I'm into week number two now of May and my "Big Month" of going out bird watching every single day of the month. I've already seen plenty of returning migrants but the leaves have sprouted and filled in extremely early this year, making it harder to find the birds. Every bird watcher I know has commented on this fact and thus it will be a tougher for birding in general, but especially so for the small sized Warblers I look forward to each spring. The first two birds I spotted today were both Sparrows; a Song Sparrow and a Swamp Sparrow.
But shortly after these I noticed an unusually large bird perched up above me on the north east side of the park. It was mostly facing away from me and at first I didn't even notice the bright white head of an adult Bald Eagle. It has been some time since I've seen a Bald Eagle, much less an adult at the park. And too, it was perched still versus flying overhead which made for a pretty good sighting. The bird wasn't at the best angle for a photograph but I took some anyway. After last weekend, I believe I knew where a Yellow Warbler could be reliably spotted on the northwest side before the baseball diamonds. So I waited in that area for a while until he finally appeared. I got to see the bird somewhat more closely than I usually see them and I thought I was getting phenomenal photos but apparently my camera settings weren't quite right. So all the photos I got were kind of dark and grainy.
I guess that just gives me motivation to keep trying to photograph the same bird again in the future. I recently learned that the Yellow Warblers with the heavy, deep chestnut colored streaking on the breast like this one would be the male. The female would show only a hint of streaking and be slightly more pale in color overall –especially around the head. It really wasn't until I saw both sexes together that it became very apparent. Later I spotted a young buck Deer with barely noticeable nubbins protruding from his head. I watched him and took some photos for a while before spotting another Deer. This one popped out of the woods and proceeded to walk right along the trail. I took a few photos and moved on a ways when I noticed a couple on bicycles heading right towards it.
To everyones surprise, the Deer clearly didn't want to go back into the woods and nervously let the bikers cross within just feet of it! The Deer kind of cautiously watched and waited while waving it's tail which made me laugh.
But shortly after these I noticed an unusually large bird perched up above me on the north east side of the park. It was mostly facing away from me and at first I didn't even notice the bright white head of an adult Bald Eagle. It has been some time since I've seen a Bald Eagle, much less an adult at the park. And too, it was perched still versus flying overhead which made for a pretty good sighting. The bird wasn't at the best angle for a photograph but I took some anyway. After last weekend, I believe I knew where a Yellow Warbler could be reliably spotted on the northwest side before the baseball diamonds. So I waited in that area for a while until he finally appeared. I got to see the bird somewhat more closely than I usually see them and I thought I was getting phenomenal photos but apparently my camera settings weren't quite right. So all the photos I got were kind of dark and grainy. 
I guess that just gives me motivation to keep trying to photograph the same bird again in the future. I recently learned that the Yellow Warblers with the heavy, deep chestnut colored streaking on the breast like this one would be the male. The female would show only a hint of streaking and be slightly more pale in color overall –especially around the head. It really wasn't until I saw both sexes together that it became very apparent. Later I spotted a young buck Deer with barely noticeable nubbins protruding from his head. I watched him and took some photos for a while before spotting another Deer. This one popped out of the woods and proceeded to walk right along the trail. I took a few photos and moved on a ways when I noticed a couple on bicycles heading right towards it. 
To everyones surprise, the Deer clearly didn't want to go back into the woods and nervously let the bikers cross within just feet of it! The Deer kind of cautiously watched and waited while waving it's tail which made me laugh.
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