Today was the last in an impressive series of make-up walks. Weather has lengthened the fall series almost into winter! :-) Today the weather tried again, with a somewhat dismal day dotted with showers, but we braved ahead anyway. Right away we found a winter wren and this downy woodpecker.
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| Downy Woodpecker |
Following the bridle path to hopefully find an owl that was seen yesterday, we took a detour to see if we could find the crossbills by Shakespeare garden. We found this gorgeous Carolina wren instead. Look at that eyebrow! We also got to hear it sing a bit, always a treat.
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| Carolina Wren |
There were several ducks on turtle pond, including several northern shovelers.........
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| Northern Shoveler |
..... and this bufflehead!
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| Bufflehead |
Heading back to the bridle path Paul found us a few goldfinches among the loud blue jays.
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| American Goldfinch |
And then the reason the blue jays were upset - this Cooper's hawk flew circles over us, presumably seeking lunch.
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| Cooper's Hawk |
We did find the owl, or rather Paul did, I definitely would have missed it. It was high up in the tree, and there were only a few spots with a good vantage point. Hello Gorgeous!
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| Barred Owl |
We all got great views, and left it before we annoyed it too much. We finished up at the reservoir but the showers had started again so I put the camera away. I'm so glad we went ahead, the whole walk was nice but that owl was really special. :-)
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| Barred Owl |
