Still Some Good Birds!

It was warm this Sunday in early October but I did not make it to the park until late afternoon around 4:30pm. Daylight runs out quick these days so I knew I only had a limited time to find some birds today. I started out by hiking across the field just east of the creek on the north side. It is still full of tall grass but most of it is laying down now making it a little easier to see. Here and there I was scaring up sparrows and they would fly to the next withering bush just out of range. But finally I caught up with a small group of them and began taking photos. I could tell right away that they weren't "common" sparrows like maybe a Song or White-throated Sparrow. These showed more rusty-red coloring on their wings which is usually indicative of a Swamp Sparrow. I had to get clarification on this photo to be sure but indeed it IS a Swamp Sparrow! I only just learned this species earlier this spring so I was happy to see one again and even happier to get a decent photo! I kept creeping through the grass which led me to the edge of the woods on the other side of the field. Here I found kind of a neat area that I've only maybe walked through one other time. It is an interesting part of the park with a bit of diverse habitat. Here I started to see other birds flying about and I quickly picked up on one that I've been trying to find again since last week –a Swainson's Thrush. By this time the evening sun was casting an warm, orange glow on everything which to me is ideal light for photographs. I tried and tried and tried to get close to the Thrush but he would quickly move further away from me each time, so I had to settle on this photo which is quite cropped. I didn't actually see his backside or tail which is the best way to differentiate the various species of Thrush. I can't be 100% but since my good birder friend pointed out a Swainson's Thrush to me only yesterday, odds are best that this is also a Swainson's. In this same area I was seeing some even smaller birds flitting about, some moving quickly which would usually indicate a Warbler. Indeed, I spotted a Yellow-rumped Warbler and then suddenly a flash of bright yellow appeared. This was too bright for a Kinglet so it also had to be some kind of Warbler. To my surprise it was a Nashville Warbler as indicated by it's gray "hood" and sharp white eye-ring. I think I saw more Nahsville's this year in the park than in all previous years. But I think my identification skills are getting better too. Or at least I hope they are! Regardless, this was one pretty bird to see yet nearly one week into the month of October.