Friday Visit to Farmington Bay Nature Trail

I took my bicycle for a ride at Farmington Friday, as far as birds it was fairly quite compared to a month ago when warblers and ducks were abundant. Song Sparrows, Red-winged Blackbirds and Marsh Wrens were calling from the cattails and a family of Yellow-headed Blackbirds with newly fledged babies were making a ruckus, and a couple of families of Canada Geese and a pair of Western Grebes were swimming around the pond. Compared to a month ago it was quiet but beautiful none the less.

Aside from birds the pond was filled with carp the scourge of the wetlands because of the destruction they do to the pond bottoms

Western Grebes

Newly Fledged Yellow-headed Blackbird

Mama Yellow-headed Blackbird

Papa Yellow-headed Blackbird

Barn Swallows were busy catching insects and gathering nesting materials over the main pond

I flushed this deer out from under some greasewood where she was hiding

With acceptable distance between us she started grazing but kept her eye on me

Just 45 days ago these geese were little yellow puffs of down now as you can see it's hard to tell the mother  from the goslings.

Having just completed their synchronous molt they are now ready to migrate to safer areas (parks and golf courses) when the hunt starts in another 45 days

Finally there were several busy Western Kingbirds (my hook bird) doing their aerobatics snatching insects from the air then returning to their chosen perch to wait for the next insect to come within range