[va-richmond-general] Rockwood Park today

Al and I braved the 28F windy morning to spy on the birds out at the park this 
morning.  We were there between 11AM and 2PM, and saw quite a nice variety of 
birds, and some interesting behaviors, too (some were downright comical).  The 
sky was brilliant blue against the grayish-white trees, and there were birds 
out and about:
Green-Winged Teal (pair)
Wood Duck (m)
Hooded Merganser (2 pairs)
Brown Creeper (2)
Carolina Wren
Blue Jay
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Downy Woodpecker (f, m)
Belted Kingfisher (m)
Carolina Chickadee
Yellow-rumped Warbler (m)
Yellowbellied Sapsucker
Mallard Duck (3 pairs)
Hermit Thrush
Tufted Titmouse
Winter Wren
Pileated Woodpecker
American Robin (flock)
Gadwall
Whitebreasted Nuthatch
Hairy Woodpecker (f)
Goldencrowned Kinglet
Northern Cardinal*

The morning started out with the resident Kingfisher popping out of the woods 
by the boardwalk and showing off his nice catch to us.  We soon realized he 
seemed to not be able to find a way to get that fish down, no matter how he 
tried.  He'd nabbed a relatively large fish and could not seem to get his bill 
open wide enough to swallow it, no matter how he positioned it...we laughed and 
laughed watching this as he'd flick his tail, raise and lower his crest, and 
flip that fish around, desperately searching for just the right angle.  He then 
flew into another tree and proceeded to do some branch-hopping, evidently 
hoping to find "just the right place to sit and eat."  There he'd try out 
several branches, flipping the fish around a few times, but invariably moving 
onto a (hopefully) "luckier" branch.  And then he'd try again.  We watched this 
for quite a while (as Al tried to find a way around the tree branches to take a 
photo), and then our little friend got lucky and found just the right angle and 
swallowed (and flaired his crest up in triumph, too).  We then noted that he 
didn't leave that branch, either, what with a HUGE bulge in his crop!  We 
stayed in that general vicinity for a while, too...he'd twitter so we could 
hear him, but he didn't budge.

We then spotted the sapsucker, and noticed something interesting:  there was a 
frozen sap flow on the trunk of the tree, and the sapsucker was determined to 
make the most of it.  Apparently that bird's activity clued the Yellowrump in 
that there was something of interest, and he was there in short order, trying 
to find a way to get onto the trunk, too.

The Hermit Thrush we saw was displaying some interesting/odd behavior:  its 
legs were trembling, and the bird shifted from one trembling foot to the other. 
 It was very odd, and I've never seen that behavior before.  Is it possible the 
bird was shivering?  The movement seemed very prominent in the feet and legs, 
though the bird's body was trembling, too, when we saw it fly up onto a branch. 
 Any ideas about this would be welcomed.

Anyway...happy birding, all!

Irene

Key:  
f = female
m = male
* auditory ID only


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