Easy Walk at Commonwealth Park

Great Blue Heron - Ardea herodias

Although Sunday was supposed to be rainy, it turned out very nice and we decided to go for an easy walk at Commonwealth Park (map).

Just as we entered the park, a man asked us if we were getting good pictures and pointed us towards this heron way up in a tree.

Double Crested Cormorants - Phalacrocorax auritus

In the water, the cormorants were making a scene, showing off and charging at each other, circling around and going at it again.

We saw this bird at Fernhill wetlands the other day, but didn't get a good picture then.

Ring-Billed Gull - Larus delawarensis

Where did he hide his feet! ?

You've seen pictures of this type of bird from my last trip to Commonwealth. It's got a very distinctive ring on the bill.

There was a small flock of these gulls and they were very tame. Unfortunately lots of people feed the birds here even though it is against the rules.

Sami (and his shadow) taking pictures of the birds.

Since we only have the one working camera, I was picking out different kinds of birds with the binoculars while Sami took most of the photos.

Like last time (click to see more photos), we also saw lots of mallards, domestic mallards, wigeons, and geese. We also saw some coots, and got a slightly better picture than at Fernhill.

Buffleheads - Bucephala albeola

Don't you just love a bird called a Bufflehead?

Anyway, it's the smallest diving duck in North America, and it likes to nest in woodpecker holes.

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Oh, Sami figures my new camera should be a Pansonic Lumix DMC-FZ18, with double the zoom.

Song Sparrow - Melospiza melodia

We see these cute birds quite frequently, but they're fast and like to hide in the brush, so it's hard to get a good picture. Sami did a great job with this one.