Weekend Update

Saturday and Sunday were both lovely mornings at the park. A little cool, sunny and NOT humid.

The upper gardens have been pretty active. It seems like there are more than the normal amount of mockingbirds and they are very busy zipping here and there and socializing. Song sparrows and their young are finding tasty morsels in the gardens.

This little hummingbird caught my eye as he rested for a very brief moment. Most of the wren families are out and about, joining the robins, catbirds, cardinals, goldfinches and female yellowthroats.

The bluebirds are actively in the midst of their second brood. Saw the bluebird feeding it's young. Today when I met up with Haynes, we saw it drop a fecal sac high in the sky in the lower gardens, surprisingly far from its nesting box!

The soccer field area had a rose-breasted grosbeak and I could hear an Eastern Phoebe in the woods behind.

On Saturday, my first stop was the pond which is pretty much dried up with all the hot weather and lack of rain. Surprisingly, there was the blue heron as well as a solitary sandpiper which Haynes and I saw today as well - only now there were two of them! There were also some mallards which made me laugh. The little bit of water they could find was so shallow, they could hardly swim, but they seemed to be enjoying themselves anyway.

Other highlights included a few sightings of baltimore orioles, an Eastern Kingbird hanging out with robins and barn swallows on the soccer field, a blue-gray gnatcatcher and a probable kinglet (heard only) and the Pee Wee (heard only).