My owl friends: First Day of Spring!

Yahoo! It's the first day of spring, so to celebrate I decided to go out photographing.
I was up by 6am because I was planning to get over to my owl friends before daylight.
But the sun beat me there. Oh well, it was still fun to say hi to my owl friends and wish
them a happy spring. Cher was tucked in the nest and Sonny was close by. I love the golden/orange colors from the early morning sun.......

Not much else was going on, so I drove over to Walden ponds which is about a 5
minute drive. The large pond near the parking area was very active. There were gulls, a couple of great blue herons, shovelers, widgeons and some common mergansers. I would love a good pic of a common merganser, but so far no luck. Whenever I see them, they are too far away for a good pic. I love a challenge, so I know I'll get one someday!

Here's a GBH flying over me.......

I usually see a kingfisher near this big pond but he's never in a good spot for a photo. Well, today he gave me some great shots! These are shots of him hovering over the lake looking for breakfast. As his name implies, he does eat small fish and other aquatic creatures.

After enjoying the kingfisher, I hiked around the other ponds. It was very fun but I didn't get any decent pics. so then I headed over to 75th St over the Boulder Creek. This area is 1 minute from Walden Ponds.
I had just started down the path when I heard some red tailed hawks calling. I hustled down the trail and saw 2 red tails flying by. This was so cool! I got some fun pics of the one that was calling.......

After enjoying the hawks, I went in search of the dipper. His full name is american
dipper. But all his friends call him dipper. I first saw this bird a few summers ago and
was blown away by his antics. He actually dives under fast moving water for his food.
He is the only truly aquatic songbird in north america and they live mostly in the western
area of the U.S. Crazy huh?
I found the pair in the usual spot. The female was working on the nest and the male
was getting breakfast...he was so entertaining. Next time, I'll attempt to get some video
of this guy diving for his food.....