Colorful July Day

This Sunday at the park was a fantastic day for birds. I always think of August as a slow time for birdwatching at PLP so today being the 27th of July, it could be one of the last good days of the summer. Among the many birds I spotted today were Great-crested Flycatcher, Red-eyed Vireo, American Goldfinch, Gray Catbird, Song Sparrow, Northern Cardinal, Indigo Bunting, House Sparrow, Baltimore Oriole, and Red-winged Blackbird. But one bird I really got a good long look at was this talkative House Wren. I could hear two of them chattering back and forth at each other in the low brush to my right. I focused on an open spot where I could get a clear view and sure enough one of them jumped right into my view. The other one flew off but this one stayed around for a few minutes posing and chattering loudly at me. Wrens are neat little birds with a lot of attitude and of course they don't stay put for very long so it is a fun challenge to photograph them. I was super happy to get a photo of the one in mid-chatter with his bill wide open. I have found that Wrens are eager to respond to a recorded call of their chattering sound. There's a lot of quick noise in that call and I wonder what on earth they are saying in such quick bursts. The remaining Wren hopped back down into the brush but popped out for a second to check me out. Out in the baseball fields on the east side of the park were a pair of Killdeer. I've tried in the past to get closer to these guys and they usually bump and fly away very easily. But with my new lens giving me more reach I was finally able to capture a better shot of one today. Killdeer are considered a member of the "shorebird' family and you can see why by the length of their legs. They would allow them to easily walk through flooded and muddy areas while searching for food. Killdeer also make such an interesting and unmistakeable noise –the noise for which they are named, sounding like "kill deeeer, kill deeeer." Along my hike today there was no shortage of Butterflies and insects. I spotted a number of different Dragonflies, Monarchs and even a Black Swallowtail butterfly. A number of the Monarchs I saw were landing on the hot pink colored Swamp Milkweed plants, making for great photo opportunities. I took dozens and dozens of shots but it was worth it to get just this one gorgeous image. I may indeed get this one framed later on. A very enjoyable visit!