A Few Good Photo-ops

Though I heard and saw my first Red-winged Blackbirds of the year in early March, none of them have been approachable until today. I visited the park after work this Wednesday evening as there is still enough light now. I wasn't sure what to expect but as I rounded the corner from the east side into the southern end of the park I could hear Red-winged Blackbirds trilling loudly from the cattails not far off the trail. I made my way in closer, crunching on cattails and figured I would scare them away. But surprisingly this male stayed put and gave me my first good looks of the year! The light was fantastic to begin with, but as I approached closer I could see that my background was all brown cattails. I decided to kneel down and shoot upward just slightly as this angle would give me some nice blue sky behind the bird. I really love RWBB's despite how common they are. Nothing compares to hearing them in early spring and knowing that nicer, longer days are still ahead. I've not seen any females still, but it shouldn't be too long now. About 5 minutes after shooting these photos, the sun disappeared behind the clouds for the rest of the day. In fact it went from sunny and nice to almost dreary in a matter of minutes. As I hiked the wood chip trails on the southern end, I heard and saw a small number of flighty birds moving from a Dogwood shrub to the cattails and back. I first thought they were Juncos but they turned out to be American Tree Sparrows. I used to pass up on photos of this particular species because I saw them so frequently. But over the years I've come to realize they rarely give you good views and generally tend to perch in thick cover. I waited patiently for some time until one or two finally came out into the open. I didn't quite realize at the time but the colors of this bird really match it's environment here and it's no wonder they can blend in so well. I really wanted one to perch on the Red-Osier Dogwood you can see on the left side here but that never happened. As I started running out of daylight, I turned around at the duck pond and was headed back when I hear a distinct owl hoot. It sounded close but after scanning around I could not see anything. I tried following the sound and was either fooled about the direction, OR maybe I was hearing a second Owl, I'm not sure. Finally I honed in on one source long enough to make out a dark shape in a tree. I don't see Great Horned Owls often here on the south side so it was a nice surprise. As I approached many yards away, the Owl bumped from it's perch to a new one much further away. As I kept hiking it moved yet again, this time choosing to perch directly above the wood chip trail! Unfortunately it was very high up and the light had now turned ugly. I decided to take a guess at some different camera settings and I somehow managed to get something I could at least share here. It nearly looks like it's snowing out the sky is so white, but that's the camera compensating for the poor light. The Owl stayed perched here even as I walked directly underneath him and beyond. It was a memorable sighting for me.

Finally Some Sun!

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 10º 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.

A Looong Hike with Larry

Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day and thus an extra day off work for me. As I pulled into my parking space today who should pull in right beside me but another birder friend of mine Larry. He has grown up around the park and hiked (and watched birds) here at Palmer Lake Park since he was a kid. Thus he is one of the most skilled birders I know and can tell you of some pretty amazing sightings at the park. Some of them being birds that are just not seen at the park anymore and would cause a state-wide phenomenon if they were spotted anywhere near the park today. We decided to hike together up the frozen creek heading towards the north side. As we did the sun made it's first unexpected appearance for the day and cast an eerie glow against the dark sky in the north. We likely did more talking than looking but to be honest there has just not been much to see this entire weekend. It's just that time of year when a Chickadee or Woodpecker is an exciting spot. Larry would of course prove me wrong though as we went around the north side when he pointed out a Barred Owl. It could be seen from the trail but was behind such thick brush and against the sun too, for a pretty crummy view. Niether of us wanted to bump him so we watched from the trail for a bit before moving on. On the west side I noticed a Downy Woodpecker at almost eye level on a Willow tree. He was more interested in poking his tongue into the crevices so I followed him around the tree clicking photos. I kind of like how this one turned out. We had been hiking since 9:00am today and my legs were actually starting to hurt. I knew lunchtime had come and gone but I wasn't quite sure how much time had gone by because I forgot my phone at home. Upon getting home to find it was 2:30pm I then realized I'd been hiking for 5 and a half hours! Holy crap, no wonder my legs hurt! One last bird I stopped to photograph for they day was this American Tree Sparrow. Opposite of some of the birds Larry used to see in the area as a kid, he pointed out that Tree Sparrows used to be a very rare sighting when he was young. A few other species we saw today included Mallards, a mature Bald Eagle, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Black-capped Chickadee, Dark-eyed Junco, American Crow and Northern Cardinal.

Don't Bump the Lump

After a long hike around MAC Park near the Crystal Airport this morning, I somehow found enough energy yet to visit Palmer Lake Park. I didn't arrive until after 3:00pm and with our short daylight hours I knew I only had roughly an hour. Therefore I parked on the south side and hiked only along the south and west edges of the park. Here I found Robins a plenty. I often see them come down to the open water between the duck pond and the adjacent body of water where the culvert connects them underneath the trail. The water here stays open all year long and provides a good place for all birds to drink from. This particular Robin had already taken his drink and backed up a little on the ice. I really like the way the blue ice contrasted with the orange breast of the bird. Along the paved trail on the far west side I ran into a small group of American Tree Sparrows and this one sat still long enough for me to get in closer for a photo. This photo turned out to show a good representation of all of the characteristics that would help you identify the bird as an American Tree Sparrow. First you have a noticeable rusty-colored crown butted up to a rather gray colored face. Then there's the tell-tale –but not always obvious– dark spot in the middle of the white breast. And lastly, what I find to be the most definitive characteristic is the two-toned bill (dark upper bill and lighter/yellow lower bill). On my way back I noticed a large, dark "lump" up in a tall Cottonwood tree that didn't seem like part of the tree. It's hard to spot Owls but to be honest that is what I look for –unusual looking "lumps" high up in the trees. By now it was getting dark and I know how terrible it can be to get a photo at this time of day –especially looking upward into the white sky. So I cranked up the ISO settings as well as adjusted the exposure compensation before even attempting to walk closer to the "lump." I was glad I did though as I was fortunate that the lump did not "bump" which is bird-geek talk for flying away. I thanked the Great Horned Owl and walked slowly back to where I came from which is somewhat of a rare occurrence as they do tend to fly away more often than not once they realize you are watching them.

Happy New Year 2015!

As I lay in bed last night listening to fireworks and other noise at midnight on New Year's eve, I instead was thinking about a whole new year of bird watching. I felt optimistic for a change about what I might see and/or photograph in the new year and decided that I would try to do a better job at recording my sightings. So today when I visited Palmer Lake Park like I often do on the first of the year, I tried taking at least one photo of every species I saw. Then at home it made it easy to enter my data into ebird.org. It would be neat I think to do this from now on so that at the end of 2015 I could look back and easily tally up the number of species. My very first bird of the year was an American Tree Sparrow on the east side of the park. Though still a sparrow I kind of appreciate them now as they are only here in the winter and tend to disappear come Spring. I spent a while at the Duck Pond this morning trying to catch a photo or two of the Mallards bathing themselves and splashing water everywhere. I did manage a few neat shots but I really liked all the color in this one as he was preening. It was during a short time when the sun stayed out. The next thing I saw was a pretty good sighting I think for the very first day of the year. I noticed a Great Horned Owl fly from it's perch over the wood chip trail and land in another area. I hiked back to where I'd already came from and found not just the one Owl but a second one as well! This is the time of year when GHO's are "pairing up" in preparation for mating and nesting in Feb - March. When I took this photo the first one had already taken off. I saw a total of 15 species today during my hike which is not a lot by any means but fairly average for this time of year. I was happy to add some Mourning Doves to my list near the end of my walk. They tend to overwinter in the park near the northeast side.

A Short Sunday Stroll

My hike around the park today was on the shorter side, only about 90 minutes. I still spotted some interesting things including a dead Deer laying just inside the paved trail near 69th Avenue. It appeared fairly fresh and looked like it had been hit by a car, breaking one of it's back legs. I did take some photos but have decided not to post them. I then spotted a Red-bellied Woodpecker (a male) working his way up a tree in search of food. People often wonder why they are called "red-bellied" but this photo shows just a bit of the reason. Notice how he's also using his tail feathers as a third point of contact to steady himself against the tree. This is something that I believe all Woodpeckers do. The recent snowfall has melted away from the paved trails but is still clinging to the ground in other places. But on the north sided the snow had receded beyond the pavement enough to provide an alluring edge for other birds, including this American Tree Sparrow. In this photo it appears to be pulling at grass, but it would be more likely that it's looking for some kind of seed, or even possibly an insect to eat. I'm amazed at what birds can find all winter long to keep themselves fed. Sometimes it might not be so obvious to us. The Tree Sparrow wasn't the only bird taking advantage of the area. This Dark-eyed Junco was doing a little foraging of his own. I find this bird a tough species to approach closely, which just makes me try even harder to get in closer for a photo. This one is cropped down a bit but has some good detail still. As the winter season rolls in, the Juncos will be one bird I'll start seeing much more of. Other birds seen today included; Downy Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, Black-capped Chickadee and White-breasted Nuthatch.

Some Good Sights for the Late Season

Halloween is only days away now but we've continued to have beautiful weather this late fall with daytime temps sometimes reaching into the upper 60's. It's made for enjoyable walks at the park and I've yet needed to wear my winter hat to do so! This Sunday morning I arrived around 8:40am and saw quite a few birds within the first 20-25 minutes including; Bald Eagle, American Tree Sparrow, American Coot, and a few Red-winged Blackbirds! The Blackbirds could be heard singing loudly from the treetops –a sound I've not heard since Springtime. And with the weather as nice as it was it really did feel like a warm spring morning. Near the pond on the south side I started to watch the Blackbirds and noticed what looked to be a different bird among them. Indeed there was a group of about a dozen "Rusty Blackbirds" mixed in! These have been a somewhat rare sight for me until last Spring when I saw them near the river and also at PLP. But I believe this is my first sighting of one in the Fall which is neat. At this time of year they can look rather similar to the juvenile RW-Blackbirds but they obviously lack the red & yellow wing bar and are even more "rusty" looking in color. The most obvious thing to me is that they have a fairly noticeable yellow colored eye as opposed to the sold black eye of the Red-winged. This one landed close to me but was mostly blocked by grass and is the best photo I got. Either the air temp was warmer than the water or visa versa, but on the "Duck Pond" on the southwest corner of the park, there was mist hanging over the water. To my surprise there are still a pair of Northern Shovelers hanging out here! They both seem to be females and I saw now sign of the male that I spotted back on October 4th. Sometimes I forget just how much smaller a Shoveler is until they come in contact with a Mallard and then it is obvious. Speaking of Mallards, a whole group of them hopped up onto the banks of Shingle Creek on the north side and began following me down the trail! It's obvious from this behavior that people have been feeding them. I just let them huddle around me and continued walking slowly, trying not to step on any of them. By now the morning sun was hanging low in the sky and a few of the males were looking quite brilliant in the sun. I tell people that whenever I can't find any good birds, I resort to trying to capture the iridescent quality of Mallard heads - ha! And in some instances it can actually be worth it. I'm pretty happy with how this one turned out. My last photo shared here today is one of many American Tree Sparrows back on the east side. The Tree Sparrow is a bird that is just not returning for the winter time –arriving even later than Junco's in most cases. The best way to ID them is that their upper and lower bills are different in color –yellow on bottom and dark on the top. A few other birds I spotted today included a Fox Sparrow, Northern Cardinal, Dark-eyed Junco, Cedar Waxwing, Downy Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker and American Crow.

Warm Day and Lots of Birds!

There was just no way I would have stayed inside today. After all the cold temps we've had, today was predicted to be around 35º I think. In fact it warmed up a bit more to nearly 39 or 40 degrees. With a bright, sunny sky in addition, it was a much needed day for me to be outdoors again. I wanted to enjoy every minute of it and so I really took my time walking around the park today. Among the many birds I spotted today, the first I photographed was this bright red male Cardinal. He was just above me over the trail on the south side but it took quite a while to get any unobstructed shots. I was happy with how this one came out and he really popped against the blue sky. Looking at this photo alone you might not guess there's probably 30 some inches of snow on the ground. In my walk around the park I saw at least another couple dozen Cardinals –almost all males in fact. As I made my toward the north end of the park, I spotted a large bird perched out in one of the only few trees among the cattails. Looking through my binoculars I was greatly surprised to realize it was a Great Horned Owl! I've never seen one so out-in-the-open like that, with hardly any other trees around. As he was really far away, I decided to hike into the cattails a bit to see if I could get closer. But in these open surroundings I knew for sure he was aware of me even before I set foot off the trail. I tried the "walk a ways, stop and repeat" method, but I could tell he was getting ready to fly long before I got anywhere near where I would have liked. This was about the closest I came before he decided to take off, flying low over the cattails and perching in a tall tree much further down the trail. I looked for him again in the area where I saw him land but never located him again. Shockingly I actually located 2 more GHO's today. And though I came much much closer, I got terrible photos obstructed by trees. One more bird I did manage to get an acceptable photo of today was this American Tree Sparrow. It posed perfectly for me in the sun and looked rather attractive I thought for a Sparrow. Sometimes you can get these confused with a Chipping Sparrow but Chipping Sparrows are more of a Summer and Fall bird. If you're ever unsure, the American Tree Sparrow has a key identifying pattern in it's beak with the upper park being dark while the bottom is yellow. Oh, I should list all the birds I spotted today as it was more than usual: Northern Cardinal, Blue Jay, Dark-eyed Junco, Mallard, Bald Eagle, Great Horned Owl, Hairy Woodpecker, Pileated Woodpecker, American Tree Sparrow, House Sparrow, House Finch, European Starling & Red-tailed Hawk.

Gloomy Day with Friendly Faces

I was able to arrive at the park this Saturday morning before 9am. I was glad I did, as the weather only got worse as the day went on. It was a typical overcast and gloomy November day with not a hint of blue sky in sight. Even before I got to the south side I'd spotted a juvenile Bald Eagle soaring over the middle of the park. I watched him land in a tree on the south side but when I got there he was gone. Only 5 minutes after passing the area, I looked back and there he was again. But when I got right underneath and looked up I realized this was a different Eagle, a mature adult with a white head. It's too bad this was the only decent photo I got. In another quick shot I noticed that the Eagle was banded around it's right leg but I could not make out the number. Aside from the 2 Bald Eagles I saw only a handful of other birds including Northern Cardinal, Dark-eyed Junco, Black-capped Chickadee and LOTS of American Tree Sparrows. The latter was the only bird I could seem to get close to today. All throughout my walk today I was running into people I know left and right. These are all folks I know from walking at the park and many of them hike here just as often as I do. Some have become good friends over the past couple years and others I know only by their first name. And then there's a handful of people whom I only know by their dog's name - ha ha! I'm usually not one to stop people and engage them in conversation so it may take me longer to learn everyone. But I guess it works both ways because now that I think about it, there's a couple who call me "camera guy!" One person who I see all the time has been walking his dog "Tucker" around Palmer Lake Park for years. The dog was quite an older Golden or Yellow Lab and one day not too long ago I actually stopped him to ask how old his dog was. I forget now exactly the age he told me but it was in the teens or more. He also told me that this might be Tucker's last walk around the park. Sadly, it was indeed his last walk, and his owner has recently put a little memorial plaque on the foot bridge over Shingle Creek nicknamed for the place Tucker would receive a biscuit treat.

One Tough Duck

I was convinced that the Wood Duck I've affectionately named "Waldo" had not survived our Minnesota winter. It was over a month ago since I last saw him despite many stops over at the "Duck Pond" on the southwest corner to look for him. But a friend of mine recently told me that he'd been spotted again so I headed over there soon after arriving. Indeed Waldo was back! I don't know where he'd gone because all the rest of the Mallards had been there every time I checked -but who knows, maybe it was a different group of Mallards each time. For all that cold weather he's had to put up with, today at least Waldo was enjoying some warmer temperatures. He seemed to be in good health from what I can tell, and making quiet squeaking sounds as I watched. The warm temps today were even melting the snow still clinging to the shady side of branches high above. At certain parts along the trail it seemed to be almost raining as the snow melted. I even got wet feet by walking through some puddles that were deceptively deeper than they looked. I paused for a moment to snap some photos of bubbles that would pop up from the dripping water overhead. I didn't notice until I got home that I could see my own reflection in addition to the trees behind me! Later on I saw a Northern Shrike, Hairy Woopecker and a Blue Jay in addition to lots of Tree Sparrows. This one in particular let me get closer than usual and turned out pretty good. I'm still trying to learn my Sparrows better but at this time of year there is really only one you'll see and that is the American Tree Sparrow with the dark spot on it's breast. Sometimes that's not so easy to see, so for me it's easier to identify from the dark upper beak and yellow lower beak.

First Sunday in December and Nothing to See

I arrived at the park this Sunday; the first one in December, just before 10am. It was kind of a humid day and everything was wet, though there's currently NO trace of snow on the ground. Today was one of those completely uneventful walks with just nothing of interest to see. I found myself taking photos of wet Oak leaves and other scenery just because there was nothing else. Finally I did spot a few birds -common ones such as Nuthatches and this Tree Sparrow. Later as I was coming back to my vehicle on the east side I was noticing how badly the Deer have scraped up this newly planted tree along the boulevard. I think this was put in last year after the new curbing was installed along Penn Avenue. You can see the tree behind it had some rabbit wire wrapped around for protection but I'm not sure if this one ever got that, or if maybe the Deer just ripped it right off. Even the one with the wire has some damage to it from Bucks scraping their antlers, but this one is scraped all the way around! As I was looking at it, two women walked up and asked if it was from Deer to which I replied "yes" but that it looks as though a person had also grabbed a piece of loose bark and yanked it upwards as far as it would go before breaking off. Sadly I don't think this tree will make it when spring time comes around next year.

Rain Soaked Saturday

I made it around the park today in near record time –just under an hour! I guess the rain prevented me from wanted to poke around any more than I did as everything was just wet. The raindrops clung to everything including these Buckthorn berries and I thought it was kind of an interesting sight. Still seeing the same mix of birds including Dark-eyed Juncos, Red-tailed Hawks, Cardinal, and lots of American Tree Sparrows. I was lucky enough to catch a half way decent photo of this Tree Sparrow somewhere along my route. It is maybe the closest I've been able to get to one so far. And speaking of Buckthorn berries, I spotted this male Cardinal chowing them down near the end of my walk. I guess the birds don't know that these berries give them diarrhea!

Cold Saturday and First Shrike

Today was my first visit to the park recently where the water was actually iced over -not totally frozen but just a thin layer. It was only 30º this morning and we had our very first snow flurries in the air just this last Thursday, October 25th so it seems that winter is just around the corner. Maybe I'll actually get to use my snowshoes this year! I first noticed Dark-eyed Juncos have come back to our area nearly a month ago, but this morning they made up about every other bird I spotted. I'm always trying for a better photo of one because they tend to flit about quickly and don't let you get very close. This one landed near me for just a split second before moving again. Another bird I don't have many photos of is an American Tree Sparrow. I saw quite a few of them today as their rusty colored cap was very noticeable in the bright sun. If you are able to see them closely enough you'll notice that their upper bill is dark while their lower bill is yellow. People also go by the dark "spot" visible on the breast but I think sometimes this can be kind of tough to see as it's not always that dark or defined. Before I was even half way around the park I ran into a friend (and quite talented birder) who told me that he'd seen a Northern Shrike today -and even as early as 2 weeks ago. I had just been thinking to myself that with as cold as it's been, and how often I'd seen Shrikes last year that they should be coming back any time now. Well as luck would have it, I too spotted one a bit later on the north end of the park. It was perched in the tall dead tree right alongside the straight part of the paved path and I would have missed it had I not been watching more Juncos again. It almost seemed like it was watching the smaller birds below it and I was wondering if I might be lucky enough to see it go after one of them but no luck there. I'm sure I'll be seeing a lot more of the Shrikes this winter season but I was fairly surprised to know they are back so early. Among lots of other more common birds I spotted today, I also caught a few good glimpses of Yellow-rumped Warblers who are still apparently passing through on migration. All of the Yellow-rumps I've seen this fall have been this brown color with dull yellow shoulders -not the darker blue that you'll see in the springtime. I'd assumed they were all females but I'm wondering now if maybe some are males. Someone recently described the plumage to me as "transitional" so I'm wondering if some could be immature males. Either way, it was neat to realize that I spotted a Warbler and a Shrike on the same date.

May Day

This Tuesday evening after work I visited the park for the 4th day in a row. It was nice but sort of that hazy bluish-grey sky that makes for bad photos. Not that there was much to photograph though anyway. One thing I did see on the south side was my first Great Egret of the season. This one was flying overhead and I tried quickly to catch a shot before he passed. I'm a little concerned about Egrets as they've not been as plentiful as in previous years. I'll be counting their numbers at the park this year for comparison. I've been off-roading it a lot during my hikes lately and I did so again on the northeast side, spotting a Blue Jay just before leaving the trail. I hiked through the woods to a line of trees that runs almost perfectly east - west. Here I spotted a Sparrow similar to one I'd seen yesterday and for the life of me I cannot positively identify it, though I know it's either a Chipping Sparrow or an American Tree Sparrow. When I first started birding, I purposely stayed away from Sparrows because I knew how difficult they could be to distinguish from one another. But I'm now to a point where I'd really like to know how to tell them apart. Going from my photos only, there are more clues pointing to a Chipping Sparrow but by gut instinct says that it's an American Tree Sparrow -based more on the streaked breast and faint-but-noticeable dark spot in the middle of the breast. I will have to keep looking for more and hopefully get some more comparison shots before I can finally make up my mind.