Wildlife in the Park

We drive in to town at least once a week for a change of scenery, a morning walk, and usually to find some interesting images for the weekly 52frames photo challenge. Yesterday we went to the Smithsonian American history museum. On the weekends we walk the concrete sidewalks in the neighborhood. This morning we walked in the park that is just a couple of blocks from the house. Depending on the time of day one can come across some sort of wildlife. Over the last few days we have run in to a few - including a very large red headed woodpecker. He was feasting on some rotted wood in a tree that had fallen. A hawk was sitting high in another tree above the stream that runs under the bridge where we cross. Further along the path was a heron that was too far to get a close shot, and he was well protected from every angle. This morning we ran into a deer and a fawn - I think the same pair we saw a couple of weeks back. I saw an outline of it far in to the woods. They were walking parallel along our same path snd we cross crossed three times. Our beautiful Borzoi loved communicating with the deer in our Midwest backyard. I think she thought she was one of them. There is something about wildlife. I could sit snd watch for hours on end. 

Red Headed Woodpecker

https://www.instagram.com/p/CCYqRMthjfj/

Animals and birds are fun to watch. I had an early interest in such things early on. I remember observing all the birds in our New England back yard. The pelicans diving were a treat to see in Florida. We had a lovely patio in the Midwest with a few water fountains for the birds. It was the first time we had a falcon visitor. And our tiny Capitol Hill patio had a solar power birdbath. Even the cardinals would stop by occasionally. It seems the crows have the biggest interest in the flower planters on our balcony in northern Virginia. I’m always on the look out for birds in the park that we walk through every morning. Today we stumbled upon a red headed woodpecker! Usually you can hear them knocking on wood way up in the trees. This one was on the ground on the hunt for a delicious meal. But the wood was silent as he pounded on it - it’s been very rainy lately and everything is wet. That didn’t seem to slow him down any. Unfortunately a lady with her dog interrupted the scene. Otherwise I would have stayed on for the duration.