Heading into Fall

 It's that time of year. Fall migration is going on right now. Many birds are starting to head south from around here. And then there are birds from up north that are headed to Colorado for the winter. So it's a bit of a crap shoot right now as to what I will see. I could have a huge day seeing lots of different birds or it could be pretty quiet.....I call it the Transition time.

And today was kind of quiet. Still a very fun day but a bit quiet for my taste.

My two choices for today were either my favorite place or Walden ponds. I decided to head to my favorite place as I was hoping to see both the cooper's hawks and the swainson's hawks.

I pulled into the parking lot and was barely out of the car when I heard the familiar call of the cooper's hawk! Yahoo! I grabbed my day pack and my camera and quickly spotted the coopers perched at the top of a pine tree. Just as I got into position to get a pic, he took flight and dive bombed something. Then one of the other coopers appeared and also dive bombed the same thing. They both missed a very big rabbit who zipped into some thick brush. That was very cool to see! Cooper's mainly eat small birds but will eat chipmunks, squirrels and rabbits.

Here's one of the hawks after missing the bunny. He sat there for a minute and then flew off to meet up with the two other youngsters and they soared above Wadsworth blvd enjoying the beautiful morning.

I started heading around the main lake and there was one of the snowy egrets looking for breakfast......

After seeing the snowy egret, it was pretty quiet all the way back to where the swainson's hawks hang out. I only spotted one of the youngsters today sitting near a telephone pole.
I haven't seen the parents lately so I am wondering if they already headed south. And I did some reading about the swainsons and learned some fun facts. They do eat rodents, rabbits and lizards during the summer when they are taking care of their young. But then they switch to mostly insects such as dragonflies and grasshoppers. So now it makes sense why they migrate south for the winter. And they go all the way to Argentina!

Rabbits were everywhere! So finally grabbed a pic of one of them.......

I made it back to the gazebo and spotted a great blue heron perched near one of the old nests. I'm guessing it's one of this year's youngsters.....

I had not seen the shovelers on my first lap but they made an appearance for my second lap. Here's the male.....

And here's a female....

The cormorants are still around. This is a youngster. I love the coloring! 

And the barn swallows were very active. I was hoping to get more feeding pics. But after a few minutes I realized everyone was getting their own food. The kids are growing up!

The swallows would use these branches to rest before getting back out there for more insect meals!

I spotted another photographer across the pond. Looked like he was photographing one of the snowy egrets. Seems he was trying to camouflage himself from the snowy but it's not really necessary as the snowys are pretty comfortable with humans getting fairly close. I have walked up to them quite easily to get some nice pics.

Here's one of the young wood ducks....a dude!

As I was watching the wood duck, I heard a familiar bird sound. Right in front of me was a young female gold finch......

And then mom appeared with some breakfast....

Then I spotted another young wood duck dude! Very cool! I had only seen one last week, so was happy to know there are at least two.

Here's one of the young wood duck gals......

I was on my way to check on the swainson's when I spotted a GBH in the back pond. I was hoping to get a shot of him fishing but it never happened......

Neither swainson's hawk was around on my second lap so I decided it was time to go home and get Hazel!
It was already 85' so Hazel and I headed for Coot lake for some swimming time!

Thanks for reading!