Picture Of The Week 05-18-08

Scarlet Tanager (Female) seemed much more shy than the males.

Where: Richmond, VA • James River Park System's 42nd Street Entrance

Notes: What started as an afternoon bird walk soon became a opportunity for a photo shoot. Upon parking and making my way across the parking lot towards the steps to the riverside walking trail I stopped when we noticed several birds flying in and out of a tree just up ahead. It was a Mulberry tree, ripe and loaded with sweet purple berries. We saw American Robins, Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Northern Cardinals, Blue Jays and Wood Thrushes eating the fruit. Then we noticed a male Scarlet Tanager in its glorious spring plumage, and then another and another. I had never seen this many Tanagers in one location before. In that one tree we saw three males at one time and had as many as four different individual males, plus at least one female. I was able to take over three hundred pictures within about an hours time. Never before had I been so close to one of these brilliant Neotropical migrants. This encounter reminded me to keep an eye on food sources for animals. And when opportunity presents it self don't just look it over and move on, but stay around and wait for the miracle to happen.