For some reason the walks take longer these days

because I stop to take photos most of the time! It can't possibly be that I am getting older and slower. Tonight we wandered down to the creek in the hopes of seeing ducks, but only saw grackles , robins and catbirds. We decided to head up Fallbrook instead of the hill as it was not pointing us into the sun. It's a shorter , less strenuous walk, but it was worth it . A doe and fawn showed up at the top of the hill. We heard several thrushes and veerys (? what is the plural of veery?) and we saw this bird. I am embarrassed to admit when it flew by I thought it was a downey woodpecker and Glenn thought it was a hairy. It wan't until I was looking at the photos that I decided it didn't look right for either of those as the red was on the front of the head not the back. A quick check on Merlin confirmed my suspicions... it was a yellow bellied sapsucker! and we weren't even in Sapsucker Woods! (Cornell's birder's paradise).( No, seriously , they get busloads! ) Sheer excitement . Made up for the guilt of an only 2.5 mile walk. The extras are from the creek , I think the flowers are wild roses. The second was from the top  of the hill on Fallbrook Rd , pretty clouds ,unedited photos , all.