Environment:
Start Time: 7:55 AM Temperature: 51 degrees Sky: Sunshine with mitigating cloud cover.
Start time was delayed this morning while I waited to see if the Sun could establish some dominance in the sky. It did. Conditions were ultimately excellent. Bird activity was kind of low except for the Starlings who were blasting all over the park like perpetual motion machines. Today’s featured image is the same Wood Duck drake as is pictured at the bottom of this post with his main squeeze. The two of them were obviously looking for some new digs in the area. I hope they eventually realized that they were looking at sites in close proximity to the Cooper’s Hawk nest that I have been monitoring. Below is a shot (the only one I got) of a really colorful Yellow-rumped Warbler. Also posted is the Wild Turkey who was foraging on the East side of the park, apparently all alone. I think it is a hen – not sure why she was out so “late” in the morning. The big news is I spotted my first Bullock’s Oriole of the year – a really pretty one who refused to be photographed today. I’ll be on the lookout from now on.
Sightings:
Birds: Mallards, Wood Ducks, Blue-winged Teals, Starlings, Ospreys, Canada Geese, Double Crested Cormorants, American Robins, Northern Flickers, Mourning Doves, Red-winged Blackbirds, Wrens, Western Kingbirds, Woodpeckers, Turkey Vultures, Blue Jays, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Wild Turkey, Bullock’s Oriole, Swallows, Barn Swallows
Critters: Tree Squirrels, Ants, Cabbage White Butterflies
Gear: Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II, Lumix 100-300mm
