some other park goers came down the trail. I pointed it out to them and we talked for a bit but the Turkey hung around and eventually even came right out onto the trail in front of me. I didn't see any others around anywhere. Near the end of my walk I was walking and talking with another acquaintance from the park and noticed two Woodpeckers up ahead that didn't look quite like the ones I'm used to seeing. 
The thing that caught my eye was a vertical white stripe along it's wing. Also they seemed to have kind of a "skinnier" neck than either a Hairy or Downy Woodpecker. I've actually never seen one at Palmer Lake before but I guessed correctly that the pair were Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers! This one is a male with red coloring on both the crown and the chin. I could also just barely see a hint of yellow on his upper breast. Wish I could have gotten a better photo but this is my first!
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