Turtle Pond Rocks!

Today was another nice day - one gorgeous day of warm sunny weather in this dreary (so far) spring.  To the park!  I walked up the west side park road and around the upper lobe, where I saw the familiar phoebes and one yellow rumped warbler.  And several northern flickers dashing about, it's really wonderful to see them this year.  I'm amazed that I have been missing so much of their beauty, now the yellow underside etc. is obvious to me.

Heading to turtle pond I went through maintenance meadow, where I saw a few gorgeous palm warblers in the grass, hopping around and chowing down.

Through the castle where I saw a wedding and not much else.  Once I got to turtle pond I went out on the dock, looking for the green heron.  Instead I found these northern flickers having a tussle, apparently over a female that was quite nearby. They flashed their tails and sometimes wings at each other.

They displayed their awesome beak raising abilities, but apparently that was not enough to settle the question.

 

They flew at each other and had a brief bird brawl!  Then one of them flew off, and the other one went back to eating.  The female I guess was watching, like I was.

Then I turned and the green heron was sitting almost right in front of me!  I love this shot, with the turtles looking up at the rock star green heron in adoration.  The blur at the bottom is from the dock which was acting as a hide.  I think it adds to the whole rock-star vibe of the picture.  :-)

Here he is, today's turtle pond headliner!

After the green heron flew off to the other side, the flickers had another tussle.  This time the female is definitely watching.  The one on the left is flashing his tail, apparently telling the one on the right to buzz off.

Which, eventually, he does!

Mallards are quite a bit bigger than green herons.

Here's a cutie tufted titmouse at the gill.

At the oven, we (a few other birders and a park ranger were there also, so I sort of glommed onto that conversation) saw this large snapping turtle being chased by an exceptionally optimistic little turtle.

The one with the yellow stripes on its head (near the bottom right) is a painted turtle, which is the native one.  Most of the others are red-eared sliders.  Or so I gathered from the park ranger, who I hope to be able to hang out with more, he is extremely knowledgeable!

Then, still at the oven, a birder guy spotted this brown thrasher flying in.  It was the first time he had ever seen a brown thrasher in a tree!

It didn't stay in the tree long, I was happy to have seen it.  :-)

Going over to azalea pond I saw this little house wren being secretive.

Back at the upper lobe, this cormorant got quite a meal!  There were two of them fishing right up by the point.

There were a couple of kinglets there too, and this one was nice enough to let me take a (non-great) picture of his ruby crown.  :-)  What a great day!

My First Sunburn of the Spring!

What a day!  Warm and somewhat sunny, with lots of activity in the park.  Straight to the upper lobe, where this phoebe charmed me.

And this yellow bellied sap-sucker posed in the sunlight.

And these ducks were lusty.

I love it when he bites her neck.

Going their separate ways.

There are so many northern flickers and yellow bellied sap suckers around, it was a treat to see this red bellied woodpecker!

The yellow rumped warbler showing me his good side.

A flicker in the grass.  There are so many around, she won't be alone for long!

By turtle pond a hawk flew over.

I mean two hawks flew over!  :-)  Very possibly Pale Male and his new girlfriend, the pictures aren't good enough for me to tell.

The pine warbler, allowing me to see him at last!

Trying to make sure I got a good shot.  True to form, my first time seeing a bird, the pictures are none too great.  Maybe I'll see more of these guys and get some decent photos.

I think yellow rumped warblers look like cartoon superheroes.  :-)

Jack was able to join me in the afternoon, and his first bird was one of his favorites, this cute little chickadee!

At the oven we saw these turtles, I think the one on the left is a painted turtle.

No snipe, but a great snipe hunt!

Today I set out to find the snipe that was reportedly seen at the oven yesterday.  I set out about 12:30, and walked up the west side park road towards the ramble.  I was pretty intent on just getting there, but something caught my eye.

This chipping sparrow!  My first of the season.  They are such pretty sparrows, I was happy to see this little guy.  There was a phoebe there too, sitting pretty high in a tree with teeny blossoms everywhere, but the phoebe was too busy to pose for pictures.

At the upper lobe, I ran into a couple of birders who said the snipe was gone.  Alas!  But at least I was no longer in a hurry, so I took my time looking around.

I'm glad I did, because I saw my first yellow-rumped warbler of the season.  :-)

Looks like not quite done molting yet.

And this golden crowned kinglet came over to say hello, it was really not very shy at all.  Fast, but not shy.

Here it is again - what's up with that stripe?  Yellow like a female, and then just a touch of red (or ~really~ dark orange?) at the base.  My field guides are not helpful - and not all in agreement.  Could this be a male with most of the orange hidden because the crest is not raised?  I saw this again on another GCKI and it's on one of Crossley's pictures, so it can't be that rare......

This yellow-bellied sap sucker came by for a portrait.  There were actually many of them flying around, chasing each other off of trees, drilling, it was great!

Then the ruby crowned kinglet (which I had seen earlier but had eluded me) agreed to a not-great picture.

From the back you can see the ruby crest a bit!

On my way to the oven, this palm warbler kept me company for a little while.  I love this guy, it has a special place in my heart as the very first warbler I had ever seen.  It was in Cayman, and I thought it was some sort of sparrow......... it was in its more drab plumage at that point.  :-)

At the oven, there was no snipe.  What I did find was a group of people all snip hunting, like me!  :-)  I did see a wood duck, who elected to stay in bad light.  And this song sparrow.

By the stream leading to the wood bridge I saw this swamp sparrow.  I couldn't remember what it was when I saw it, I remember them differently.  Hopefully I can straighten that out in my mind!

By the stone benchlet I followed a kinglet, lost it, followed a brown creeper, and was interested when it went over to the rocks and hung out there.  I haven't seen that before.

Then the kinglet was there too!  I don't know what it was about these rocks, but these two were foraging together for a few minutes.

Then the brown creeper came over to my tree (it was about 6 feet in front of me) and posed.  I've never had one fly right over like that, and I finally got good pictures of this bird!

I glanced back over at the rocks - and this winter wren was there too!

Back to the upper lobe (the weather was turning) where I saw this quite reddish fox sparrow.

And this northern flicker!  I had been seeing them fly all over, hearing them call, watching them hide from my camera all day, so it was great to finally get a nice shot.

On the west side of the upper lobe I witnessed some American robin lust.  The female was making the male chase her around, and he was doing...... I can only call them strafing runs at her.  Later I saw another pair with pretty much the same behavior.  Everyone wants eggs!

Kinglet! Yay!

Today Jack and I went walking in the park, mostly walking and talking, not birding really.  But on the way back home we did stop by to see if the red-headed woodpecker wanted to make an appearance.

And it did!  And its head is definitely (mostly) red!

Still not 100 percent, but looking good!

Then we saw this lovely little golden crowned kinglet flitting about!

It was a joy to see our first kinglet of the spring.