Spring day, winter birds

Tweet Such a beautiful day, with temps in the 50's and sunny skies, I just had to get out to do some birding. I couldn't figure out if I wanted to go to the state park or check the river. Both have water out of their banks, which usually means I see good birds. Since it was 2 in the afternoon, I decided to go to the park, since it was closer. I am glad I did!

When I first got there, I seen a couple with their scopes on something, Snow Geese! I got my scope out and put it on the birds. The couple had left as soon as they seen me coming with my scope. I wished they would have stayed, as I am pretty sure that I could see at least one Ross's Goose with the Snow Geese in the middle of the lake. The heat distortion and north winds/waves made it hard to see (I have a somewhat flimsy tripod!). The glaring afternoon sun's reflection off the water didn't help with getting pics.

Looks like a Ross's with Snow Geese (far away)

As I was looking at the Snow Geese in the scope, a Red-necked Grebe popped up in the foreground - a life bird! The bird looked as if it was going to fall over on its bill, as it looked to be leaning forward. I got good looks at it, but it was hard to keep track of, so I was unable to obtain a picture.

A male Bufflehead also flew in and landed right in front of me on the lake - love them!

Male Bufflehead

No sooner had the Bufflehead touched down, I heard a loud ruckus from the 100's of RB Gulls. They all took to the air and so did the Snow Geese. It took me a while to find out the cause of all the commotion, ah ha - an immature Bald Eagle flying over the lake.

Immature Bald Eagle

I was able to get distant pics of the Snow Geese in flight with the possible Ross's mixed in. (They still were very far away!)

⇧I was thinking the 5th goose from the top right might be a Ross's. The bottom 4th goose from the right also looks different to me. (Click on the photo to go to Flickr for a larger image.)⇧

Here⇧ , from a different angle, the 7th bird from the right looks like a Ross's to me (RB Gulls are also in the pic).

The geese put down back on the lake, but farther away. I decided to leave the lake and take a hike in the woods looking for other signs of Spring. There wasn't much going on in the woods, so I decided to swing back by the lake. The Snow Geese were gone, but a skunk decided to start towards me from up on the hill, so I decided that it was time to leave!

Mr. Skunk!

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