Cleaning up on last day of September

I took another "Spirit Day" off of work this year to do another clean up of the park. All in all I think it was just as productive as last year as I ended up filling three 50 gallon bags full of litter. The nicer thing this year was that there are now more garbage cans around the path. I couldn't have planned it any better but every time I had filled a bag to the top, I found myself at a garbage can. I still ended up bringing one bag home though as one can at the park was already full. The walk itself was way more uneventful than last year. I saw no deer and only a few birds. In fact I barely took any photos the entire time. The only half interesting sight was this flock of Crows in the tree tops on the south east side.

Green and Blue

Since it's stopped raining the weather has really been fantastic. Though most days are now starting out in the mid 40's, it can still top out in the mid 70's. Today was another nice morning though I nearly turned back as my stupid camera was running on low batteries. I tried different combinations of batteries and finally got the damn thing to stay on right before I noticed this Male Wood Duck. Later I spotted only a few mushrooms and a Red-bellied Woodpecker. On the east side though I noticed a large Blue Jay just off the trail. I was excited to get my first decent photo of one but sadly even these pics turned out crummy. It's kind of funny that such a common bird can be so elusive. This might be the first and only Blue Jay photo I've put on the blog but hopefully I'll catch a better one soon. On the south side, small flocks of Canada Geese were passing just shortly over my head. The first time I was warned by loud honking but the second time I heard only the whoosh of whistling feathers heading my way. I pointed my camera up and managed to catch the whole group. I like how they're wings are in different positions.

Fall Flooding

Earlier in the week, we got half an inch of rain. Then mid-week almost the entire lower part of Minnesota was hit with huge amounts of rainfall. Amounts near ten inches were recorded in lower portions of the state but here in the Twin Cities metro area we received about two inches. I didn't think it was possible but water levels at the park have continued to rise. Since the path pretty much circles the outer edge of the lower-lying swamp, water is creeping outwardly towards the path in all directions. Though it's not a common sight on the trees yet, a few brightly colored signs of fall can be found here and there laying on the rich green grass. Even as it continued to rain this morning, birds were out in full force. I saw a Hawk, Cardinals, Catbirds, Robins, Chickadees, Coots, Downy Woodpeckers and even a Pileated Woodpecker in flight. But probably the most interesting bird I saw today were more Yellow Warblers. I don't know why I've never noticed them before but they are just everywhere now. Pretty sure I've only been seeing females as they are this odd colored dirty yellow, almost greenish-yellow on the belly. Interestingly I've noticed them more often near foliage of the very same color -which is especially prevalent now with many of the leaves in that "in-between" green and yellow stage. I watched this one for a while perform areal acrobatics usually reserved for Hummingbirds. It would leap upwards, hover mid-air and pick at these wispy leaves. I thought it was attracted to the plant itself but my field guide says it's diet is strictly insects. So maybe it was picking small bugs off the leaves. The wet weather has brought out the snails again. This one was half buried in water even on the path.

Season about to change

Though it's not officially Autumn for another two days, it sure has felt like it for the past few weeks. High temps are only in the mid 50's to low 60's now but I refuse to get out my jacket just yet. I saw just one deer this walk, a Doe that stayed mostly hidden near the edge of the cattails on the south side. Really not much to see the rest of my walk but on two occasions as I was bird watching, I noticed mushrooms way up in the trees. Not the "shelf" kind you would expect to be attached to a tree, but the more common umbrella shaped ones you' normally find on the ground. I figured the first one was a total fluke at about 30 feet up in a tree. Then I saw a group of them at about the same height in a different tree. I would have never expected to see them in such a place. Upon returning to the parking lot, a bush covered in bright red stems caught my eye. It looked as though berries or something may have been attached to the tips but there was nothing there now. Whatever it is, I sure didn't notice it before so maybe the stems have just turned red recently.

Last days of Summer

I had to get in a very fast walk this morning due to other plans for the day. So many of the birds I've seen this year are already gone for the winter. One bird that is year round though are Downy Woodpeckers. The red patch of this male caught my eye on the east side. As I passed the ball fields a bit later, I paused to watch a big group of Ducks hoping to spot a Wood Duck. As so often happens, when I stop to look at a common sight, I end up noticing something more interesting. Just a few feet below me I noticed a small furry Muskrat. Then another right next to it. As I focused my camera, one quickly dipped into the water. As it swam just below the surface I could follow where it was as the floating green algae would periodically part for a few seconds due to the commotion below. Eventually the other one went under too but popped his head out briefly for this photo.

Swimming Raccoons

It's getting tougher all the time now to squeeze in a walk after work. It's fully dark by 8:00pm now but with a cloudy and overcast day, you can be out of daylight even sooner. Before I explain the crazy title of this post, I did see a couple of moderately interesting sights. I parked and started on the east side tonight and quickly noticed a bright blue bird perched near the edge of the ball fields. This is the very first Bluebird I've seen at the park. Despite stalking it from tree to tree, I was unable to get any good photos. During my walk I saw a crazy amount of deer. They were on the move near sunset and were popping out right in front of me on the trail every few minutes. Due to the low-light conditions though, I didn't get a single blog-worthy photo. But a bit later I spotted one more a long ways away out in the cattails. I could barely pick out a set of antlers but my camera in fact showed a nice young 8 point Buck! As I got to my favorite part of the park, the sun was just starting peaking out underneath the overcast sky. For only a minute, everything lit up a golden green. As some geese flew by I took two pictures before I turned my attention back downwards. When I did, there just ten feet in front of me was a Raccoon! The second, he realized that I saw him, he did a full-on belly flop right into the water! I couldn't believe it. I heard quite a bit of rustling of cattails and then just silence. I stood there dumbfounded waiting for him to come back or make some more noise but there was nothing. I even sat down and waited a while before finally giving up. When I finally did, I walked past the thickets of grape vines near the mouth of the creek and saw a sight that I didn't really believe. Something large was swimming down stream in a "beaver-like" fashion, only it had a bushy, striped tail. I went downstream a bit to hopefully capture a picture but nothing came by. I was so intrigued that I went back to grape vines and peered again through the spotty openings. Again I saw a large creature but paid special attention to the tail floating on the water behind. It was indeed a Raccoon and I would have never believed it if I hadn't seen it for myself. They're as good a swimmer as any Beaver!

72 photos in one visit!

I got to the park around my usual weekend time this Saturday morning. My last couple of visits have been somewhat boring, resulting in only 15-20 photos per visits. I was expecting more of the same today but could not have been more wrong. In the end I took 72 photos in one visit and saw some great things that won't even make this post; including a Bald Eagle, flowers and lots of other birds. To start off, I spotted a Doe up ahead of me on the south side wood chip trail. She was curious and stood still for lots of great closeups before a fawn came out to join in. The fawn was obviously a bit older with barely a hint of white spots on it's hind quarters. I looked for a second fawn but never saw one. Then on the north side I spotted another Doe busily munching away. She only looked up at me a couple of times but all the while was eating her fill of green leaves. A short while later I came up to the northeast side where I'm now pretty much expecting to see fawns laying in the thin brush just outside the trail. Sure enough all three where there again, two fawns and the mother just lounging in the sun. I was pretty sure before that there are in fact two sets of fawns in the park this year, and now I'm positive of it. These two were obviously smaller in size and with tons of white spots trailing down from behind their ears, across their back and sides. This one was very close to the path and sitting among all these tiny white flowers making for a good photo. Later on the south side I took a different trail to avoid the standing water that's been on the normal trail due to recent rains. I noticed a guy and girl with some pretty fancy camera equipment out near the edge of the ball fields. He was pointing his camera upwards and I was trying to find out what he was taking photos of. I scanned the sky without seeing anything but then noticed something out in the corner of the ball field. I was so far away I thought it was a woodchuck so I zoomed in as far as I could with my camera in order to see. Then I knew it had to be a HUGE Snapping Turtle! I went over and talked to the couple to ask if they were taking pictures of the turtle and he said "What Turtle?" We all headed in that direction and sat down, taking some incredibly close photos of the biggest Snapper I've ever come across. His shell alone was about 2' long. He let us get very close -as close as I'd dare anyway. After a while he poked his head out quite a ways making him look even bigger. I really wanted to see him get up and walk but he never moved anything but his head. I was a bit worried about how obvious of a place he picked to catch some rays. I sure hoped no one would bother him the rest of the day. There was a small pond about 50 feet away so maybe that's where he came from -and might go back to later. Near the end of my walk I spotted a late season Monarch and snapped just this one photo -and a decent one- before it flew off towards Mexico for the winter.

Extra Day

Today is Labor Day so I was able to sneak in one extra morning visit to the park. Apparently all the wildlife was also on holiday as I saw barely anything of interest. I have noticed over the course of the summer that the Egrets are in much smaller numbers than last year. I think the most I saw at one time this year was 2 or 3 compared to groups around 15 last year. I wonder if their numbers are being affected by the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. About the only thing I saw a lot of today were Bumblebees. They are everywhere on the bright yellow flowers -which I think are Goldenrods. I actually don't remember seeing so many of these yellow flowers in years before. Maybe that is due to all the rain we've had this year. The timing is certainly right though as referenced on Wikipedia: "In Midwestern states in the mid-twentieth century it was said that when the goldenrod bloomed, it would soon be time to go back to school—the blossoms appeared in mid- to late August, shortly before the traditional start of school on the day after Labor Day."

New Birds!

My first visit this September revealed two brand new birds I've not before seen in the park. That is, assuming I've correctly matched up my amateur photos with my field guide. This first one I'm still not that sure about but I think is a Female Red-breasted Grosbeak. I'm basing this almost purely on the white "eyebrow" patch across the eye along with it's otherwise drab, rust coloring. The shape of the beak does also fit, so I think this is right. I have seen the more obvious male Grosbeaks in the park before but have never managed a photo. Later on I spotted a super bright red patch among the green foliage and thought it was a foil bag or something. By the time I realized it was a Cardinal, I was too close and scared him off. As my camera was still focusing though, a small yellow bird popped out into view. At first I was sure it was just a female Goldfinch but upon closer inspection of the photo I'm pretty sure it's a Yellow Warbler. Both male and female Goldfinches have black wings and this one's wings were mostly the same yellow color. The shape of the bill is also more slender and narrow. Near the end of my walk I grabbed this pic from the water overlook. The water level is again nearly even with the lowest railroad tie due to two heavy rainfalls in the past week.