We're only 6 days away from Christmas now and the Twin Cities metro still has no snow on the ground. There are barely a few little white clumps on the edges of roads and trails which are remnants of the one inch or so we had fall about a week ago. However a winter storm moved through most areas of the state, north of St. Cloud, and following was the coldest air of the season so far. I believe it was around 8 or 10ยบ this morning when I arrived at the park. I wasn't expecting to see much but in the end I did see a decent number of species for this time of year. The first bird was a nice surprise –a White-throated Sparrow!
I typically do not see these around the park in December but they are known to over-winter in certain parts of the state. Last year a few stayed at Loring Park near downtown Minneapolis all winter long. There were a couple White-throated mixed in with a group of House Sparrows who were flitting about a brush pile on the southwest side of the park. The next bird I stopped to photograph was another sparrow, this time the American Tree Sparrow.
They're one of my favorite winter birds as they're a bit more colorful than our other sparrows. This one posed nicely in the sun for a bit before jumping down to the ground to pick along the edges of the paved trail. There were a few in a group and they were making quick "chip" calls that I've come to recognize this time of year. On the north side of the park I stopped to photograph a little Red Squirrel who seemed to have his face buried in the side of a tree trunk. He stayed like this for quite a while and I began to wonder if something was wrong with him. What I didn't notice at the time was all the sap flowing from this tree, and looking at my photo later, I think maybe he was gnawing on the sap!
I can't say for certain but it sure looks like that's what he was up to. I've never see any squirrel do that before. Other birds spotted today included; Dark-eyed Junco, Northern Cardinal, American Goldfinch, Black-capped Chickadee, Blue Jay, House Finch, American Crow, Downy and Hairy Woodpecker.
I typically do not see these around the park in December but they are known to over-winter in certain parts of the state. Last year a few stayed at Loring Park near downtown Minneapolis all winter long. There were a couple White-throated mixed in with a group of House Sparrows who were flitting about a brush pile on the southwest side of the park. The next bird I stopped to photograph was another sparrow, this time the American Tree Sparrow. 
They're one of my favorite winter birds as they're a bit more colorful than our other sparrows. This one posed nicely in the sun for a bit before jumping down to the ground to pick along the edges of the paved trail. There were a few in a group and they were making quick "chip" calls that I've come to recognize this time of year. On the north side of the park I stopped to photograph a little Red Squirrel who seemed to have his face buried in the side of a tree trunk. He stayed like this for quite a while and I began to wonder if something was wrong with him. What I didn't notice at the time was all the sap flowing from this tree, and looking at my photo later, I think maybe he was gnawing on the sap! 
I can't say for certain but it sure looks like that's what he was up to. I've never see any squirrel do that before. Other birds spotted today included; Dark-eyed Junco, Northern Cardinal, American Goldfinch, Black-capped Chickadee, Blue Jay, House Finch, American Crow, Downy and Hairy Woodpecker.
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