Jocelyn Anderson Photography

An American Bittern portrait. These birds are often camouflaged among the cattails.

A Great Blue Heron coming in for a landing.

Peregrine Falcons are not frequent visitors to the park, so it was a special treat to have this juvenile make a visit. The bird perched for a few minutes before speeding off across the lake.

A cute Tufted Titmouse on a frosty morning

A male Red-bellied Woodpecker heading on out. It looked like he was caching food (possibly acorns) in this tree.

A Gray Squirrel about to tuck into a black walnut.

A Red-tailed Hawk sitting in an Eastern Red Cedar tree for a moment before heading off to another perch.

The King of the Boardwalk, a Northern Cardinal, dining on berries

An absolute unit of a Ruby-crowned Kinglet.

This tree cavity was used by Tree Swallows over the summer. For some reason there was a lot of commotion from Eastern Bluebirds about who got to go in. These are two males, one who didn't want to leave and another wanting to get in.

I see a heart created by frosted leaves next to this Black-capped Chickadee.

The American Bittern will stick his/her neck straight up to mimic a cattail reed, sometimes swaying in the wind to add to the reed vibe.

A curious Tufted Titmouse in an Oak tree

An American Bittern had been seen at the local park, a bird that I've only heard a few times and gotten a brief glance of once. I was about to leave the park when I decided to check one more spot, and there was the American Bittern out in the open!

A young Cooper's Hawk flew in and perched over the nature trail. I didn't hear any chipmunk nor small bird warnings (which usually happens when these birds show up) until the hawk flew off.

A male Eastern Bluebird with a bit of a leaf stuck to his beak.

Being North America's smallest woodpecker means you can hang from the smallest of branches. 📷: Downy Woodpecker

An Eastern Chipmunk with cheeks stuffed and heading back to the burrow. The chippies have been very busy getting ready for the colder months.

I watched this young Red-tailed Hawk dive into the grasses. I couldn't tell at first if the hawk caught anything, but after getting further down the nature trail I spotted the hawk on this log, claws empty.

A young female Northern Cardinal (she still has some dark color in her beak) checking to see if there's any food along the nature trail.

A sub-adult Bald Eagle (looks to be a fourth-year by the darker feathers in the head and tail feathers) flying over a lake during sunrise and checking out the ducks below.

A Blue-headed Vireo, a bird migrating through Michigan to his/her wintering grounds in the southern U.S. Several of them have been singing from the tree tops, I like to think they are enjoying their stopover.

A Black-capped Chickadee waiting to see if sunflower seeds will be offered.

Young White-crowned Sparrows hanging out on the bench along the nature path. Immatures have the brown-and-white cap while adults have a white-and-black cap.

There was a Red-tailed Hawk sitting on this tall stump and suddenly the hawk looked down, jumped about a foot in the air, and flew off. Shortly after this an American Red Squirrel showed up in the same spot. I'm betting this squirrel gave the hawk the spook!

A Tufted Titmouse perched in a poison sumac bush, which have beautiful red colors in the Fall.

A young Red-tailed Hawk landing at the edge of the forest after a successful hunt.

You can tell Black-capped Chickadees apart by the size and shape of their black bib. The males tend to have the bigger bibs.

A Golden-crowned Kinglet with the Fall leaves giving a gold background.

A Sandhill Crane strolling along the nature path.

A female White-breasted Nuthatch perched in an Autumn Olive bush.

A young Red-tailed Hawk hunting along the edge of the woods.

A young female Northern Cardinal perched along the nature trail. I like her red eyebrows.

A Sandhill Crane giving a look as he/she was passing by on the nature trail.

An Eastern Chipmunk getting ready for the colder months with cheeks stuffed with leaves to bring back to the burrow.

A Tufted Titmouse, my favorite bird, perched along the nature trail.

A White-throated Sparrow in a pleasingly round shape.

A Marsh Wren singing while doing the splits.

A female Eastern Bluebird that was hunting in the grasses along the nature trail.

A Black-capped Chickadee watches the Swamp Sparrows chase each other around.

A Swamp Sparrow surrounded by the Fall colors of a Poison Sumac.

A Ruby-crowned Kinglet waves hello! 👋

A Sora, a secretive marsh bird, weaving through the reeds.

Male Red-winged Blackbirds have their black feathers edged with brown when in their non-breeding plumage.

This young female Northern Cardinal was quite chatty (as young Cardinals are) while dining on berries.

A female Eastern Bluebird ready to launch.

It's acorn time for this Eastern Chipmunk.

It's been mostly Yellow-rumped Warblers around lately, but this Nashville Warbler was hanging out with a flock of the butter butts. They are both late migrants, with the Nashville Warblers heading for Mexico.