It's been at least 6 weeks since I've been to my favorite spot, so today was
the day to get down there! I wanted to be there around sunrise which is about 5:30am.
Ouch! That meant getting up around 4:15am which I was able to do without the help
of an alarm clock. The kitties and Hazel were happy to score an early breakfast. And I
was happy for a large cup of coffee in hand as I headed out the door.
A fellow photographer had let me know about a family of hooded mergansers! Sweet!
I've been going here at least 6 years and have only seen adult hoodies in the winter.
So I was excited to see them and hopefully get some good pics.
I could hear the avocets calling but there was no time to check it out as I was on a
mission to see the mergansers. So I made a beeline to their location.
This barn swallow caught my eye, so had to grab a quick pic.....
I found the merganser family easily but the light was not the best. So I attempted to get
some pics.......
Yum! Crayfish for breakfast.......
I decided to do a lap and then get back to check on the mergansers when the light was better.
There's a tree swallow nest in a tree stump that is fun to watch. Here the swallow has a mouthful of insects for the kids...yum!
There were lots of geese but I only saw this one gosling......
A snowy egret showed up in the same pond as the mergansers......
Now the light was a bit harsh but I did my best to get some pics.......
I started to do another lap but this young robin caught my eye......
And then the snowy put on a show, so I ended up staying at the back pond longer.
After enjoying the snowy perched in the tree, I kept attempting to get some better merganser pics....
My friends Neal and Rich who live in the neighborhood, joined me and we all enjoyed the mergansers.....
Finally Neal and Rich continued on their respective ways and I decided to attempt one more shot at merganser pics! Oh yeah, I scored! They had moved into a shady spot and mom grabbed a HUGE crayfish! It took her quite a few tries to swallow the monster!
Finally I pulled myself away from the hoodies and met up with Neal near the northside of the park. While we were chatting, a spotted sandpiper anded nearby.....
And one of the many great blue herons was enjoying the beautiful day....
Ha! Neal and I had just talked about the lack of wood ducks this year. And we spotted this female woodie. No sign of ducklings, so maybe she's free and single!
I walked back to the bridge and one of the snowy egrets was looking for breakfast......
I was thinking about heading home, when I heard the avocets very close by. Earlier I had seen them on the island with 3 chicks but they were too far away for any pics. They were very busy protecting their young from the GBH on the island. Yes, the GBH will eat very small birds, rodents,etc.
But now the avocets were very close by. Sweet! They had moved the chicks from the island to near the bridge. So damn cute!
Mom and dad avocet were very busy protecting the kids from this snowy egret......
The snowy was not interested in the chicks but the parents were taking no chances! After chatting with Neal, the consensus was that the first batch of chicks the avocets had earlier this season did not survive( dinner for the GBH?) So they were now even more protective of the new batch.....
Now it was time to go home but I did have to check on the cooper's hawks. Mom was on the nest and dad quickly flew in to let me know he was on guard. Thankfully he did not dive bomb me......
So I was headed home but decided to swing by the OSMP offices on Cherryvale to see if the bobolinks were around. Yup!
And the savannah sparrows were around too!
Well, what a fun morning! I will have to get back soon to see how the hoodie family and avocet chicks are doing.......stay tuned and thanks for reading!
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