A Good Walk Not Spoiled

During lunch this morning, I found another new yard bird for the year--a couple of Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, tiny little birds that flit around in the trees constantly hunting for small insects.

Lots of birds were singing today, and I heard far more birds than I saw. To give a taste of the diversity easily found in half an hour within 1/4 mile of my office, here's the list:
Wild Turkey
Canada Goose
Mourning Dove
Belted Kingfisher
Northern Flicker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Carolina Wren
American Crow
Carolina Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
Northern Cardinal
White-throated Sparrow
Chipping Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird


However, the star of the day wasn't a bird at all, but a little guy who is often eaten by Wild Turkeys, owls, hawks, and crows--a Red-backed Salamander that I found under a rock. Since it was a cooler day, with a bit of a drizzle, I thought it would be a good salamander finding day, so I started turning over logs and rocks and found this guy under a hefty 30 pound rock in the woods along the creek.