My Big Month - Day 13

Well it was bound to happen sooner or later but I was not able to get to Palmer Lake Park today for birding. But I wasn't going to let that stop me from continuing on my "Big Month" and being out birding every single day in May. So today's post is NOT about Palmer Lake Park. I realize this blog devoted to that park but I'm just going to have to make an exception or two here and there -especially during my Big Month. The only birding I could get in today was at Hillside Cemetery in Northeast Minneapolis. This is surprisingly a decent place to go birding near my workplace and I can sneak in about an hour over my lunch break. I knew with my limited time and very different surroundings that I wasn't going to see half the birds I would see on a typical visit to PLP. Regardless, I was very glad that I went because I ended up seeing two very unique birds -one of which I'd never seen before!

The first was an Eastern Kingbird and I barely managed this one long-distance shot of him. When I tried getting closer he took off and flew a long distance away so I gave up quickly after that. The other highlight was a Black-throated Green Warbler that flew right past me en route to another tree! Had it not flown so closely to me I might not have noticed it's striking pattern. I followed it to it's new perch and tried hard to get some photos but it just wasn't happening. He -and one other one I think- were quickly getting higher and higher up in the trees and with the leaves coming out now it was easy to lose them. I couldn't believe I finally saw one though and it made my short hour of birding in a different place today very much worth it!

Total species seen today: Eastern Kingbird, Black-throated Green Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Yellow Warbler, Black-and-White Warbler, Eastern Bluebird, Northern Cardinal, Wild Turkey, Black-capped Chickadee, Blue Jay, American Crow, White-throated Sparrow, Chipping Sparrow, Mallard, American Robin, and one unidentified bird that I think may have been a Nashville Warbler. (Oh, and one very active Raccoon too!)

Conditions: 62 degrees and raining off and on.