Birding in Shalom Park

 Another beautiful sunny day means another nice walk in the park - this time Shalom Park adjacent to On Top Of the World (OTOW). We were greeted with the sounds of birds everywhere and butterflies flitting among the flowers and bushes.

We usually hear the Carolina Wrens loud song - but only occasionally do we actually see one. They are small jittery birds that blend in with their surroundings. I was just lucky today.

I love this picture - the bright red Cardinal against the muted colors in the background. The mature trees in the park are wonderful with lots of hanging moss.

Another bird that prefers camouflage; this Eastern Phoebe is hiding in the tree.

She may have tried to hide, but this female Cardinal stands out almost as much as her mate.

She finally gave up and came out to pose for me. I think the females are every bit as beautiful as the males.

This shot of a Red-bellied Woodpecker really shows the beautiful pattern on his back and wings.

Yesterday I had a picture of another Yellow-rumped Warbler that showed the bright yellow patch on his back. Today's picture shows the yellow spot on his side.

One of my favorites: a Tufted Titmouse. It's not hard to see how he got his name.

This is one of two Great Blue Heron nests in Shalom Park - both in the same tree. We've been watching them for a couple of weeks. The eggs have hatched and when we look through the binoculars we can see little white heads popping up. We'll check back every couple of days.