First Red-winged Blackbirds of 2014

Though I've seen that other people have been spotting Red-winged Blackbirds already (further south), I have not seen any yet this year at Palmer. But with the sun out today and temps finally staying above freezing now, I pretty much new that this Saturday I would have a good chance. And before I'd even walked very far the parking space at 73rd Avenue, I heard a loud squeaking that wasn't very familiar. This was not the long, scratchy call that is more common so I had to follow the direction of the sound. Sure enough, high up in the trees on the north side was a RWB -the first of the year for me. Over the last few years I've come to measure the true beginning of spring more by this event than by the calendar itself –and boy was it a welcome sight and sound this year! The photo here is not of the first one I spotted but one of many more as I made my way around the trail. Soon their numbers will increase dramatically enough to nearly drown out the sounds of other birds. The males are always the first to arrive and it is also noteworthy to record when I first spot any females. On the northwest corner I spotted this bright red Cardinal who seemed OK with me inching closer and closer for a photograph. Up until this past winter I was never satisfied with any of my Cardinal shots but this is probably one of the better –if not the best– I've taken so far. I've always wanted to capture one against a white background with snow falling but I am totally fine with waiting another year for that!!! Shortly after the cardinal I spotted a raptor zooming overhead so I tried to catch a photo. I could see with my naked eye that it's tail was longer which points to a Cooper's Hawk (or maybe a Sharp-shinned) but either way it was NOT a Red-tailed which are somewhat more common. This photo is cropped way in but I think it's kind of a neat photo and you can see some detail here of what I'm pretty certain is a Cooper's Hawk. The banding on the tail is quite distinct. I recently learned one tip to distinguish a Cooper's from a Sharp-shinned whey they are soaring overhead. A Cooper's will flap it's wings slower and make larger sized circles while the SS will flap a little faster and turn in noticeably smaller circles.