After a rainy day yesterday, with the temperature rising, the day was hazy till about 11.  The sun finally came out and the sky turned blue.  Before heading for Brightwood Park, a fluffy sparrow greeted me from the bush of winter jasmine.  I had to make a stop to take a courtesy  picture for the little fellow.

Near the Brightwood parking lot, two northern flickers were courting on a tall tree.  It was like a drama on the stage.  The way they corresponded to each other reminded me of the piece "Invitation to Dance" by Carl Maria von Weber.   I was apparently not the only party watching.  A duck got so excited and took off like a rocket to look for a partner. 

I was very excited to see turtles appearing in the pond again.  They woke up all of a sudden and crawled to the floating logs for a nice sunbath.  In some of the pictures I took, there was a photobomb.  A small protrusion of a log appeared like the head and face of a turtle, and competed for attention with its light color.

At a closer look, the turtles looked like special forces soldiers wearing helmets and camouflage uniforms and practicing an amphibious landing.  A large turtle was climbing to a log, like a tank roaring and was directed by a nearby soldier using sign language.

In the small pond, there was a family of turtles using a car tire as their stage of performance.  During the photo session they uniformly lifted their heads.  After the session, they self-announced "At ease!" and scattered all over the place.

Every time I take a walk with my friend, Tom, in Brightwood Park, his sharp eyes pick out something cool.  Today was no exception.  He first spotted a red-tailed hawk on a tree at the junction of the two ponds.  Later, the hawk came at us and landed on a tree close by.  Like a king, the big bird stood still in a high place waiting for us to gaze and pay our tributes.  Tom and I made a circle on the hill to position ourselves for photo shots. We watched and worked as royal photographers for a good 10 minutes or so, and then Tom had to go home.  The hawk appeared to be quite patient and seemed to want me to take a few more portrait pictures.  Finally the session was done, and His majesty took off.  Then I became worried about the three squirrels who were having a good time playing on a nearby tree.

In addition to the hawk pictures, I am sharing with you a few shots of the crocus flowers seen near the south entrance.  I was glad to see some of the flowers survived the harsh snowstorm last Saturday.  Two additional pictures were taken between the junction of the two ponds and the meadow area.  I regarded the tree stump as the cathedral in the sanctuary.  In the other picture is a new home being built by a woodpecker.

I hope you enjoy the photos!

On my walks in the park today, it seemed that both the birds and the plants have woken up to welcome  spring.  I particularly like the woodpeckers.  They work hard and sing loud when they work.  In the afternoon I saw a pileated woodpecker pounding on a dead tree near the entrance.  To my surprise the bird did not mind me closing in to take pictures and videotape.