The Gardens

It was pretty chilly this morning at the park. 44 degrees at 7:15 a.m. Went down to the pond and saw a mallard couple. Moved on up to the upper gardens where there was a flock of chittering cedar waxwings - lots of juveniles in the group. Saw all the regulars; i.e., chickadees, mockingbirds, blue jays, song sparrows, nuthatches, cardinals, downies, etc.

Then went to the lower gardens and ran into Ian.  Haynes joined us shortly afterwards. We saw an American Redstart which was gray with some soft yellow in spots. This picture doesn't really do it justice, but it was the best I could do with my camera (it's right in the middle and facing away).

In the upper gardens, we were standing near this tree and Haynes suddenly noticed this huge red-tailed hawk right in front of us. He was totally unphased by our presence. He really was spectacularly grand! We saw chipping and savannah sparrows, an indigo bunting couple, eastern phoebes, house finches and mourning doves. Also saw a beautiful male yellowthroat with a faded mask foraging in the brush.

Ian and I thought we had seen pine warblers and Haynes said he had seen some Blackpolls. Just as it was time to leave, we saw the red-eyed vireo. An elegant way to end the morning.