My Big Month - Day 26

The weather for our long Memorial Day weekend has really not been so great. Yes, you can almost always expect a bit of rain here and there, but in addition the temps have been really low for this late into May. When I arrived at the park at 1:30 today it was only 57 degrees and very windy! On the north side the wind even "howled" it was so strong. I've learned that while wind is not necessarily good for taking photos, it does seem to activate the birds and indeed I saw a fair amount of interesting species. One highlight was a Wilson's Warbler that for whatever reason I tend to see more often on cold and windy days. I really want a better photo of this tiny yellow Warbler with a small black cap, but catching him up close and staying still for any more than one second at a time seems nearly impossible. I used to think Kinglets and Restarts were tough until I spotted the Wilson's Warbler! In fact today a Redstart was one of the only birds I could catch a half-decent photo of. I actually wanted to catch a female because I don't have too many photos of them, but this male was poking around on the ground long enough to give me a few good opportunities. Near the end of my walk I noticed once again a couple of very young Gray Squirrels. They were crawling around on the very same two trees I'd seen them in the day before yesterday. Now I started to think that they must have a home very nearby. I watched one spiral around the tree towards the bottom and disappear. I waited for him to come back around but he never did, so I also started walking around the tree. There I noticed a hole in the side of the tree with a split running through it. I wondered if they were in there so I walked in closely and found another tree to lean on while I focused on the hole with my camera. Sure enough a head popped out a short time later, then a second one on top. If I even flinched, they'd disappear again and I'd have to wait all over again. It was quite a funny sight!


Total species seen today: American Redstart, Yellow Warbler, Wilson's Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Magnolia Warbler, Tennessee Warbler, Red-eyed Vireo, American Robin, Red-winged Blackbird, Gray Catbird, Canada Goose, Mallard, Wood Duck, Wild Turkey, Song Sparrow, Chipping Sparrow, Bald Eagle, American Crow, Brown-headed Cowbird, Common Grackle, Great Blue Heron, Rose-breasted Grosbeak.

Conditions: 57 degrees, overcast and very windy.