Our Second Act-Glorious Bullitt morning!

There are mornings and then there are mornings… I hope you enjoy this morning’s outing as much as I did - except for the mosquitoes! I thought that the sunrise might be something special as the forecast was for smokey skies and often that makes for dramatic early morning skies. However, as I drove to Bullitt this morning it just seemed like it might turn out to be hazy.

Once I arrived at Bullitt I decided I would take my time getting up to the upper field as it was still hazy and the bird song and bird activity seemed a little lighter than it has been recently. I finally made my way through the woods and entered the upper field - it continued to be quieter than usual. I followed the path and made my way up to the back corner of the field and decided to set up and just wait. About 5 minutes after I set up I looked to the east… and I could not believe my eyes! The sunrise was absolutely incredible… the smoke created such a dramatic sky. It was amazing to me how the sky went from hazy to this so quickly. I was so glad I was in this exact spot because at this time of the year I get a straight on view of the sun coming up over the mountains to the east - just incredible!

A few moments later…

Right after I took this shot it was still beautiful but not nearly as dramatic so I decided to concentrate on locating some birds.

I ended up walking from the upper field to the first lower field and I came upon this gorgeous scene - A Cedar Waxwing and a Red-Eyed Vireo!

The Vireo flew off as soon as the Waxwing got into this position -

And then another Cedar Waxwing getting breakfast as the sky was starting to clear and the sun was lighting everything up beautifully.

A beautiful Phoebe with breakfast -

A gorgeous Flycatcher - if anyone knows what kind this is please let me know - thank you!

I kept hearing the beautiful sound a Cardinal singing his heart out but couldn’t spot him until he literally flew in front of me and landed to my left! Cardinals are often known as love birds as they mate for life and are very devoted to one another. When I saw that he had breakfast in his beak that he wasn’t eating I wondered - could I totally score and see him feed her beak to beak? I have never seen Cardinals do this - I have only read about it - I was so hoping this morning that I would finally see this beautiful act happen -

I didn’t see the female anywhere, yet… I moved slightly to my left and held my breath…. he quickly moved further down the branch.

He then flew to a lower branch and she immediately flew in from who knows where and instantly they were beak to beak! I hope that you enjoy this series… Of course they couldn’t have been on the upper branch with a totally clear view - but I will still take it!