Quiet days at Nathan Krestul Park.  On Thanksgiving Day this juvenile Little Blue Heron showed up again:

Meanwhile, an Eastern Phoebe has discovered the Crape Myrtle in our front yard.  And so, we’ve come full circle to the time when I began this blog, just over a year ago.

The last two afternoons have been very quiet at Nathan Krestul Park, and for the first time in weeks I saw not a single White Ibis.  Yesterday I saw exactly four birds:  a Tricolored Heron,  Palm Warbler (western variety), a Red-bellied Woodpecker, and a Belted Kingfisher.  This afternoon I saw the Tricolored Heron again, picture here in the second blooming of string lily in recent months:

Tricolored Heron

I also saw an Eastern Phoebe:

Eastern Phoebe

The Eastern Phoebe is such an interesting bird to watch; at times the forward movement of its flight slows down so much it appears to be almost hovering.

Other than that, it was a few Yellow-rumped Warblers and a couple of Palm Warblers (western variety).  Perhaps because of the paucity of birds, this bloom jumped out at me:

Back at home, a Hermit Thrush was taking an energetic bath in the bubbler.  This Hermit Thrush is behaving much the same way as the one that frequented the back yard this past spring:  bathing at twilight!

At midday I spotted a Hermit Thrush skulking around the leaf litter by the oleander.  My opening the back door spooked it enough to fly into the oleander, but I managed this shot:

Hermit Thrush

Stopped by Nathan Krestul Park on my way home home from work, drawn today by a collection of White Ibis high in a tree.  Saw the Belted Kingfisher dive, but come up empty-beaked.  A Little Blue Heron and a Tricolored Heron were out again, the Tricolored Heron the more testy of the pair.  The Red-winged Blackbirds were making their usual calls:  rah RAAH rah!

These birds were too far away for me to identify them until I got home and downloaded my pictures–but how delighted I was to have spotted three in a single tree!

Northern Flickers

Lots of pretty bird calls and fleeting glimpses of tiny birds, including this one:

Northern Parula

First sighting of a Hermit Thrush in my back yard this season!  It was 5:35 p.m., twilight.  It was bouncing around in the oleander, and alighted briefly on the bubbler.

My spouse and I had just begun our bike ride this morning when we heard and spotted an American Kestrel wheeling overhead, calling “klee-klee-klee!”  With all the dragonflies around, I’d been expecting to see American Kestrels at Nathan Krestul Park, hunting on the wing, just as I did last year at this time.  However, it’s pretty cool to see an American Kestrel just a few houses down from our own.

At Nathan Krestul Park today there were three juvenile White Ibises, and one Great Blue Heron, lined up on a log in the water.  I spotted the Belted Kingfisher, heard a Downy Woodpecker, and caught sight of four Yellow-Rumped Warblers.  Plus I saw a pair of Bald Eagles fly overhead.  All in less than ten minutes.

Yellow-rumped Warblers are Back at Nathan Krestul Park

Bald Eagle

Then to Westminster Woods to see Gram.  As I wheeled her around the lake, we got within ten feet of an Eastern Bluebird standing atop a green park bench.  In the middle of the lake there was this collection:

Snowy Egret, Great Egret, and Little Blue Heron

Also present today were an Anhinga, a Great Blue Heron, and an Osprey.  Plus a Belted Kingfisher, the first one I’ve seen at Westminster Woods!  Mostly I saw it on the wing–never spotted exactly where it alighted.  Gram and I both saw the splash where it dived into the water, and then took off for the far side of the lake.