It’s hard to believe that Rich and I have been married for seven years.  We were married at Bok Tower Gardens, so we decided to go back there today in honor of our anniversary.  Rich didn’t mind that I brought The Beast along.  We saw lots of great baby birds.

Since it’s our anniversary, I’ll be nice and post a turtle picture for Rich.  (He does remind me regularly that this site was inspired by cats and turtles…long before the birding craze began!)  So here are three turtles who were sunning themselves at the Window by the Pond.

There were Blue Jays all over.  These common birds do not hang out in my backyard, so it’s always fun to see them.  I spotted a juvenile bird feeding with its mother at the bird feeder (squirrel feeder!) by the tower overlook.  This adult was near the Visitor’s Center.  After years of saying I wanted a longer lens, it’s nice to complain that I clipped his tail because I needed to take off my teleconverter… :)

Carolina Wrens could be heard singing throughout the gardens.  When I finally spotted one out in the open, he was in shade.  I didn’t have my flash on at the time, so I dialed in a full stop of exposure compensation.  Look at him sing!

Great-Crested Flycatchers also called to each other like crazy, hopping from branch to branch in the tops of the trees.  The nesting box that I found last year at the Excedra overlook wasn’t there this year.  I think I found a flycatcher nest cavity in a tree, though.

We went to Window by the Pond first, hoping to catch the Wood Ducks before other people arrived and scared them off.  They are such skittish ducks.  Unfortunately another group slipped in just before us and scared them all away.  You could hear them calling as they splashed and fled.  So we went back later, and waited until we heard them calling.  I realized that I’d scare them as soon as they saw me inside the viewing area, so I stayed outside, shooting through a small window in the trees.  It made for a very limited picture-taking opportunity, but when I saw the baby ducklings out there with Mom, I was very happy. :)

Rich spotted a trio of juvenile Eastern Towhees hopping around in the mulch.  They were fun to watch as they rooted around in the mulch.

We saw Northern Parulas and Tufted Titmice at the feeder by the Window by the Pond.  We also saw a hummingbird!  I wish I’d been fast enough to get a picture.  Then there were a couple of baby Cardinals as we walked out…