St. Patrick’s Day at Whitnall Park 2018

I started out St. Patrick’s Day morning at the Wehr Nature Center, in Whitnall Park. I was hoping to hear the Tufted Titmouse, so I could go find it and take pictures. I didn’t hear it, and after about ten minutes waiting, I left. I was sitting in the road at the entrance to Wehr, listening to the birds sing, and  I heard a pack of coyotes start sounding off, not too far away. I went to check it out and see if they were anywhere near the road. I turned towards the Botanical Gardens area and about halfway there, I saw one trotting slowly. I stopped my truck, in the road, got out and took some pictures. It stopped and looked at me and waited. As I let the camera down, I saw a second coyote out of the corner of my eye. They both just stood there and looked around, minding their own business. The first one laid down under a tree and the second one walked away, slowly down a path.  In the meantime, the amount of bird singing coming from the pine trees was impressive. All of the roads are no parking, so I drove to the gardens parking lot, parked, and walked backed into the pine trees. There was a lot of finches and juncos! I had 27 Pine Siskins, 16 American Goldfinches, 15 House Finches and 12 Dark-eyed Juncos feeding in the trees, flitting around and singing. A few of the siskins were displaying courtship. While taking photos, I heard several “kip” calls come flying in. I knew they had to be Red Crossbills, but I couldn’t find them. After a minute or two, I heard the calls again, and away they went, but this time I saw them fly. They were Red Crossbills (3 male/3 female)! I had a great look at them, flying north through my binoculars. A group of 16 American Crows, was being extremely loud, in one general area. I started walking towards them and saw 10 deer leaving the pine trees and crossing the road, into the garden area. With all the ruckus the crows were making, I thought I’d find an owl, but I didn’t.

After leaving there, I went back to the Wehr Nature center, in hopes of hearing the titmouse. Again, I didn’t hear it, so I left. As I was leaving the Wehr Nature area and crossing 92nd street, I heard the titmouse calling from the north side of the street. I pulled over and located it atop a tree on the side of the road. It flew Across the street and into the woods along the creek. It was constantly calling for the half hour or so I watched it. I got some really good looks at it. While walking out of the woods, I spotted my FOY Turkey Vulture soaring right overhead. I drove around the park for a little longer, and on the way out, I found a Red-tailed Hawk nest. I saw one hawk standing on the nest, and one in a tree behind it. The one flew towards the other, landed next to it, and they mated. Hopefully I get to see that throughout the spring!  In the 4.5 hours I was there, I ended with 28 species, 2 coyote and 10 deer. What a great morning to be out, enjoying the beautiful sunny skies! Here are some photos from the morning with links to the specific pages.

http://www.jmeyerphotography.net/photo-gallery/photo-gallery-2/tufted-titmouse/

http://www.jmeyerphotography.net/photo-gallery/photo-gallery-2/pine-siskin/

http://www.jmeyerphotography.net/photo-gallery/wildlife/coyote/