Go with the Flow

February sun in the Northwest is a nice surprise and makes me feel energizing. It may not last through the entire day, but I rush to embrace it after the cold and gloomy winter. This is my first visit to the park since the rainy season started. I came to look for cyclists and joggers to take some panning shots.

The morning fog was still dwelling. When I looked around, there were barely bicycles and joggers. Trees are still veiled in the fog. The only subjects around are the geese. I have photographed enough ducks and geese and have very little interest in them. A lady walked by with a bag in her hand. I greeted her but did not intend to generate a conversation until all the geese were suddenly following her. Aha, food.

The look on their faces is comical and I was tempted to follow them along.

Somehow a few geese began to follow me. The only explanation I have is, that they mistook my camera for a food item of some sort. This couple even posed for me to have their Valentine’s portrait taken. I found them entertaining.

Several bikers came by, but it was still very foggy and I was too happy with the results…

I heard birds and saw movement in one old oak tree. And I spotted intrusive something on a limb, something is not supposed to be there. I was taught to look for something that does not belong and here it is. I found a hawk!

Hawk, Eagles, and Vultures are all predators. If not living in the Northwest and having seen them around, I would never take a close look at them. Hawk has that piercing sharp eyes, but I think hawk’s face is as cute as a baby’s. The close-up image tells me that he was watching me like a hawk.

In the last three years, I took one decent shot of hawk when he was standing on top of a dumpster. I have since been longing to snap a shot in a more natural environment and here it is. I was thrilled as you can imagine. It will be better if it is not backlighted and not in the shade.

I love birds so much that I can be very easily distracted by their chirps and sound. I could see at least 6-8 small birds in a smaller tree chasing each other and having fun except that they were all in the shade and I could not identify them. I was under the trees, but they were still far away from the ground. It bugged me that I was looking at them but could not tell what they are. Then, I heard woodpeckers, two of them. They moved so fast that I must have taken 15 shots of them before I got a couple of clear shots.

Hawk is my trophy for the day. I wanted to walk away, but I could not give up the desire to identify all the birds I saw. Even though I cannot take clear pictures, I still want to know who they are. Luckily I’d waited long enough and was able to find the answer. There was a pair of House Finches, male and female. There were also two different kinds of sparrows, the black-headed and the song sparrows, altogether 6 of them.