A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush

That’s a famous old saying, but today I felt like I had a (so to say) bird in the hand and two in the bush!  :)  When I checked my email first thing this morning, I was given the address of the nearest fix it shop to repair my leveling jacks.  (that’s my so called bird in hand)  It is back in Boise, Idaho, but that is only a one day drive from here.  That will change my original plans of traveling down the Western side of California, but I can deal with that.  I’m sure there will be other things of interest along the way as I leave Boise and head towards Houston.  I’ll be working on the changed route over the next few days.

As usual, I packed my camera and took it with me as I headed in for a day of work in the VC.  I really wasn’t expecting anything new or exciting since I’ve taken it with me every work day for the last month.  However, I was in for a couple of surprises.  I’m not exactly swamped with visitors (23 today total), so in between guests, I sit out on the VC deck with my camera hoping for some action. 
As I was reading one of the interpretive signs for the hundredth time, a Townsend’s Solitaire (a type of thrush) flew up and nearly landed on my telephoto lens!  He was as shocked as I was, and immediately flew off into the bush, hence my first bird in the bush.  :)  This was a bird that I had never seen before, but I knew immediately what it was since I was hoping to see one!  He’s rather drab in appearance being mostly gray, but has a big white eye ring and white outer tail feathers.  Of course, I chased after him for these two shots.  Too bad about the shadows, but I’m thrilled never the less.
A young Northern flicker (red shafted) flew into the same tree, and off went the Townsend’s Solitaire.  :(  Don’t you just like those polka dots?  Reminds me of a dress my mother wore when I was a child. (Women always wore dresses in those days)
The shrubs and trees were just bubbling with little migrants this morning.  That’s a yellow warbler on the left, and a female common yellowthroat on the right.  The yellowthroat was shaking all it’s feathers like a dog shakes while it held onto a little worm in it’s beak.

I kept running in and out of the Visitor’s Center as folks arrived.  I didn’t give them the bum’s rush, but I was anxious to return outside after each visitation.  :)
At one point, I just sat outside on the steps leading up to the deck, and as I looked over at one of the cages surrounding a planting to protect it from the deer, I saw my second new life bird of the day!  Here was a Black-throated Gray Warbler.  Oh my goodness!  That was certainly not a bird I ever expected to see here…my second bird in the bush.  :)

I didn’t think the day could get much better than this, but it did.
Soon there was a great racket coming from the skies, and the Sandhill Cranes began to fly overhead.  They never seem to be silent, and I just love listening to their trilling chatter back and forth.  These cranes are one of the major reasons that folks come here in the fall.  What a nice display they put on.  It’s just a shame that no visitors were on the deck at the time to enjoy this with me.  Five minutes later, folks stopped in and asked me where they could see some cranes.  :(

As expected, bird activity slowed down in the late morning and early afternoon, but…
I was able to catch a glimpse of this Lincoln’s Sparrow that was taking a little afternoon rest in one of the trees.  It isn’t always easy to identify sparrows, but you can tell this is a Lincoln’s by the gray face and buffy wash on it’s upper breast.  It has a nice little eye ring, too.
I have seen many Black-billed Magpies in my time, but they have always alluded me when I have my camera ready.  Finally, today I got a photo of one.  I suppose now they will appear any time I take my camera out.  :)  That’s the way it always seems to go.  You look and look to see something, whether it be a bird or some other animal, and then once you finally see one, they appear before you every time you turn around! 

So, today turned out rather well…much more interesting to me than I thought it was going to be.  What can tomorrow bring?

Thanks for stopping by….talk to you later,  Judy