An Elusive Bird

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I went over to Bear Creek Park again last weekend, once more looking for the Greater Pewee which is wintering there. The same bird spent last winter in the park and was easy to spot.

For some reason the Pewee is proving to be a lot more elusive this year and I still wasn't able to find it. However, there were enough other birds around to make my visit enjoyable.

As usual in the park, American Crows were everywhere.

Bear Creek is always good for woodpeckers and I saw several species. Two Downy Woodpeckers and a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker never came close enough to photograph but some Red-bellied Woodpeckers were within reach.

A Pileated Woodpecker led me on a chase from tree to tree for ten minutes before I finally got a clear look.

The trees were busy with the usual collection of small birds: Carolina Chickadees, Tufted Titmice, Pine Warblers and Yellow-rumped Warblers. There were also lots of Eastern Bluebirds.

I walked over to the wet area near the junction of Golbow and Fox in hopes of seeing the Rusty Blackbirds that were hanging out there earlier in the month. Although the blackbirds had gone, a Great Egret and several White Ibis were lurking in the mini-wetland area.

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When Ibis are hunting they always remind me of those cartoons of burglars sneaking around.

Just before I left the park, I saw my first Merlin of the year. It was circling too high for a photograph and so I had to make do with taking a picture of a nearby Red-tailed Hawk instead.

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