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 You are subscribed to VA-Richmond-General. To unsubscribe, send email to va-richmond-general-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field. To adjust other settings (vacation, digest, etc.) please visit, //www.freelists.org/list/va-richmond-general.