Another Slow Day

This February has been some of the slowest birding I can remember. But I keep telling myself how normal that is for this time of year. Unless you get really lucky, one can only hope to see the "usual suspects" of Woodpeckers, Chickadees and Mallards. I guess the most interesting thing I saw today was a Muskrat who appeared for a bit in the creek on the south side of the park. I feel like I used to see Muskrat more often and now they have become scarce for some reason. When he went down under the water I saw his long, hairless tail slip beneath the surface. A visit to the duck pond turned up the usual Mallards only but they can be fun to watch non the less. I caught this one doing his morning yoga stretches. Later on the south side I spent a lot of time watching some Black-capped Chickadees. I had brought along a jar of peanut butter today and was leaving gobs of it on some nice red Dogwood shrubs in hopes of enticing them to pose nicely for me. But after many minutes of waiting around, they still hadn't found it and were more interested in whatever was on the ground below the shrubs. Eventually some did come up near eye level but when I left they still hadn't found the peanut butter. Other birds seen today included; Red-tailed Hawk and Northern Cardinal.

Rainy Day and First Owl of the Season

This Saturday it began raining very early in the morning and continued most of the day. It quickly ate away at our 8-10" snow cover and turned what remained into a thick, wet, sloppy mess. I didn't even want to go the park until later in the day when the rain started to fizzle out. So I arrived at about 3:30 in the afternoon which didn't give me much daylight seeing as how sunset is at 4:32pm! As I crossed the bridge over Shingle Creek on the south side, I spotted two Muskrats sitting on the ice. I don't typically see more than one at a time but they were quite far away at this point. I walked up the woodchip trail to get closer and took this photo right before he decided to slip into the icy cold water. The temp today was warm -about 36º but areas of the park with lots of snow were becoming noticeably foggy as I continued on. Near the southwest side a fellow park goer tipped me off to a "real live owl" in the area after noticing the camera around my neck. He gave me a quick general idea of where to look and I excitedly hurried on. I was fully expecting to see a Great Horned, but instead was treated to a close view of a Barred Owl! This is the first owl I've seen this season and it was a clear and unobstructed view save for how dark it was getting already. I was surprised that I was able to walk almost right underneath the owl without bumping it. As I was looking for a better angle I noticed what looked to be a fresh kill sight on the ground. In the snow were blood stains and some entrails of a critter that seemed to be much too large for a mouse or a vole. I inspected this for a moment only to look back up and find no owl there anymore! I couldn't believe how quiet they are even when they decide to fly to another tree. Then I noticed him again just a few trees down and this time was able to walk directly underneath him. I could hear a squirrel loudly "barking" over and over so I started looking around for it. I found him to be on the very same tree that the owl had re-perched in and then I really started to think that the Barred Owl had possibly just attacked and ate another squirrel very recently. I had so many good photo opportunities of this owl but with the darkness and humidity fogging up my lens, I had to move on. This was my best photo and it is lightened up considerably from the original. It was easy walking today with the rain having cleared and cleaned the path right down to the pavement. Nothing was slippery at all as it was just way too warm. Everywhere the fog started to encroach along the ditches where there was more snow pack. It was so thick and "soupy" that it gave the park a sort of "haunted" feel.

A Real Actual Snowstorm!

Us Minnesotan's know that we got off easily last year with one of the most mild winters on record. I like to refer to 2011 as the "non-existent" winter. Today winter was finally back in full force with a massive midwest snowstorm with a wet heavy snow that was accumulating swiftly. When I awoke this morning everything was coated in a thick "frosting" of sticky snow and it was so beautiful I just had to go out for a walk. I arrived about 8:30am to a healthy 4-5" already on the ground. What I hadn't really prepared for was how to keep my new camera dry as I made my way around. At first I had no choice but to place it in a big zip lock bag but then I couldn't get it out quick enough for a photo. With not many options, I decided to pull an extra glove over the lens portion and then just draped the plastic bag over the top as best I could It seemed to work OK but was a pain in the butt. It was quite a nice and quiet walk and you could hear the big snowflakes hitting the ground sometimes. There was also so much snow caked up in the trees that it would be falling all the time in big chunks and I had to keep aware and avoid getting hit. There was barely any birds out to see save for a few Chickadees and a Red-tailed Hawk that I bumped before I got a photo. The only thing that seemed to be out "enjoying" this weather was this Muskrat sitting on the fresh new ice on Shingle Creek.

Fresh Snow and Critters

Last Tuesday a fairly significant snowstorm moved through the state. It hit areas north of us with nearly a foot but the Twin Cities got about 3 to 4 inches max. Then last night we had about another inch added on top making it actually feel like winter for a change. The park was very much alive today with some great sights. First I caught this Muskrat sitting on the thin ice over the waterway connecting the duck pond to the next lake. Before this photo he was eating what looked to be a greenish colored weed or cattail and I couldn't figure out where he would have gotten that. On the northeast side I wandered up the next trail for a bit when I started to hear a loud shrieking bird call. At first I thought it was a Blue Jay imitating a Hawk. It took me a while to finally get to where the sound was coming from to see that it was a Hawk. He only sat still for a couple of photos before taking off but I think it was probably a Red-tailed. The next bird I saw really stood out against today's overcast and grey skies. This Cardinal was picking Buckthorn berries with his back to the wind -as evident by his crown feathers periodically bending all the way over the front of his head. But the best sighting of the day was yet to come on the south side. As I crossed the bridge over the creek I looked upstream which and spotted another Muskrat on the ice underneath a bush. I quietly made my way up the woodchip trail when I saw what I thought was yet another one on an island of ice in the creek. As it moved I realized it wasn't a Musksrat but a Mink! I had my camera on him right away but there were so many trees and brush in the way. Though I didn't get a decent picture of it, he was eating a little fish about 6 inches long. After he finished that he walked back my way along the ice island and even looked directly at me as I was searching for a better clearing through the brush. He hung out along the edge of the water for a bit, burying his snout into the snow in search of something. Then he turned around and slinked along towards the other end of the ice. There were a pair of Mallards swimming by and when the Mink got to the end of the ice, he jumped high in the air landing in the water right by them, sending the ducks off quacking angrily. It was hilarious and seemed to have no point other than amusement for the Mink.

Back to Warmth

Well the first snow that we'd received 5 days ago is long gone. The temps climbed right out of the teens and are back above freezing again. When I arrived at the park just before 9am it was already 37 degrees. In fact the warmth had created a thick fog that just hung over the cattails near the middle of the park. I spotted one Doe near someone's fenced in garden on the north west side but she was behind a lot of thick stuff. Shortly after moving on, the sky caught my attention as it had changed drastically in just 30 minutes time. Facing back south, the sun was trying to burst through and was reflecting orange and yellow in all direction like a nice sunset. It's still hard to believe that this was taken after the first photo. The fog soon cleared out and the sky lightened up a bit afterward. In the little pond near the east side baseball diamonds, I looked for and spotted a Muskrat in the same place I'd seen before. He looked like he'd just popped up out of the water. I'm still amazed at how certain mammals can go in and underwater in the fall and winter. But with the temps we've been having lately I bet it still feels like Spring to a Muskrat. Later I spotted one more who came out of the water and up onto the ice that has formed on Palmer Lake's middle body of water.

A Fall that Just Wont Quit

It's not that I mind at all, but it's just shocking at how long our Fall season is lasting. It's near mid-November now and I'm still only wearing my baseball cap when I go for a walk. It has also been over a month already since I had been up north to Ely, Minnesota and witnessed some spectacular Fall foliage. Today on the west side I spotted a large Hawk being harassed by a couple of Crows. As I went for a second photo he flew off and perched again facing away from me. From this angle I could clearly see his rusty-red tail. I moved on and basically forgot about him until just a short time longer when I nearly ran right into him again. I just happened to glance up while on the paved trail and spotted him only 10 feet above me. I couldn't believe it. This was by far the closest I'd ever been to a Hawk and I wasted no time in going for a photo. This was the only one I got before he took off again. My sights after this included some Mallards near the creek and a small group of Cedar Waxwings. Then as I was coming up to a small pond on the east side I spotted a Muskrat swimming quickly through the water. At first he was real close to the trail affording me some good views. I could see clearly just how "water-proof" his fur was as the water just beaded up on it like it was coated in oil. He swam out further but then turned around and came straight toward me, eventually going back under near some Cattails at the edge of the pond. Getting back to that Fall foliage I mentioned earlier, I had certainly not expected to see any today -at least not in Palmer Lake Park. But when I turned the corner a short time later to head back west, this Maple tree stood out like you wouldn't believe. While many of the trees in the park had already lost their leaves, this one just now was peaking in an extraordinary luminous yellow. It was definitely picture-worthy on this mostly overcast day.

Last days of Summer

I had to get in a very fast walk this morning due to other plans for the day. So many of the birds I've seen this year are already gone for the winter. One bird that is year round though are Downy Woodpeckers. The red patch of this male caught my eye on the east side. As I passed the ball fields a bit later, I paused to watch a big group of Ducks hoping to spot a Wood Duck. As so often happens, when I stop to look at a common sight, I end up noticing something more interesting. Just a few feet below me I noticed a small furry Muskrat. Then another right next to it. As I focused my camera, one quickly dipped into the water. As it swam just below the surface I could follow where it was as the floating green algae would periodically part for a few seconds due to the commotion below. Eventually the other one went under too but popped his head out briefly for this photo.

Sunny end to April

This has been nicest, warmest April in a long long time and it feels like Summer is just around the corner. I saw four deer on the north side but they all eluded my camera lens. I did notice that a few families of Mallards have just had their babies. They are funny to watch as they almost run across the water trying to keep up. The warm sun made for some nice views on the south side and when I got to the mouth of the lake the Carp were jumping out of the water like crazy. One or two would leap out, flop around and splash back in about every minute or so. I unintentionally managed to catch one in the left hand side of this photo. Shortly after a Muskrat came swimming by and I snapped this pic right before he headed into the cattails. It's kind of neat to see their long rat-like tail. The sun continued with a nice orange sunset.

Preparing for winter

Gettin' a little colder lately -in the mornings anyway- and just not much to see for wildlife. The sun is still shining though creating some interesting scenery as the park prepares for winter. The same pond with all the ducks last Sunday was just barely frozen over today. Cattails are exploding everywhere now and it's tough to find one that's not seeding out. Their cotton-like seeds are clinging to everything and near the south side of the park the underbrush looks like it's been coated in freshly fallen white snow. The only critter I saw this day was a muskrat. He was sitting on a floating log where the creek drains back out of the main bodies of water. I'll have to check back to see if he is building his winter home in the same area.