April 19

April 19, 2009 by OrientSee.

 Another bright day full of wind. It rained last night and the north wind blew down and cleaned out the air. Unfortunately the cold pushed out the warmth of the last few days. I ended up wearing gloves to keep my fingers functional. Rosie’s thicket was full of loud robins and sparrows were speeding everywhere. The pond was empty except for this one Yellowlegs calmly feeding in the shallow flats.

Further out the two Osprey were about. One on the platform and one sitting on the grass. A few mallards were puttering up and down the ditches. Towards Lawn Ave., a Northern Flicker jumped from tree to tree. At one point it took off and the sun caught the gorgeous gold yellow underwing. It was a moment of sheer beauty. The thicket has some surprises. It is the quintessential urban dump, brick, concrete, tile, broken bottles. You can find almost anything in the thick litter beneath the trees and bushes. Today in a shaft of sunlight, this small clump of flowers glowed.

Lawn Ave. was strangely quiet except for a few Goldfinches but along Geoff’s path, this female Downy Woodpecker nearly sat on my head. She was completely unimpressed with me.

The Overlook panne had just one duck and now without any tree break, the wind wound up and really hit. The Boardwalk and the flats were empty and no wonder with all the cold wind. Finally a Great Egret plopped down and looked miserable with the wind ruffling its plumage.

On the way out of the park, a Kestrel appeared and hovered over the grass. Eagles are certainly impressive but in his own way this small falcon is just as awesome.

Bennington St. is full of pipe and equipment while the water project still goes on. Near the station, two very loud Blue Jays were buzzing around from tree to tree. I’m not sure what was going on with them. I almost expected to see some raptor or an owl because they were making such a racket.

Once again Belle Isle was worth the effort in spite of the wind.

Ciao!

-Jorge

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