Sunday, November 20, 2016

Nearing Thanksgiving

My visit to the park this Sunday morning included a stop at the "duck pond" on the southwest corner of the park. Mallards have already started to congregate and it makes me think of the hundreds of ducks that may be huddled here in the winter. It's always fun to stop and look through the Mallards in hopes of finding anything other than a Mallard. Kind of like "Where's Waldo." I couldn't find anything of interest but took a few photos of the green heads that I like so much. Later on the north side when I came to the bridge, I noticed the faint amber sun reflecting on the open water of Shingle Creek. It was a very pretty sight, and later when I bumped into a friend, he lamented about it as well. Interestingly I took this photo at 10:30 in the morning. Looking at it later it looks like it could near sunset. The sun is so low this time of year in Minnesota, that it never really gets overhead. My friend and I then hiked together for a while, looking around to see what we could find. To our surprise we stumbled upon a pair of Great Horned Owls, perched somewhat near other and likely a mated pair. One of the Owls flew from it's perch in no time at all. Conditions were quite dark by this time but I took some photos anyway of the other Owl. It was fun to see Great Horned's again and I'm hoping they will find a place to nest somewhere in the park this winter.