Birds, Deer, Insects and Flowers

I didn't make it to the park until just after 5:00pm this Sunday but there was still plenty of light left and lots of things to see. Upon arrival I noticed a Great Egret out wading in the flooded baseball fields on the east side. As of late I've been more interested in flowers and plants so I've also been trying to look down below me more often too. As I did I noticed this neat looking insect landing on a plant that hadn't even really flowered out yet. I don't think it is a Bee but rather some kind of Wasp, though I honestly don't know. It looked almost black and white. Later on the north side I climbed a little hillside to look around for Goldfinch but instead noticed a Flycatcher of some kind –likely a Least Flycatcher because of a very noticeable white eye-ring. As I watched the flycatcher, a Doe suddenly walked into view right by the bird. This isn't the best picture but I thought it was funny and maybe the only photo I've got with both a Deer and a Bird in the same picture! Near the west side of the park I stopped to watch a Common Grackle picking up slugs out of a puddle on the paved trail. Like many birds with iridescent feathers, I'm always trying to capture the different colors one can see in them. After poking around the water for a bit, he flew up to and perched atop one of the freshly cut Willows that had been trimmed by the city. Near the end of my trip I noticed a brilliant purple flower growing near the cattails. I've seen this before but not paid too much attention until now. Upon looking up the flower later I learned it is called "American Vetch" and is in the "pea" family. I hope it is one that I can remember from now on. Other birds spotted today included American Redstart, Song Sparrow, Red-winged Blackbird (juvenile), Yellow Warbler, and a Killdeer who pretended to be injured when I approached!

Three Years of Birding and Blogging

Well this Spring has certainly been going by quickly. Earlier in the season I realized I'd be coming up on my 3rd year of (regular) walks at the park and blogging about what I'd seen. I'm amazed at everything I've learned in such a short time -and mostly on my own with the help of my camera and a lot of patience. I always tell people that I had to learn all the Minnesota birds in high school science class and that I'd long forgotten them. I can truthfully say know that I've re-learned them all and then some. There's even birds that I would now call common to the park area that are not included in my "Minnesota" specific field guide - a telling story that you need more than one good field guide to most subjects. Something I was happy to get a photo of early into my walk today was this Green Heron on the south side. Seems like they were more plentiful in the park in past seasons and this might be only my first or second photo of one this year. You rarely get to see their weird ugly feet as they are usually standing in water. Only a short while later I had the great opportunity to observe photograph an American Redstart at a closer distance than ever before. I've you every tried to photograph this flitty little Warbler before, you'll know why it is so hard. They are quite common at the park and becoming all the more familiar to me the more I see -and hear- them. I've come to recognize their very high pitches whistle now and get my camera ready before I even see them. I've quite proud of this photo here but realize that it took me exactly 3 years to get it! I won't quit after this though and I don't think I'll ever tire of the challenge in photographing these quick moving Warblers. Only a bit further on the south side I remembered the area where I'd watched the Least Flycatcher building a nest. I tracked down the particular branch and found a completed nest -and with the female sitting in it! What a find I thought as I snapped a few pics before moving on so as not to disturb her. I remember the male being overly cautious and not even approaching the nest area while I was watching so I didn't want to make it seem like I knew where it was and would be back often. The nest itself was unique in that it seemed to be made entirely of cottonwood seed and other soft material rather than sticks.

New Month and a Great Day of Birding

This Saturday, June 2nd I ended up getting in a late afternoon walk, arriving at the park just after 4pm. The weather was fantastic but it was the first day that I really noticed Mosquitoes. This was probably my second-best day of birding since back in Early May when I spotted a Black and White Warbler. It wasn't necessarily because of the uniqueness of what I saw but the fact that I was presented with some great photo opportunities on top of it. The one I most regret not succeeding on was an American Redstart who gave me lots of chances but the photos just didn't turn out that great. One photo that did turn out good though in my opinion was of this Mallard Hen with her Ducklings. This was in the little pond on the southeast side. I've been trying for a long time to photograph Ducklings but they are always moving around so fast that it turns out blurry. They also don't seem to stay together in a nice little group for very long so this photo is actually quite an achievement for me. The water is not really that green, but a reflection of the trees above. The next bird of interest I was able to catch was of a Least Flycatcher on the south side. This species is still a very new bird to me and I hope that I've identified it correctly. The first time I spotted one only a month ago, I had no idea what it was. It looked vaguely like an Eastern Phoebe but more like a Warbler because of a prominent white eye-ring. Today I got to see one closer and for quite a long time. I first noticed it fly out from a crude nest at the crook of two branches about 15 feet up in a tree. It reappeared fairly quickly with a beak full of grass though it seemed to be very hesitant to return to the nest and I wondered if maybe I was seeing a different bird. The longer I watched it, the closer it came to the nest but never actually returned while I was poised with my camera and fighting off the mosquitoes. I eventually moved on, wondering if possibly it would not complete the nest if I had discovered it. On the north side I spotted a large, orangy-yellow bird land in some dead branches just a few feet inside the trail. It stuck out as something unusual right away with it's large size but the coloring was very akin to a Baltimore Oriole -only different. Then it hit me that it was a female Baltimore Oriole in plain view! She moved to a different set of dead branches within just a few seconds and I snapped as many pics as I could. This is my first photograph of a female Baltimore Oriole and it was quite fun to see. My best photo of the day though was still to come as I made my way along the northeast side. It seemed that I was seeing great birds everywhere I looked. Only a few feet inside the trail and at eye-level was a Coopers Hawk. This was an usual sight and I quickly scared it up and it moved further back into the thicker woods. When the Hawk moved though, I caught a glimpse of a Rose-breasted Grosbeak just a bit further up the trail -also at eye-level! At first he was facing away from me and I could only recognize his mostly black back with patches of white. Since the Hawk was long gone, I decided quickly to pursue the Grosbeak instead and I was happy that I did. As I crept quietly up the paved trail, he stayed perched where he was but turned to face me, showing off his brilliant red breast patch. As I focused on him, another park-goer entered my frame probably thinking I was taking his photo! Much to my surprise, the Grosbeak stayed put as the other person walked past and allowed me even more viewing time. It felt like a once in a lifetime opportunity as I shot photos of him at a great angle, in clear view and in great evening light. Even after viewing the photo I marvel at what a colorful bird this is. He clearly had something in his beak, though I can't say for sure if it was a worm or something else.

A New Wednesday

By mid-week I was really itching to get outside and to the park -especially seeing as how we're still in a trend of crummy weekends and nice week-days. With help from a friend, I'd recently installed a Bluebird box onto the east side of park. Today I planned to go off road a bit just to check on it and see if there was any activity yet. It's been a while since I've spotted a Bluebird and I was hoping I might stir one up on my way. I watched the favored dead tree for a bit and noticed a pair of mating Tree Swallows. It was easy to tell which one was the Male this time as he would fly in and hover around the female. In the past few weeks I've seen dozens of Swallows but no Bluebirds. There was also no activity at my new Bluebird house which makes me wonder where they've all gone. There were a fair amount of interesting birds noticeable tonight despite my attempts to make it around the park quickly. Parts of the park are deafening with the sounds of birds -mainly warblers with their high pitched, rapid songs. I was lucky enough to look up at the right time to catch this American Redstart -a bird which I doubt I will ever capture a satisfactory photo of. They are elusive, move fast and prefer dense tree-tops, making them quite a challenge to capture. I think nearly every one of my (handful of) pictures of them are taken from directly underneath versus straight on. Seeing and photographing this one actually reminded me of an encounter with one last year in which I was able to see one closer to eye-level. So when I came to that part of the park again later on the west side, I made my way through the small Willow trees up to the water's edge hoping I might recreate that sighting. As before, I picked a spot with a better view and just stood there waiting to see what might stop by. I saw a few Cowbirds, Red-wings, Grackles and even Orioles before an unusual bird came into view. It was mostly drab in color and from the size I quickly mistook it for an Eastern Phoebe. There was one obvious marking however that I don't associate with Phoebe's and that was a white eye-ring. Being still the novice birder that I am, my thoughts immediately jumped to some type of new warbler. However, after showing the photo to more experienced birders, they suggested a "Least Flycatcher." This is a bird I'm not that familiar with -being not included in my Birds of Minnesota Field Guide from Stan Tekiela. My photo is a near-perfect match with the illustration in my more comprehensive Peterson Field Guide, so I am pretty sure that this is what I saw. This adds additional species to my list of birds at PLP so it was a good visit indeed!