It was beautiful today! The sky was blue and the temperature got all of the way up to 55 degs F. Think about that. Last week I was struggling to remove inch thick ice from the boardwalk - today it was warm enough to roam around in a hoodie. Very strange weather, especially when you consider the fact that it's only the 3rd of February. Apparently, Puxatawney Phil saw his shadow yesterday, supposedly meaning another six weeks of winter. Well, duh! If you look at the calendar, it's clear that we're going to have another six weeks of winter ahead of us no matter what the weather does. Our local weather-prognosticators say that we could still have some really nasty weather ahead, so we shouldn't allow ourselves to get too cocky just yet. Never-the-less, 55 degs! I wondered if that was warm enough to coax the frogs, salamanders, and snakes out for a little mid-winter snack, so thought I'd go over to the park and see what was out and about.
Plenty of insects are around, so food is available for the frogs if they want to partake of it; but, sadly, no frogs. Not yet. Maybe next week. This is a water-strider, but I was engulfed by clouds of gnats as well. It's impossible for me to photograph gnats, no matter how big the cloud it. My camera simply cannot see them.
Instead of frogs, what I saw was raptors. And by that, I mean....RAPTORS! All of the raptors in the neighborhood must have been congregated at West Hylebos Park! For such an amazingly beautiful day, I thought the park was oddly quiet when I went in. Not a robin, chickadee, junco, towhee, any other small bird as far as I could see. Everyhing was really still. Then, I looked up.....
There, on a limb almost directly above my head, was a sharp-shinned hawk. Wow, what a beauty!
Not far from that was a red-tailed hawk. This looks very much like the red-tailed hawk that's been hanging out in the tree near my apartment all week. Today, it was hanging out in West Hylebos Park.
When I left my apartment, I could see a bald eagle circling in the sky over 21st Ave SW, but I couldn't get a picture of it. Not far from the red-tailed hawk in West Hylebos Park, I spotted a bald eagle! Circling in the air, not far from the eagle, I could see another hawk. Good grief, Charlie Brown! No wonder the little birds were all tucked away in silent-mode. I would be too with all of those hungry raptors hanging around looking for lunch. You'd think someone had erected a "Good Eats!" sign in the park, or something. A beautiful day for humans, but not a good day for unwary songbirds.
By the time I'd completed my circuit of the boardwalk the raptors were gone and the non-raptors had returned. I spotted this beautiful northern flicker. I think their plumage is absolutely gorgeous!
In addition to the usual spotted-towhees, black-capped chickadees, robins, and dark-eyed juncos, I spotted a willow tree full of ruby-crowned kinglets. I was so excited to finally get a picture of one. They're so small, and move so fast, that it's nearly impossible to photograph one. It's like trying to photograph popping popcorn!
And, the ducks are back. I spotted seventeen mallards on Brooklake and six more mallards on Marlake, plus a lonely bufflehead.
And then this. Oh, mercy, if that's not gorgeous, I don't know what is!
Teri I. Lenfest
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