Warm Day and Lots of Birds!

There was just no way I would have stayed inside today. After all the cold temps we've had, today was predicted to be around 35º I think. In fact it warmed up a bit more to nearly 39 or 40 degrees. With a bright, sunny sky in addition, it was a much needed day for me to be outdoors again. I wanted to enjoy every minute of it and so I really took my time walking around the park today. Among the many birds I spotted today, the first I photographed was this bright red male Cardinal. He was just above me over the trail on the south side but it took quite a while to get any unobstructed shots. I was happy with how this one came out and he really popped against the blue sky. Looking at this photo alone you might not guess there's probably 30 some inches of snow on the ground. In my walk around the park I saw at least another couple dozen Cardinals –almost all males in fact. As I made my toward the north end of the park, I spotted a large bird perched out in one of the only few trees among the cattails. Looking through my binoculars I was greatly surprised to realize it was a Great Horned Owl! I've never seen one so out-in-the-open like that, with hardly any other trees around. As he was really far away, I decided to hike into the cattails a bit to see if I could get closer. But in these open surroundings I knew for sure he was aware of me even before I set foot off the trail. I tried the "walk a ways, stop and repeat" method, but I could tell he was getting ready to fly long before I got anywhere near where I would have liked. This was about the closest I came before he decided to take off, flying low over the cattails and perching in a tall tree much further down the trail. I looked for him again in the area where I saw him land but never located him again. Shockingly I actually located 2 more GHO's today. And though I came much much closer, I got terrible photos obstructed by trees. One more bird I did manage to get an acceptable photo of today was this American Tree Sparrow. It posed perfectly for me in the sun and looked rather attractive I thought for a Sparrow. Sometimes you can get these confused with a Chipping Sparrow but Chipping Sparrows are more of a Summer and Fall bird. If you're ever unsure, the American Tree Sparrow has a key identifying pattern in it's beak with the upper park being dark while the bottom is yellow. Oh, I should list all the birds I spotted today as it was more than usual: Northern Cardinal, Blue Jay, Dark-eyed Junco, Mallard, Bald Eagle, Great Horned Owl, Hairy Woodpecker, Pileated Woodpecker, American Tree Sparrow, House Sparrow, House Finch, European Starling & Red-tailed Hawk.