My "Big Month" of May Day 8

I arrived at the park just before 8:00am this Sunday and spent the next 3 hours trying to add new birds to my monthly list. Though I only managed poor shots, I saw the following species in the first 45 minutes or so; Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Wood Duck, Mourning Dove, Red-winged Blackbird, Yellow Warbler and Baltimore Oriole. Then things started getting interesting as I spotted not just one but two different migratory Sparrows that gave me the best looks I've ever had at both species. The first was a curious little Lincoln's Sparrow and if I'm not mistaken, this is the first positive ID I've made on this bird on my own! This drab looking Sparrow is easy to confuse with other Sparrows, but it was so close to me that I could see the gray patch on the head along with the fine streaks on it's tan (buffy) colored breast and a noticeable "eye ring." I tried repositioning myself for better light and ended up catching a photo with some green in the background that I really like. This bird didn't stick around as long as I'd hoped so I turned my attention toward a bright male Yellow Warbler. Mostly this bird stayed out in a clump of Pussy Willow where it really stood out against a nice green background of spring. But after a while it did come in a bit closer for better looks. In comparison to a Goldfinch, the Yellow Warbler is much more of an "orangey" yellow. Say like a School Bus color. The male of the species also sports orangey-red streaking on his breast making him look even more "deep yellow." After stopping to admire and photograph some wildflowers including various colors of Violets, Jack-in-the-Pulpit, and some beautiful Marsh Marigold, I heard an enthusiastic bird singing from the cattails. It was perched near the top of the cattails and I could tell it was a Sparrow, but which one? It did not sound familiar to me so I inched closer while lowering my profile to keep lower than the height of the plants. To my surprise it was a Swamp Sparrow, a species I've seen from distances before but have never gotten very close to. Today was my lucky day as this particular bird allowed me great looks while it sang it's heart out. Sparrows can be tricky to tell apart from one another but to me the Swamp Sparrow is one that kind of sticks out due to it's warm red/rusty wings (without wing bars or stripes) combined with a lot of gray on the head, neck and breast. I felt very lucky to have spent as much time observing this colorful little character for as long as I did today! Other species seen today included; Brown-headed Cowbird, Canada Goose, Black-capped Chickadee, Great Egret, Gray Catbird and Common Grackle. I also was nearly run over by a 12 year old kid zooming up and down the wood chip trails on a miniature dirt bike! I yelled loudly at him that motorized vehicles weren't allowed in the park and he apologized as he motored away. Sadly I've seen adults riding motorcycles on these trails as well.

Big Month Day 12 and 4 Days in a Row!

Today was the 4th day in a row I've visited the park. But today I had to come after work and that left me precious little light to find some birds in. To my surprise I spotted a Golden-winged Warbler near the ground! This is a bird I've seen before in other areas, but the very first one I've seen at the park. It was in a thicket only inches off the ground where I've seen Ruby-crowned Kinglets before. Knowing how tough it was to get photos of the Kinglets in the same place, I knew I had my work cut out for me. Sadly, this is the best image I got, though I was SO close to the bird! Later it flew up into the trees where it was even more obscured. I saw some Mallards in very nice light, but blew those shots as well. The only other decent shot I obtained was this young Red-winged Blackbird right before dusk set in. Other birds spotted included; Song Sparrow, American Redstart, Gray Catbird, Northern Cardinal, and White-throated Sparrow.

Day 11 of My "Big Month" and a 2 New Birds!

I had the day off of work today but it rained most of the morning. I made it to the park in the afternoon and realized this was my 3rd day in a row around Palmer Lake. I don't really have any rain protection for my bigger camera equipment so I was a bit hesitant to go out. But had I known what great photo ops were in store for me I'd have probably gone out sooner! First was a Northern Waterthrush on the southwest corner. This is a bird I almost always see on the ground, so getting one in a tree was extra special. You can really notice the pink/orange legs in this image with the green in the background. Northern Waterthrush also bob their tail nearly continuously, as this one also did so in the tree. The next bird I photographed was a male American Redstart. This tiny little Warbler was likely alarmed by my presence, or maybe it was flirting with a female because it had it's tail fanned out. I've seen Redstarts do this previously but I've rarely been lucky enough to capture a photo of it. The rain was off and on as I hiked around the park but thankfully it had subsided enough by the time I found my next bird of interest. Two Great Crested Flycatchers were seen hopping about together near the duck pond. I've never ever seen this species so close to the ground before. They were pretty much at eye level and were perching right in front of me. I couldn't believe it as this bird is nearly always in the treetops –mostly heard but not seen. Eventually I got into position where one of the posed nicely for me with a perfect green backdrop. This might just be one of the best images I've captured so far this month! Also on the south side I stopped to admire and photograph Marsh Marigold plants that are in full bloom now. They plants were larger than I remember in the past, with a lot more flowers too. I've seen these flowers "picked" before by people which is such a shame as they are so short lived and need specific conditions to grow. So I really hope nobody bothers them this year. I saw a good variety of birds overall today but I spotted one near the end of my hike that I've never seen before at the park. I assumed it was a Swamp Sparrow which is a species I've learned can be found at the park. But after looking more closely I noticed a lot of tan coloring –referred to as "buff" or "buffy" by bird watchers. This is one identifying characteristic not of a Swamp Sparrow, but of a Lincoln's Sparrow! So while it's possible I've seen a Lincoln's before, this is definitely the first time I've positively ID'd one. And that's always an extra plus when it happens to be at my favorite park! Oh, I almost forgot to mention, I spotted a brand new Warbler as well today –a Canada Warbler! It's the first one I've ever seen anywhere but I was unable to get a clear photo of it. A big bummer, but at least I get to count it towards my May list and also my 2015 list. Other birds seen today included; Yellow Warbler, Common Yellowthroat (male & female), Magnolia Warbler, Black-capped Chickadee, White-throated Sparrow, Baltimore Oriole, American Goldfinch, House Finch, Common Grackle and Song Sparrow.

Another Great Day of May Birding

I saw a lot of great birds today around the park and in fact I got too many nice photos that I can't post them all. So I've picked my favorite one from a good variety representing what I all saw today. The first is a Warbler that I've seen before at the park but one I've never got great photos of –until today. This Tennessee Warbler was calling so loudly and constantly that I probably wouldn't have seen him otherwise hiding in the Willows just off the paved trail on the east side. I followed the sound and spotted him but he quickly darted away. Like I do often, I tried "pishing" which is just making a "pish" sound which is sometimes known to attract curious birds. For probably the first time ever it actually worked and brought this colorful little Warbler right in close to me! I snapped photos wildly, knowing he likely wouldn't sit still for very long. Luckily it was long enough to capture 3 or 4 decent photos which nicely show the olive-green and grey color scheme. I was so happy to have captured this guy that the rest of my hike seemed inconsequential. But I was in for more great birds as this time of year can provide the pinnacle of surprises. And surprised I was, to notice a brief movement down at my feet while passing a little pond just south of the baseball diamonds on the east side. I wondered "could it be?" and so I decided to sit indian style right on the paved trail and wait. Sure enough, minutes later a small Sora poked his head into view between the weeds. I've never had such a perfect and closeup view as this! He really didn't pay any attention to me and I sat there as still as possible with my finger on the shutter button snapping away. I was provided fantastic looks at this secretive member of the "Rail" family and it was a very memorable sighting! Like other Rails and related swamp dwelling birds, the Sora has huge, lobed feet to help it stand and walk through the muddy and unstable habitat in which it lives. Later I stopped to watch a Gray Catbird long enough to catch a few images. They are always entertaining to watch and especially to listen to as they hardly make two notes that sound the same. Their lack of colorful plumage is more than made up for by their colorful calls. One more Warbler graced my camera lens later on. This is a female Common Yellowthroat and I'm quite amazed that I was able to capture her among the thick brush she was in. It was almost like she posed just in the right place for me to see and photograph her. Many times if you see a female Yellowthroat, the male is also around somewhere close but I did not see him. This is one species, that for me is easier to identify by it's behavior than anything else. You are likely to find them hopping around in dense underbrush and they can be very close to you without you even realizing it. There were also plenty of Baltimore Orioles visible today at the park. Through all my efforts, I've yet to capture a photo of one that I like. They tend to perch quite high in trees and for that reason I always find myself underneath them instead of looking straight on at them. This was one of my closer shots. Some of the other species I saw today included; Mallard, Tree Swallow, Canada Goose, Palm Warbler, Bald Eagle, Yellow Warbler, White-throated Sparrow & American Redstart. I also saw two very young Bucks and a nice cluster of Jack-in-the-Pulpit plants.

Bald Eagle

I'm into week number two now of May and my "Big Month" of going out bird watching every single day of the month. I've already seen plenty of returning migrants but the leaves have sprouted and filled in extremely early this year, making it harder to find the birds. Every bird watcher I know has commented on this fact and thus it will be a tougher for birding in general, but especially so for the small sized Warblers I look forward to each spring. The first two birds I spotted today were both Sparrows; a Song Sparrow and a Swamp Sparrow. But shortly after these I noticed an unusually large bird perched up above me on the north east side of the park. It was mostly facing away from me and at first I didn't even notice the bright white head of an adult Bald Eagle. It has been some time since I've seen a Bald Eagle, much less an adult at the park. And too, it was perched still versus flying overhead which made for a pretty good sighting. The bird wasn't at the best angle for a photograph but I took some anyway. After last weekend, I believe I knew where a Yellow Warbler could be reliably spotted on the northwest side before the baseball diamonds. So I waited in that area for a while until he finally appeared. I got to see the bird somewhat more closely than I usually see them and I thought I was getting phenomenal photos but apparently my camera settings weren't quite right. So all the photos I got were kind of dark and grainy. I guess that just gives me motivation to keep trying to photograph the same bird again in the future. I recently learned that the Yellow Warblers with the heavy, deep chestnut colored streaking on the breast like this one would be the male. The female would show only a hint of streaking and be slightly more pale in color overall –especially around the head. It really wasn't until I saw both sexes together that it became very apparent. Later I spotted a young buck Deer with barely noticeable nubbins protruding from his head. I watched him and took some photos for a while before spotting another Deer. This one popped out of the woods and proceeded to walk right along the trail. I took a few photos and moved on a ways when I noticed a couple on bicycles heading right towards it. To everyones surprise, the Deer clearly didn't want to go back into the woods and nervously let the bikers cross within just feet of it! The Deer kind of cautiously watched and waited while waving it's tail which made me laugh.

Nature Blogging for 4 Years!

In early June of 2009 I made my very first post on this Blog. At that time I had no idea where the blog would lead me. About all I knew at the time was that I really enjoyed walking around the park and seeing deer without leaving the city! But what I found out by routinely visiting Palmer Lake Park is that there is an endless amount of things to learn about nature; from birds to mammals, insects, plants –and phenology which is the study of all of these things and how they are influenced by seasons and climate. Had I signed up for class or course in naturalism, I probably would have been overwhelmed by how much there was to learn. Instead I found that because I knew little to nothing about the subject, I wasn't afraid to make mistakes. And through what I call "slow and curious observation," I was realizing that I was learning something new every single time I visited the park! Sometimes these were very small things –something I might now take for granted– but was completely new to me at the time. And each of those small things continued to lead me to newer things still. My tools early on were a fairly inexpensive point-and-shoot camera, one field guide to Birds of Minnesota by Stan Tekela, and a cheap pair of binoculars. Though I've added to and upgraded my tools since then, the one most important tool I have is simply my own curiosity –and I doubt it will ever need to be upgraded or replaced. Even now after a solid 4 years of observing nature, I still feel an endless sense of exploration towards nature. What started out as simple walks around a city park has evolved into a full fledged passion for bird watching. And this year I completed my own "Big Month" in which I went out bird watching for a record 26 days in the month of May alone. Even in my travels now to other parts of the state –or other states, my first thought is "what kind of birds might I see there?" During a trip to Colorado this June I set my sights on finding an American Dipper –a truly unique song bird. I was lucky enough to observe and photograph one on the last day of our trip and it was probably the highlight of my entire year as far as my new hobby goes. Whether I'm observing nature in Minnesota or any other part of the world, I've found a passionate appreciation for wildlife and the natural world. I have Palmer Lake Park –a marsh in the middle of the city– to thank for showing me that. It will always be my favorite park. Finally here are a few photos to share from today; young goslings making their way through the new cattails watched over by their parents, A Hairy Woodpecker feeding preparing to feeds it's young inside a Boxelder tree, and a Great-crested Flycatcher spotted on the north end of the park.

My Big Month - Day 30

Unfortunately I'd not gotten out birding for the past two days. Work has been crazy and I've just plain old been too busy to fit a birding hike into my schedule until after work this Thursday. It was a beautiful evening for a walk, but only 20 minutes in I found myself hiding under a tree from the rain. Then 10 minutes later it was beautiful and sunny again. This pattern continued throughout the evening so I guess we are just into that time of year now. The off and on rain showers always seem to bring out the birds and I saw a good deal of species tonight and I will have a tough time remembering them all. A couple of highlights were seeing Blue-gray Gnatcatchers again, and also seeing a small flock of Cedar Waxwings! I've not seen Waxwings for quite some time now. I watched pairs of them passing food back and forth which is a behavior I've witnessed previously with Waxwings. But I also had the opportunity to spot one more brand new species for me -and with just one day left in my "Big Month!" While watching some other birds I thought I heard odd sounds coming from the water on the south side of the park. So when I got close I scanned the water and noticed a very odd colored Duck that I'd never seen before.
It had almost a pinkish breast with an abrupt change to white on the bottom. They were quite some distance away and there was absolutely no way to get closer. But through my binoculars I could also make out a distinct "white crown" on top of it's head that went all the way up to a short and almost blue looking bill. Because I truly had no idea what this was I knew I was seeing a new species for me –and spotting a brand new species in Palmer Lake Park is doubly exciting to me. I almost phoned a friend thinking something very rare was here. My curiosity couldn't wait and so I started to search google right there on my phone for "duck with white head/white crown." After seeing dozens of photos of Buffleheads and other ducks I am familiar with, one image came up that showed a duck with a dark rear end and a hint of white feathers on it's side like the one I was looking at. Around this time I finally noticed there was another one to the right, similar looking but without the bright white crown. By comparing photos I was 80% sure right then and there that I was seeing American Wigeons! One of the most distinctive coloring in the photos I was looking through was a bright, emerald green patch behind the eye. But for the life of me I was not seeing that on either of the two ducks I was watching out in Palmer Lake. I don't know if it was the angle, the distance or a combination of both but that green was just not there –or extremely faint if it was. Even now upon zooming in drastically on my photos I cannot really see that pattern. So either they were not quite mature, or possibly they were even hybrids crossed with other similar species as noted by my Stokes Field Guide to the Birds of North America. Either way I was quite happy to spot something brand new yet again this May which has truly been such a "Big Month" for birding!

Total species seen today: American Wigeon, American Goldfinch, Red-winged Blackbird, Brown-headed Cowbird, Yellow Warbler, American Redstart, Common Yellowthroat, Northern Cardinal, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Least Flycatcher, Mallard, Canada Goose, Gray Catbird, American Robin, House Finch, Black-capped Chickadee, Blue Jay, White-breasted Nuthatch, American Crow, Song Sparrow, Mourning Dove, Great-crested Flycatcher, Cedar Waxwing, Green Heron and Great Blue Heron.

Conditions: 68 degrees, partly sunny with periodic showers

My Big Month - Day 27

Today was Memorial Day and again the weather just plain sucked. We didn't even make it above 60 degrees and it was damp and dreary again. It was kind of a weird day and I ended up "birding" sort of part-time at two different locations. I say part-time because I was out with my wife and our main reason for being out and about was to be outside walking and exploring. Our first stop was Fish Lake Park in Maple Grove, Minnesota. We'd kayaked here a couple times in the past but never really explored the trails too much. We could hear a good variety of birds here but never really saw too many. This area has a lot of mature Maple trees and with the leaves now fully out it was tough to spot many birds here. About the only birds I took photos of here were Barn Swallows and a few Green Herons. Later in the day we decided on another completely new location to explore –Boom Island Park and Nicollet Island right in the heart of Minneapolis. I wasn't even going to bring my camera with but my wife convinced me that I might want to get photos of some of the old railway bridges in the area. So I slung it around my neck and was so happy I did. After exploring all over the place and coming back to Boom Island Park I noticed a little bird hop right out in front of me. It was a Blackpoll Warbler! I'd only ever seen this bird briefly from a long distance but remembered that they can look a bit like a Chickadee. I couldn't believe it was so close, in plain view and at eye level and I took a bunch of shots as quickly as I could. It flew up into some smaller trees and I stalked him for a while but never got to see him so out in the open as I did at first. Later we drove down river a little bit, closer to Nicollet Island and I noticed this odd looking Goose wandering around by himself. At first I thought for sure it was some kind of different morphed Canada Goose but then I noticed he didn't have black legs and feet. So then I started taking more photos and realized it might be something I've never seen before. When I got home I was hard pressed to find anything in any of my field guides that looked similar except maybe a dark morph Snow Goose. But even that doesn't seem quite right as the top and front of him look so much like a Canada. I really have no idea what this might be at the time of writing this and have posted the photo to my flickr page asking for help. I really know less than nothing about domesticated birds such as Geese or Chicken and am wondering if that is the reason I am not finding any similar photos. Maybe it is some form of domesticated, or cross-bred Goose?

Total species seen today: Green Heron, Canada Goose, Common Yellowthroat, American Redstart, Blackpoll Warbler, Mallard, Barn Swallow, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle, American Crow, Brown-headed Cowbird, American Goldfinch, Rock Pigeon, House Finch, Song Sparrow, House Sparrow, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Great Egret and Unidentified Goose pictured above.

Conditions: 58 degrees, overcast and drizzly rain.

My Big Month - Day 26

The weather for our long Memorial Day weekend has really not been so great. Yes, you can almost always expect a bit of rain here and there, but in addition the temps have been really low for this late into May. When I arrived at the park at 1:30 today it was only 57 degrees and very windy! On the north side the wind even "howled" it was so strong. I've learned that while wind is not necessarily good for taking photos, it does seem to activate the birds and indeed I saw a fair amount of interesting species. One highlight was a Wilson's Warbler that for whatever reason I tend to see more often on cold and windy days. I really want a better photo of this tiny yellow Warbler with a small black cap, but catching him up close and staying still for any more than one second at a time seems nearly impossible. I used to think Kinglets and Restarts were tough until I spotted the Wilson's Warbler! In fact today a Redstart was one of the only birds I could catch a half-decent photo of. I actually wanted to catch a female because I don't have too many photos of them, but this male was poking around on the ground long enough to give me a few good opportunities. Near the end of my walk I noticed once again a couple of very young Gray Squirrels. They were crawling around on the very same two trees I'd seen them in the day before yesterday. Now I started to think that they must have a home very nearby. I watched one spiral around the tree towards the bottom and disappear. I waited for him to come back around but he never did, so I also started walking around the tree. There I noticed a hole in the side of the tree with a split running through it. I wondered if they were in there so I walked in closely and found another tree to lean on while I focused on the hole with my camera. Sure enough a head popped out a short time later, then a second one on top. If I even flinched, they'd disappear again and I'd have to wait all over again. It was quite a funny sight!


Total species seen today: American Redstart, Yellow Warbler, Wilson's Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Magnolia Warbler, Tennessee Warbler, Red-eyed Vireo, American Robin, Red-winged Blackbird, Gray Catbird, Canada Goose, Mallard, Wood Duck, Wild Turkey, Song Sparrow, Chipping Sparrow, Bald Eagle, American Crow, Brown-headed Cowbird, Common Grackle, Great Blue Heron, Rose-breasted Grosbeak.

Conditions: 57 degrees, overcast and very windy.

My Big Month - Day 25

Today's birding outing was another field trip away from Palmer Lake Park. I'd noticed just a couple days earlier that there was a regular birding hike scheduled at Coon Rapids Dam Regional Park. I'd heard a lot about this monthly (or more) walk conducted by an extremely skilled naturalist and birder and that you can see quite a few things with his help. And boy did we ever! From the moment we set out, our guide was pointing out birds I'd never seen before such as a Northern Rough-winged Swallow! I'd never seen these before but they were in quick flight just like most other Swallows, only you could tell that they were mostly a brown color with no trace of blue on the top like other common Swallows. Another good sighting was of a Bay-breasted Warbler in non-breeding plumage! I only caught a glimpse of this quickly through my binoculars but I could see a faint rosy red patch on the breast. We also got to hear –but not see– a Mourning Warbler. With such experienced guidance, we saw a total of 50 different species as a group, though I can't claim that I saw each of these for myself. So below I will do my best to list only the ones I specifically saw. Oh, also when I arrived at 7:45 am, I spotted a Killdeer right outside the building! I can't say I've seen a Killdeer for the longest time and tend to only see them way out in the country along gravel roads. So that was another good sighting for me. Among the Warblers there were a lot of other smaller birds spotted today which always makes getting photos challenging. But one of my favorite of the day was this brilliant blue male Indigo Bunting that our guide heard way before we even saw him. This is just the second Indigo I've seen this year and neither has been at Palmer Lake Park, though I'm sure they are there somewhere. Besides being so nice to look at they also make quite beautiful songs and we got to hear and watch him singing loudly. The other bird I wanted to post from today is from a group of birds that I just have the hardest time distinguishing from one another. I typically can identify something as a Flycatcher, but telling them apart takes way more experience than I have. Then throw Pewees into the mix and I am totally baffled. In addition to identifying a handful of other Flycatchers, our guide pointed this bird out to the group as an Eastern Wood Pewee. Since they look SO similar to me I asked for some guidance and he stated that they were a bit more stocky in shape and also tend to flick both their tail and wings at the same time. I hope as time goes on that I can start to notice these small details for myself because for now, I just pretty much identify every similar bird as a Least Flycatcher. Now I'm pretty sure that some of those Least Flycatchers I've seen may have very well been a different bird.

Total Species Seen Today (by me personally): Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Green Heron, Canada Goose, Mallard, Osprey, Bald Eagle, Killdeer, Mourning Dove, Chimney Swift, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, Pileated Woodpecker, Eastern Wood Pewee, Least Flycatcher, Great Crested Flycatcher, Red-eyed Vireo, Blue Jay, American Crow, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Barn Swallow, Black-capped Chickadee, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Eastern Bluebird, American Robin, Gray Catbird, Yellow Warbler, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, Bay-breasted Warbler, American Redstart, Song Sparrow, Northern Cardinal, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Indigo Bunting, Red-winged Blackbird, Brown-headed Cowbird, Baltimore Oriole, House Finch, American Goldfinch, and a Great Egret on the drive home!

Conditions: 56 degrees and overcast.

My Big Month - Day 24

I took another day off of birding yesterday but was back to Palmer Lake Park this afternoon after getting out of work early for Memorial Day weekend. The weather was near perfect and I saw a LOT of good birds as well as some other interesting mammals including Deer, Muskrat and a Raccoon that was snoozing in an old Cooper's Hawk nest! This was kind of a neat sighting as I don't often see Raccoons at the park. This was only my 3rd sighting ever at PLP, though I've heard they used to be more common in the area. Other good highlights included seeing a Red-eyed Vireo, two Spotted Sandpipers, and then successfully identifying a Great-crested Flycatcher by sound first. Later I was able to see him as well but he was too high up in the treetops for a good photo. But the first bird I wanted to post a photo of today was this little Sparrow that caught my eye. It had a fairly obvious patch of bright yellow above the eye. I'd seen one of these guys once before and thinking that it was just any other Sparrow with maybe the light reflecting weird or something, I never took a photo. Only later did I realize that it might have been a Savannah Sparrow. Though I think they are pretty common, you'd have to pay close attention to you're Sparrows in order to spot one. I'm feeling pretty proud of myself being able to identify at least a few different Sparrow now as in the beginning I thought I'd never be able to tell them apart. I've since learned that there are other groups of birds that are much harder to identify –such as Flycatchers for starters. Later on the north side I spotted a group of four Wild Turkeys. One was for sure a male and he was displaying for the females in between chasing them back and forth across the trail. This was in the exact same place I'd witnessed the same behavior about 2 weeks back. I was able to get extremely close to the male. Actually he was the one that came up close to me and I got the feeling he wasn't too pleased with me. I didn't budge and he walked up to within maybe 6 feet of me! I got to take quite a few photos from this short distance and I am always amazed at the color and complexity of their face and plumage. They are quite interesting birds and always fun to see. I even got to watch a couple of the females fly a short distance across a drainage ditch in hopes of avoiding the aggressive male.

Total species seen today: Savannah Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Red-eyed Vireo, Yellow Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, American Redstart, Tennessee Warbler, Spotted Sandpiper, Least Flycatcher, Great-crested Flycatcher, Blue Jay, American Robin, Common Grackle, Brown-headed Cowbird, Red-winged Blackbird, American Crow, Downy Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, Red-bellied Woopecker, Northern Cardinal, Baltimore Oriole, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, American Goldfinch, Black-capped Chickadee, Gray Catbird, Eastern Bluebird, Mourning Dove, Osprey, Turkey Vulture, Tree Swallow, Barn Swallow, Common Nighthawk, White-breasted Nuthatch, Ring-necked Pheasant, Wild Turkey, Mallard and Canada Goose.

Conditions: 75 degrees, partly sunny, a handful of raindrops.

My Big Month - Day 22

Well you may have noticed that I did not make it out birding at all yesterday the 21st, thus ending my streak of birding every single day this month. By 6:00pm after work I was "falling-asleep-tired" and I just had to take a day off and rest. Working 9 hours a day and then trying to get in 2 hours of birding plus another hour of sifting through photos and blogging has proven to be just too much lately. But after taking a hiatus for just one day I found myself back at Palmer Lake Park this evening after work. It has been raining off and on and turned much colder again. The temperature when I arrived was only 50 degrees, and with a fairly strong wind I actually considered wearing my stocking cap -though I'd finally put it away for good weeks earlier. I decided to tough it out and was SO glad that I did because of what I ended up seeing this evening. I'd parked on the south side tonight for some weird reason and as I made my way up the 2nd wood chip trail on the west side, I spotted something so bright red there was no way I could have missed it. I could hardly believe it but there on the ground only feet away from me was a male Scarlet Tanager!!! I've only seen a male once ever before in my life and he was very far away and hidden in the treetops. This one however was right beneath me so I instantly started snapping away with my camera. As I did he just continued to forage around through the muddy ground, turning over leaves and wood chips in search of food –and to my surprise, completely ignoring my presence! It dawned on me quickly that I might be able to stalk him for a while and see if I could get in closer and set myself up for a better photo. Luckily the area he was in was muddy and quiet to for me to walk right in and sure enough I found myself getting even closer than when I first spotted him. He was just so insanely bright red that it almost looked like he was glowing. And in the surrounding environment of dark mud and tiny green plants he was quite a sight! That neon-red plumage would make any Cardinal look drab in comparison. I attempted a few different times to place myself in a good spot to catch him in the open before he reached the spot, based on simply guessing which way he would be heading. He actually moved about quite slowly and a couple of times I got tired of waiting for him to come out from behind a log or branch. He tolerated all of my movement the whole time and never flew off once. I just couldn't believe how close he was letting me get. I shot an unbelievable amount of photos –209 to be exact– of just this one bird tonight. It was one of the most exciting bird sightings I've ever had, and after I watching him for nearly 35 minutes I didn't even care if I saw another single bird the rest of my walk -ha ha!

Total species seen today: Scarlet Tanager, Eastern Phoebe, Least Flycatcher, Ring-necked Pheasant, Mallard, Wood Duck, Canada Goose, Common Yellowthroat, Northern Waterthrush, Northern Cardinal, Great Blue Heron, Sora, Common Nighthawk, Common Grackle, Red-winged Blackbird, Brown-headed Cowbird, Song Sparrow, American Robin, Rose-breasted Grosbeak.

Conditions: 50 degrees, windy and rainy.

My Big Month - Day 20

It was raining off and on today and although I had the day off I waited until later in the day for the weather to clear before going out birding. It ended up to be just a beautiful evening and it was a really nice and relaxing walk for me. I really thought I was going to see a lot today but for some reason it seemed a little quieter than normal in regards to bird activity. Maybe they knew there was even more rain on the way overnight. There were a few highlights of the day; seeing a Magnolia Warbler, calling in a Rose-breasted Grosbeak, and also getting to see a Mink very close up! I actually did end up with a couple of pretty nice photos of two different yellow birds -a Goldfinch and a Common Yellowthroat but since I've already used both species in previous "Big Month" posts, I decided to post this photo instead. This is a Brown Thrasher sitting on her nest. I don't want to even say where this is but I'll tell you that I would have never have found it without watching the activity of another Thrasher last week. She is quite well hidden and sheltered so I hope the nest is successful. I may check on it from time to time but do not plan to get close for fear of disturbing them. Though it might look like it, this photo was taken from a fair distance away and I don't plan on even coming that close again in the future. As mentioned above, my most fun sighting of the evening was not a bird at all but a playful and curious Mink. I spotted him swimming across a drainage ditch on the far north end of the park and watched him hop up onto the bank through my binoculars. To my surprise he then proceeded to bounce along the water's edge making his way closer and closer to me. I bent down on my knee and just continued to watch him. I think he had planned on crossing the trail to get to the other side of the ditch because he eventually popped out right there in front of me. It was awesome to finally see a Mink in plain view and in such close proximity! I didn't realize just how long their tails are, and it was also darker colored than the rest of his fur. Although I hadn't made a sound he was aware of me right away and looked pretty surprised to see me. All it took was to click my shutter once and he instantly turned around heading back the way he came. It is quite apparent how well adapted this mammal is for the environment in which it lives. It just easily covered so much ground in so little time and then dipped back into the water with barely a splash.

Total species seen today: Brown Thrasher, Common Grackle, Yellow Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, American Redstart, Red-winged Blackbird, Northern Cardinal, Mallard, House Finch, American Robin, American Goldfinch, Song Sparrow, Bald Eagle, Least Flycatcher, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, American Crow, Blue Jay and Canada Goose.

Conditions: 72 degrees and partly sunny.

My Big Month - Day 19

Day 19 of my "Big Month" was actually an out of state field trip that I'd planned some time ago. The Audubon Chapter of Minneapolis does a couple of trips each spring to Tiffany Bottoms State Natural Area in Durand, Wisconsin. You ride out on what was a defunct railroad track that was purchased by a private operation called the Chippewa Valley Motor Car Association. They restored a large portion of the 14 mile track and now operate rides using small, open air rail cars. It is a really neat attraction and one of the only ways you can access this nearly 14,000 acres of wild and mostly unexplored wilderness area. I'm not sure exactly how or when it became known as a hot spot for birding, but I was super excited to see what it was all about. I'm not even sure if I could list all the species we saw in the 4 hours of the trip. There were lots of expert birders and everyone's experience was different, but I'll do my best from my own memory of what I saw personally. Right off the bat at one of the very first stops, I spotted what at first looked like a really dark American Redstart. Only it was a bit too large. I wasn't quite ready for photos so quickly and by the time I snapped this the bird had turned upside down. Just minutes later the guide from Audubon said there might be an Orchard Oriole in the area -which I then realized was what I saw! One of the other big birds the group was hoping to spot was a Blue-winged Warbler. And when I say "big" I don't mean in size, but rather in uniqueness. Like most Warblers it is small and hard to locate in the tree tops. But our guide knew their song and was able to locate a few of them for us. Then getting a photo was a whole other story. After listening and watching for a long time this is the best picture I managed -mind you they're 4.75" from head to tail and a long ways away It was a lot of fun though hearing and catching periodic glimpses of this colorful little Warbler that I'd never seen before! Despite all the abundance of birds I saw on this trip, I wasn't getting many good photographs. For me personally, to get really good bird photos is either pure dumb luck (just being in the right place at the right time by accident) or spending an extraordinary amount of time stalking one bird in particular. Since I was much more interested in seeing as many things as I could, it didn't make sense to be out stalking individual birds -not that I could have anyways because the area is just so darn big. Plus you can only wander off for so long before the train heads off again. That being said, there was one bird that was close and sat still long enough for everyone to photograph. This Common Nighthawk was perched on a branch about 20 feet up and never moved the entire time. I've only seen them flying before and never perched so this was yet another treat for me. Apparently they are known for this behavior during the day, roosting motionless on a tree branch, fence post or the ground but they can be very difficult to see because of their great camouflage. To me they appear to have the original "mossy oak" patterning that is used so prevalently now in camouflage hunting gear.

Total species seen today: Trumpeter Swan, Canada Goose, Baltimore Oriole, Orchard Oriole, Indigo Bunting, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, American Redstart, Yellow Warbler, Blue-winged Warbler, Tennessee Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Red-eyed Vireo, Brown-headed Cowbird, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle, American Goldfinch, Mallard, Common Nighthawk, Least Flycatcher, Olive-sided Flycatcher, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, Bald Eagle, Eastern Towhee, Eastern Phoebe, Bank Swallow, Barn Swallow, Turkey Vulture, Song Sparrow, Mourning Dove, White-breasted Nuthatch, Black-capped Chickadee, American Robin and Gray Catbird.

Conditions: 82 degrees, partly sunny and very humid!

My Big Month - Day 18

On a tip from a friend and fellow birder I decided to visit Brookdale Park today which is just north of Palmer Lake Park. In fact they are connected by the trail system and pretty much the same habitat. But what my friend told me is that yesterday other birder friends of ours had spotted 12 Scarlet Tanagers –8 males and 4 females all in one group here! So after the rain quit I set out and just happened to run into the same group of birder friends who saw the Tanagers yesterday. Now with three additional really good pair of eyes, our odds of spotting birds vastly increased. In fact because of this, I was able to break my previous record for number of Warblers spotted in one day! For me personally, with the group I saw 10 Warblers and then added number 11 on my way out with a Northern Waterthrush. In addition, having such experienced birders by my side I was able to correct or confirm identification on two other species that are completely new to me – the Swainson's Thrush and Red-eyed Vireo! Then near the very end of my visit, we spotted just one lone female Scarlet Tanager. At about this point I had to leave so I don't know if the rest of the group ever located the male or not.

Despite all these fantastic birds, the best quality photo I took came much earlier, before I even left my vehicle! While on a phone call before setting out, I spotted what looked like an immature Baltimore Oriole landing repeated right outside my car window. He would land on a thick dried up weed from last year and proceed to pick at it until he found a loose end. Then he'd pull on it as far as it would go, making his own long strip of nesting material. It was fun to watch him do this over and over from such close proximity.

Total species seen today: (These first 11 in blue are all Warblers) Yellow-rumped Warbler, Palm Warbler, Yellow Warbler, American Redstart, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Magnolia Warbler, Northern Waterthrush, Blackpoll Warbler, Tennessee Warbler, Wilson's Warbler, Baltimore Oriole, Swainson's Thrush, Red-eyed Vireo, American Goldfinch, House Finch, Northern Cardinal, Black-capped Chickadee, American Robin, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle, Brown-headed Cowbird, Great Blue Heron, Green Heron, Mallard, Wood Duck, Least Flycatcher, Great-crested Flycatcher, Gray Catbird, Barn Swallow, Song Sparrow, Wild Turkey, Red-bellied Woodpecker, American Crow, White-breasted Nuthatch, Canada Goose and Scarlet Tanager.

My Big Month - Day 17

It was back to Palmer Lake Park for today's birding outing. Unfortunately it was raining just enough to make it difficult to keep my camera dry. My newest trick for this is to use my winter hood like a big sock over the camera and lens. It works but it's a pain in the butt to get to the controls quick enough. Later on the rain kind of fizzled out and so I was able to ditch it. My walk started off good as the first tree under which I parked housed a Blue-headed Vireo. He wasn't coming out into the open for a photo but I could at least tell what he was. The rain seemed to bring out all kinds of birds this evening and I will have a fairly substantial list below. A couple of highlights were spotting another Wilson's Warbler, and also seeing my first Bluebirds at the park this year! I got poor photos of both of these species but is nice to say that I saw them. I spotted both a male and female Bluebird together so it is a good sign that maybe they will be nesting somewhere in or near the park. I also saw a Chestnut-sided Warbler later. One bird I saw a fair amount of tonight were Rose-breasted Grosbeaks. Pictured here is the first one I saw. Later I saw a female gathering nesting material and then another male behind her that looked not quite as handsome as this one. I think maybe it was immature as there were flecks of white over his breast and also over his black head. Oh also wanted to post a 2nd photo here tonight though at the moment I don't have a positive identification. I'm asking for help on my flickr page and hopefully I might have another new species to add to my "Big Month!" P.S. Second photo was positively identified as a Tennesse Warbler!

Total species seen today: Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Eastern Bluebird, American Redstart, Yellow Warbler, Wilson's Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Palm Warbler, Blue-headed Vireo, Eastern Phoebe, Tree Swallow, American Goldfinch, Common Grackle, Brown-headed Cowbird, Red-winged Blackbird, Northern Cardinal, Black-capped Chickadee, American Crow, Gray Catbird, American Robin, Song Sparrow, Hairy Woodpecker, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Ring-necked Pheasant, Baltimore Oriole, Great Blue Heron, Sandhill Crane, Mallard, Wood Duck, Canada Goose and Tennessee Warbler.

Conditions: 55 degrees, overcast with light rain

My Big Month - Day 16

With my vehicle being pretty much out of service, my best bet to get out birding today was to visit Hillside Cemetery again over my lunch hour at work. It was a beautiful sunny day, with temps more like summer again -somewhere in the mid 80's I think. Being that I don't "hike" the cemetery as regularly as I do Palmer Lake Park, I haven't quite figured out the hot spots yet for birds. There's a few lines of trees and fences where they let the trees grow more wild and these seem like better areas to me. My bird counting wasn't going all that great in the beginning but then I spotted an odd looking Sparrow that seemed to have a real dark patch on it's face. I wondered if it was a Harris' Sparrow as I've never seen one before. I got one decent enough photo to zoom in on at home and sure enough it was a Harris's! I know these birds are only seen during migration so it was a great sighting for me. As I worked my way towards the back side of the cemetery, I started to hear Bluebirds and followed the sound to a couple of trees that were more dead than alive. Here I found my best birding of the day, with Eastern Bluebirds, a Baltimore Oriole and an Eastern Kingbird all in the same tree. I watched the Bluebirds fly out to a wide open area to perch on various poles and water faucets and then return to the trees. They really do seem to like wide open spaces more than other birds in our area. It was while I was watching the Bluebirds that the Kingbird flew in and perched much lower to the ground. I kept stepping closer and closer to him and surprisingly he/she just stayed put. I couldn't believe how close I got in fact. I was almost in arms length just watching this bird turn it's head from side to side and sometimes upwards. After a while it also started to chirp a little and I was surprised to hear such a high-pitched sound come from this rather large bird. It almost sounded like a Junco to me. Later when I was heading back I ran into a group of 7 or 8 Wild Turkeys, some of which appeared to be almost rolling in the dirt among a patch of planted shrubs. I was also somewhat surprised to see both a Yellow-rumped Warbler and a Palm Warbler!

Total species seen today: Eastern Bluebird, Eastern Kingbird, Harris' Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Chipping Sparrow, Blue Jay, American Crow, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle, Brown-headed Cowbird, Baltimore Oriole, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Palm Warbler, Bald Eagle, Hermit Thrush, Wren, American Robin, Hairy Woodpecker and Wild Turkey.

Conditions: 82 degrees and sunny with a slight breeze.

My Big Month - Day 15

I had just an all around crummy day today -despite having a great walk at the park this morning. I would tell you about it here but it would take too long. But the cherry on top of my crummy day is that my vehicle is completely shot. After a $500 last ditch effort to save the transmission just 2 weeks ago, it is now wholly unreliable. So I have no idea how I'm going to be able to go birding every day from here on out. So with that said I'd better tell you about my early morning walk this morning as I can't say when I'll get another one in. The weather was absolutely awesome. It was still cool enough to throw on a vest over my sweatshirt and it felt just perfect. There were no clouds and the lighting is so great in the morning that I was just praying to see birds in certain areas that would have lent to a great photo. But birds never make things easy for you -which is part of the challenge that I like about photographing them anyways. I saw a lot of great birds today including an over-abundance of both Gray Catbirds and Goldfinch. They just seemed to be everywhere I looked and were also the two species making the most noise today.

Other highlights were spotting one of the Sandhill Cranes way out in the middle of the park, and then seeing a group of Wild Turkey's with a male that was "displaying" his fanned out feathers. One of my better pics of the day was of this American Goldfinch I saw on the southwest side. This male was so occupied with singing loudly that I was able to sneak in a little closer behind him for this shot.


Total species seen today: American Goldfinch, Common Yellowthroat, Yellow Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, American Redstart, Northern Waterthrush, Gray Catbird, Baltimore Oriole, Brown Thrasher, Hermit Thrush, Song Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, Brown-headed Cowbird, Common Grackle, Red-winged Blackbird, Black-capped Chickadee, Mourning Dove, Green Heron, Great Blue Heron, Northern Cardinal, Wren, Sandhill Crane, American Robin, Wood Duck, Mallard, Canada Goose, Red-breasted Grosbeak (female only) and Wild Turkey.

Conditions: 52 degrees and sunny. Little to no wind.

My Big Month - Day 14

I'm pretty happy that today marks two weeks of birding every day! I was able to get back to Palmer Lake Park again after a field trip to a different location yesterday. Our weather has changed drastically (again), this time the other way though as it was 95 degrees this evening! I don't particularly like it that warm but there was no humidity and the strong wind made it feel kind of nice actually. I had spoken with a friend –and very good birder– last night and his prediction was that the swing in temperature coupled with the strong winds might blow out a lot of Warblers from our area, meaning that they would continue traveling northward. This did seem to be true as I hiked around the park and didn't see any Palm Warblers, Black-and-Whites, or Ovenbirds. And I saw a total of only 3 Yellow-rumped Warblers which is drastically less than I've been seeing lately. I did however find one new Warbler that has just recently returned –the Common Yellowthroat. I have been looking for them for quite some time already and in years past they seemed to be the first Warbler I would notice each season. But I wonder now if that was really accurate or if it was a reflection of how much more closely I am watching the birds now each Spring. I watched this particular male and one other one foraging through the dead cattails for insects for quite a while. Once in a while he'd pop out into the open for an unobstructed view. I saw quite a few other good birds this evening but I actually had one more big highlight of the evening that I want to mention and share a photo of here. I'd walked around counter clock-wised tonight (dumb idea with the sun) and when I got to the wood chip trail on the southwest side I noticed a lot of activity high up in a tree above me. I was mostly seeing these birds from the underside but every once in a while I'd catch a glimpse of them from the side and noticed that they were a pretty striking blue color. Only just yesterday I had noticed a photo of a similar looking bird posted on a fantastic Minnesota Nature Blog I follow called "Nature Notes." I snapped as many photos as I could, hoping to compare them to the photo I remember seeing from this blog and sure enough I had seen a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher! In fact there were at least 2, maybe 3 of them in the same tree as I watched and took photos this evening. They were really hard to photograph as they hopped around quickly. I was very lucky to catch this and one other decent photo -the other of which I will post to my flickr page later. I really enjoyed seeing this brand new bird for me and just loved how blue they are on top!

Total species seen today: Common Yellowthroat, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Northern Waterthrush, Yellow Warbler, American Redstart, Brown-headed Cowbird, Northern Cardinal, American Robin, Black-capped Chickadee, Wild Turkey, Song Sparrow, American Tree Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, Least Flycatcher, Hairy Woodpecker, Mourning Dove, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Tree Swallow, American Goldfinch, Baltimore Oriole, Great Blue Heron, Green Heron, Brown Thrasher (with female on nest), Mallard, Blue-winged Teal, Northern Shoveler and Canada Goose.

Conditions: 95 degrees and very windy!

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.