Kestrel (+ various other birds) in Colonel Samuel Smith Park

[angelicque]

i saw my first kestrel in colonel samuel smith park this week-end
i not only got to see him real close, but saw him catch and eat a mouse as well...quite a treat for my husband and i



we also saw an abundance of black-capped chickadees, white breasted nuthatches, downy woodpeckers and juncos throughout the park
we also saw a bunch of what i believe were yellow bellied flycatchers and american tree sparrows...two species i had never seen before!
add this to seeing my first savannah sparrow last week at high park, i was quite thrilled

as for ducks, there was the usual - long tails, scaups, buffleheads, mallards, blacks and goldeneyes.

and to top the day off, we saw a rather large red tailed hawk scanning the area as well!

all in all, a good day and a good location for birding

[GStuart]

I would be rather surprised at seeing a single Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, let alone several in the winter.  Is there any chance that it was the winter plumage of an American Goldfinch?

[angelicque]

I would be rather surprised at seeing a single Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, let alone several in the winter.  Is there any chance that it was the winter plumage of an American Goldfinch?

i will be honest, i am still very new to identifying small birds, so i am completely unsure!
i snapped two rather unclear photographs of the little bird:
this one of it's back:


and this one of it flying away:


again, i know they are terrible quality, but if you're able to help me with the mystery bird i'd appreciate it very much!

[angelicque]

aha! upon further investigation...you are right!

they were goldfinches

[Stargazer0310]

I saw two American kestrels just outside of Sam Smith Park opposite the pay parking lots this morning. Got two far from satisfactory snapshots before they flew off beyond the fence.[/img]