June 9th Birdwalk

   Fog and drizzle at the start kept most of our usual walkers home. I was about to leave, when Patty pulled into the parking lot. A minute or two later, John arrived and we were off. It was pretty foggy and humid. However, what started out as a bleak morning turned into a great morning in many ways. The weather cleared, the birds decided to show up and the conversation was lively. John brought a tree field guide and we tried learning the names of some of our trees.
     Our first bird was spotted by both John and Patty and misidentified by me. (Of course, I blamed it on the fog.) As it flew by, I thought it was a Black-crowned Night Heron, but as it came closer, we realized it was an Osprey. There were lots of Yellow Warblers and Common Yellowthroats singing in the nearby trees and we had some good looks.
     I mentioned to Patty and John that I had seen Willow Flycatchers the last time I was there. Right on cue, the bird arrived. He sat in the tree and sang for at least five minutes. We saw that bird several times throughout the walk. John then spotted a female Red-winged Blackbird feeding its fledgling in the leaves.
   A minute or two later we found a bird jumping from branch to branch and back again. I never got a good look, but Patty was able to identify it as a Brown Creeper. We approached the field where I spotted the Indigo Bunting a few days ago, but no such luck today. There were both Tree Swallows and Barn Swallows flying about. We saw a Goldfinch or two on a dead tree branch. As we began walking back we watched a flock of Carolina Wrens in the underbrush, Cedar Waxwings high in the trees, as well as an Eastern Kingbird.
     Monk Parakeets were flying overhead and we spotted a Northern Flicker digging furiously nearby on the lawn. I imagine he was looking for ants, his favorite food. As we walked out, I spotted an Oriole fly into a nest in a nearby tree. We watched Mom's tail move about in the nest, but couldn't get a good look at her or her nestlings. Although it looked like an Orchard Oriole nest, we couldn't make a positive identification. By that time the sun was shining brightly, the air was clear and we had another great morning.