Belle Isle today

It was cold on Belle Isle this morning.  It was sunny for a very brief time and then gray clouds covered the sky.   

Above and below:  the robin got its worm.

Woodpeckers look great this time of year.  I had only a brief moment to click this shot of a Downy at nearly eye level.

Only slightly better photo (from two weeks ago) of the fox sparrow.

The large woodland pools were all frozen so the wood ducks were limited to the creek and the larger lake (below).  There were a lot this morning, I counted 18, and they were paired up and easily spooked (as always).  I finally got a shot of this female through the bushes.  As soon as I clicked the shutter she and her mate were gone.

Terrible photo of my first yellow-bellied sapsucker of the season. 

Red-winged blackbird.  Good shot of how gray it was.

This beautifully plumaged spring male red-bellied woodpecker was close and at eye level.  My photos should have been better.  It's not often to get this kind of a look at red-bellied.  After taking about eight or ten photos of this bird, I became aware of how cold I was and I knew my outdoor birding was done for the morning.

I drove my car around the park and found pied-billed grebes on the interior ponds.  Most of the waterfowl, except mallards, a few canvasbacks and scaup species. had left the Blue Heron Lagoon.