Beauty is in the Details

(September 4th) Today started off with some excitement as a Red-tailed Hawk was right above me in a nearby tree. No good pictures came of it and the hawk flew off pretty quickly, but still being at the range was quite a thrill. After a little bit of shooting ducks and swans, I looked in some of the songbird locales. To my surprise I found a Downy Woodpecker eating some berries - not the food source you usually associate with them. The woodpecker flew right near me and gave me some great views. Most of the time you don't notice the color of birds' eyes, but many of them have colored eyes. The eyes of the Downy Woodpecker actually are a very dark red that you can see if the light is right.