Bona Dea Update

Bona Dea was cloudy and rainy today. There was light rain when I was out there in the afternoon. I went to Old Shorty Trail. There were Robins all over as well as at my residence. A couple of very pretty male Bluebirds were flying around. At the east end of the Trail, White-throated Sparrows were on the ground or in low bushes and numerous Bushtits were high in the trees and would fly down to the ground and back up high in the trees. Canadian Geese flew overhead toward Lake Dardanelle. Close to the parking area I heard a familiar sound and thought it was a Redwing Blackbird. I could not find it at first and then started to walk toward the sound. Then suddenly I looked up and saw several dozen of them high in the trees all around. Most of them flew off toward the east and several stayed put. You can't mistake the sound they make if you are around them very much. I was familiar with them as a child. The male has a red and yellow patch on both wings and this patch is noticible more in the spring and summer when they are mating and nesting. The female is a dull brown color.There is a photo of a pair here and this link will take you to their sound. Click on the second sound box downward from the list to here what they sounded like today. The sound box is titled: Check Call: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-winged_Blackbird/sounds Leaving the park and heading home I saw a single Double-crested Cormorant on the old snag in Lake Dardanelle spreading out its wings as it apparently liked the light rain. Also close by was a Pied-billed Grebe swimming in the water. This mentioned in the previous post with photo.