In lower gardens, was immediately greeted by the house wrens nesting next to the parking lot and as I wandered into the lower gardens I saw a juvenile mockingbird and this common yellowthroat female in a shrub together. The rabbits were out - this one had a friend and they were busy munching on the wet grass. They are becoming so used to people that it wasn't difficult to get pretty close to this guy or gal.
I didn't stay long, as I am still fascinated by the herons and were hoping to see them down by the pond. As I headed down there, I saw some little birds flitting around the path near the soccer field, and kept seeing flashes of yellow. I'm sure a saw a few yellow-rumped warblers for the first time in a long time as well as some yellow warblers. I also think I may have seen a female redstart, but not sure about that. It just seems like the warblers are starting to pass through here already. Of course there were the chickadees, robins, song sparrows etc.As I approached the pond, I saw the black crowned night heron in the distance but apparently there were two herons near the front of the pond and they were spooked, so they flew off and one of them was clearly a juvenile with the brown and white striations. Last time, I saw two adults, so this means it is a family! How cool is that?
I wanted to see if maybe there were any herons down by the river since the water level is so low, and saw the fox out of the corner of my eye in the woods near the Nature Center. He definitely likes this early morning time. He saw me and quickly disappeared.The upper gardens had lots of wren activity and all our regulars including a mourning dove (pictured left), but also got to watch a tiny, blue-gray gnatcatcher preening its tiny little self in a branch above me.
Wildflowers blooming right now include: wild bergamot, run-away day lilies, mint, vetch, sundrops, black-eyed Susans, yellow flax and Queen Anne's lace.
Ian arrived as I was leaving. I wonder what he ended up seeing….
No comments:
Post a Comment