Red-Tailed Hawk Nest Success

I did a little bit of local birding after work today. Not too intense as it was starting to drizzle but I had to get out after being cooped up at work all week. The first thing I decided to do was check out the Red-tailed Hawk that I had seen the previous week. When we went there last, there was no evidence of a nest success so I was thrilled today when to see two small heads peaking out at me.

I didn't get too close but it didn't seem to bother the female at all, but the nestlings were very curious about my intentions and their eyes would follow wherever I went.

I can't wait to check up on them next week to track their progress.

A very lousy shot of the Peregrine Falcon nest box in downtown Worcester. If you look to the front of the box you will see the young Peregrines are starting to get brave and are now venturing out the of nest box to look at the world.

My next destination was St. Phillips in Grafton to check on a few birds including the Green Herons I had seen there a month or so ago. Beth had told me she hadn't seen them recently so I figured I would camp out there for a while to see if I had any luck and I did. This is one of them at the back end of the wetlands.

And this is the other who was a little braver and didn't seem threatened by my presence.
Hopefully this means they will be nesting nearby and I will be able to manage some shots if I am lucky.

Last one. A very bizarre photo of a Wood Duck. Beth emailed me last night to let me know there were quite a few Wood Ducks at the cemetery and one in particular looked a little odd so I decided to go check it out myself. She is thinking it may be going into eclipse plumage which would make sense. It will be very interesting to watch the progression of these ducks as I have never seen an eclipse plumage yet.

And last but certainly not least is a picture of what I believe to be a Great-crested Flycatcher. This is a new bird for me and as you all know I am still struggling with flycatchers and this one wanted to make it even more challenging for me so it decided not to sing or call to give me a better hint. Please correct me if I am wrong but Great-crested is my final answer!!

Will be doing more intense birding tomorrow and have decided to shake it up some by doing more observing rather than chasing. Have a great weekend everyone!