Magical Marigold!

Today being November 9th, the LAST thing on earth I expected to find at the park today would have been a flower. But as I was hiking around the southwest corner of the park I couldn't help but notice two little bright yellow flowers near my feet just barely outside the paved path. This is the area where I find Marsh Marigolds blooming each spring. I've come to really appreciate this beautiful wildflower as it's blooming period is actually very short somewhere between 3 - 4 weeks at most between late April and early May. This plant thrives in low, wet areas and even the ones I find in the spring can be tough to get close to without getting your feet wet. Maybe it was all the rain we've had lately, coupled with the well above average temperatures for this time of year that has this plant confused and blooming again in November. I could hardly believe my eyes and thought it had to be something else. But that flower and shape of the leaves were unmistakeable. But after running into a friend of mine who really knows his plants, I showed it to him and he agreed instantly that it was indeed a Marsh Marigold. There were just two flowers but a third unopened pod was visible as well. After sharing my finding on a number of online sources, many people reported back to me about other very-late blooming flowers in their own yards. Our temps have been unusually warm, but wow this really proves it! I spent nearly the rest of my time today around the duck pond on the southwest side after spotting one lone Northern Shoveler among the Mallards. It was so drab and mottled that it had to be a female, though it's very hard to tell this time of year. Last year both a male and female pair hung out in the exact same spot for a week or two around the same time. It was hard to follow her along the shoreline as she blended in so well against the shore and nearly disappeared. She also seemed to have something hanging off and stuck to the side of her bill. Periodically she stopped and tried to pry it off with her webbed feet to no avail. Whatever it was was almost the same orange color as the bill so I wondered if it she'd been injured. She never did get it off after several attempts. I sure hope it wasn't garbage of some kind, especially a fishing lure! Other birds seen today included the usual suspects of Northern Cardinals and Black-capped Chickadees.

Second Saturday in November

In the previous few years these are days that I would not have been to the park. Instead I would have been out Deer hunting. Like many Minnesotan's I'd grown up in a family where Deer hunting was a family tradition. I enjoyed some memorable times outdoors with my Dad, hunting in various places across the state. When my dad tired of the activity, I took it up again with some friends. Long story short, I too tired of it –but much earlier in life than my father had. I believe this is the 2nd year now that I've not gone and I really don't miss it at all. Since taking up nature photography, I get the "thrill of the hunt" every time I embark on a nature hike. And through my photos, I get to take and keep the things that I see. The first thing of note that I saw today was a White-breasted Nuthatch who shuffled around a tree just above me. This is one of those under-appreciated common birds that become even more common this time of year. It's "yank yank" call together with Chickadees and Blue Jays are the three birds that remind me most of Deer hunting. I decided to check out the "duck pond" on the southwest corner and was surprised to still see a couple of Northern Shovelers here! I was excited to find this species at the park at all this fall, but to have them still hanging around near mid November is even better. I saw what looked to be 2 females but no sign of a male. Shovelers are one of the first springtime Ducks I see each year at the park. Other than a Woodpecker and a Red-tailed Hawk I wasn't really seeing much else on this quiet day. I decided to hike through the woods to see what else I might find. To my surprise, I came across a shed antler deep in the woods on the north side. This is only my second shed find ever, but it was in such rough shape that I let it go. Covered in green mold and the tines chewed in half, I would think this shed must have fallen sometime this early spring. It was still neat to find and at least I have a photo to show it. I found it very fitting that I found this on opening day of Deer hunting, took a photo and then left it. I recently saw a quote somewhere that read "take nothing but pictures and leave nothing but footprints." I really like that phrase and it fits well with my new attitude towards nature.

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.

Two Visits and Another FOF

My visit –or should I say visits– to the park this Saturday were memorable for a number of reasons. First when I arrived in the morning around 10:45am, I ran into another bird watcher/naturalist who has become a good friend of mine simply through bumping into each other at the park. He is much more experienced than I am and so I figured I would walk with him a bit as two pairs of eyes are always better than one. He quickly pointed out a few birds I may have missed; an Eastern Phoebe, Swainson's Thrush and then some Warblers. As we watched the Warblers from afar I identified one of them as a Magnolia, which was a great sighting for the day. We then crept closer and found some Palm Warblers who actually held still for a few photos from me. They are easily the most photogenic of all the Warblers, sometimes seeming to even pose for you. We then hiked to the culdesac on 73rd Ave where he had parked and were about to part ways when another bird watcher/naturalist friend of mine showed up. So then we hiked the remainder of the way around the park, covering twice the amount of ground in about half the time I had just gone - LOL! While I certainly enjoy the company of like minded nature lovers –and boy do I ever learn a lot from them– I often don't pause or lollygag around much when I'm with another person. And that is when I tend to get my best photographs when I'm by myself. So after coming home for a quick lunch I actually headed back to the park for a lazy afternoon of bird watching on my own. After sitting in the woods for a while and again always just missing shots of too quick Warblers, I decided to go over to the drainage pond or "Duck Pond" on the southwest corner of the park. I knew there were a few Wood Ducks around and so I thought maybe I could sneak up on one. But while walking on the wood chip trail that borders this pond I noticed a smaller sized duck with a very large bill. It was a Northern Shoveler! Only just that morning I had got into a discussion with my friend about Shovelers and we both said that neither of us had seen one at the park in Fall. And just like that, here they were, at least one male and one female swimming alongside the Mallards. I quickly took a few photos while I was close enough but each duck was kind of in the shade of the trees. They quickly scared off and took flight much like Wood Ducks do. I decided to hike around to the other side of the pond. Here there is no trail so I went through the woods and inched my way up to the edge of the water, concealing myself behind the tall grass. I had my stool with me and after sitting for a while the group of ducks would swim towards me. There again among the Mallards was not just one pair but two pairs of Shovelers! This was a much better view, with the light from behind me this time though a bit further away. I snapped many many pics hoping to get at least one decent one with both the male and female together. I went back through my blog postings later in the day to verify and yes indeed these were the first Northern Shovelers I've ever seen at the park in fall! It makes one wonder if they might even be the very same birds that I saw in April of this year. Later a few Wood Ducks eventually became comfortable with me too and moved in a little closer. The light was fantastic by this time in late afternoon and the colors of the male shown spectacularly. This one did a big old stretch and I took a photo right then which was my favorite of the day.

Easter Sunday and some Firsts for the Season!

I'll have to double check my records but it seems like every year for the past few years it is just days before Easter that I see my first Yellow-rumped Warblers return. After not seeing any the previous week and even yesterday, I was beginning to think they passed by the park this year. But then this evening I spotted my first one of the season. It was on the north side in the scraggly tree overhanging the trail. I saw just one single bird and I couldn't manage a decent photo –but at least I saw one finally! There were quite a few waterfowl out on the lakes this evening and one that I spotted was something I've not previously documented at the park –a Ruddy Duck! These are one of my very favorite ducks and I was lucky enough to see them close up a the Coon Rapids Dam area last spring. This one (a male too) was pretty far out there with a group of Northern Shovelers, but I took a photo anyway just to confirm my sighting. He is on the far left in the photo. On the south side of the park in the little tiny pond near the parking lot I noticed a pair of Blue-winged Teals and managed to catch a half-way decent photo of the male. Like many of the more wild ducks, they are easily spook-able and tough to get close to. I guess I ought to mention that the weather was incredible today at 75º and sunny. The park was just teeming with people who were out enjoying the weather. The park just emanated Spring today, from the smells to the constant calling of birds, to the Pussy Willows who's fuzzy white catkins are now morphing into bright yellow-green color. I walked the entire 3 mile circumference of the park tonight and boy was I really seeing a lot of birds. I was taking photos of even common birds so that it would help me remember them all when I got home. I will list all the birds I spotted tonight at the end, but one that I managed a pretty good photo of was a Ruby-crowned Kinglet. This is one of the smallest birds we see here in Minnesota, and they are known for not sitting still for very long. I've been seeing them fairly regularly in the past week but it seems that I am seeing more females than males. Like many birds, the species is so named after the male who exhibits a tiny, bright red patch on his head that can raise up like a crest. The females look exactly the same but without the red crown. So this one here is obviously a female. Coming back to the east side parking lot I spotted an unusual looking bird perched in the setting sun. Upon looking closer with my binoculars I realized it was a female Red-winged Blackbird! This is somewhat exciting simply because it's the first female I've seen this year and shows that the females tend to show up weeks after the males do. I have yet to ever come across a RWB nest which seems odd simply because of how many there are in the park. I had one more surprise for the evening as I sat on the granite bench overlooking the eastern most body of water. I could see a few Common Mergansers way out there and this is a species I've only documented one other time before at the park. There were actually two pair –two males and two females but I didn't get them all in this shot. I am always surprised at the variety of waterfowl that pass through the park each spring! It always makes me wonder –if the water was less polluted, would they stay longer? And might there be even more species that would visit Palmer Lake Park?

My total list for the day (32 species):
1. Red-winged Blackbird (and first female of season!)
2. Brown-headed Cowbird
3. Common Grackle
4. Song Sparrow
5. Fox Sparrow
6. American Tree Sparrow
7. Northern Cardinal
8. Blue Jay
9. Cedar Waxwing
10. American Coot
11. Mallard
12. Ruddy Duck
13. Canada Goose
14. Blue-winged Teal
15. Common Merganser
16. Lesser Scaup
17. Wood Duck
18. American Robin
19. Great Blue Heron
20. Pied-billed Grebe
21. Hairy Woodpecker
22. Red-bellied Woodpecker
23. Pileated Woodpecker (heard)
24. Ring-necked Pheasant (heard)
25. Great Horned Owl
26. Tree Swallow
27. Mourning Dove
28. Yellow-rumped Warbler
29. Black-capped Chickadee
30. Ruby-crowned Kinglet
31. American Goldfinch
32. Northern Shoveler

Day of the Ducks!

I hadn't intended to visit the park today. I spent the morning preparing my taxes only days before the deadline. But only minutes after I finished filing them, I got a call from my good birder friend Ron. He was heading to the east side of Palmer Lake Park as another friend of ours (Larry) was there and seeing a variety of Waterfowl including Northern Shovelers, Green-winged Teal and Redhead to name a few! Since I've never positively seen a Redhead before, I quickly changed and hopped in the car to head over. Wouldn't you know it, the Redheads took off before I got there! From the granite bench overlooking the water on the east side we could see a few other Ducks, though they were quite a ways away. Ron was getting some decent photos as his lens can reach the moon. I snapped this photo of some Northern Shovelers that flew over us, but for the most part I wasn't getting any good photos with my mere 300mm lens and I knew I would need to get closer. So after walking a bit and eventually parting ways, I decided to drive over the west side and hike over to what I call the "Duck Pond" on the southwest corner of the park. Right off the bat I spotted a pair of male Buffleheads and this is a species I've only seen one other time at PLP! I decided I would hike in on the woodchip trail as it would be quieter, and then find a place along the water to sit and wait for them to come closer. And boy did they ever! It took quite a while but eventually the pair came close enough for me to catch some fantastic photos. Buffleheads are small diving ducks and when they would come back up to the surface they would have beads of water clinging to their backs. Though I've seen Buffleheads before in other places, this may have been the closest I'd ever been to them. I had not before fully appreciated what beautiful birds they are! Their head reminds me of a "pie-chart" with 1/4th of the pie colored pure white. But amazingly the other 3/4ths have an iridescent quality and can appear blue, purple and green in the right light. I had a lot of fun watching these two guys. Then, to my surprise another small pair of ducks caught my eye along the shoreline. I couldn't believe it but they were Green-winged Teal. Though I'd seen one through my binoculars earlier with Ron and Larry, this pair were most definitely in range of a photo! This is a species I've not previously witnessed at Palmer Lake so it was quite special to see them up closely. I spent nearly 2 hours watching the pair and hiking back and forth to opposite ends of the Duck Pond attempting to get better photos. Finally after a long time I had secured a spot only feet from the water's edge while the pair were behind some tall weeds off to my right. They came right out in front of me a few different times and I will tell you the male is one beautiful bird! Numerous times I also got to hear the male vocalize which was a series of "peeps" that alternated between a lower and higher tone. I thought it sounded much more like a songbird than any kind of duck. When making this sound his head generally appeared more puffed up or "tufted" than his usual "slick-backed" look. Once or twice I could see his head feathers appear to sort of drape off the back of his head. As for the female, she was drastically different and drab in comparison. I really only identified her by her behavior of hanging out with the male the entire time. And if not for her much smaller size, she would have appeared pretty similar to a hen Mallard. The only other things I noticed was that she appeared to have a wide neck at the base, and possibly a darker bill. Teal are "Dabbling Ducks" which mean they don't dive for their food and spend a lot of time with their heads lowered and bills in the water. It was hard to catch a photo of them when not in this position! Oh I forgot, but earlier with Ron and Larry, I also saw Blue-winged Teals. I caught only this one photo but at least I saw them. It was quite a good day and here is a total list of birds we saw (including a few other "firsts of the season!"): Redhead, Northern Shoveler, Green-winged Teal, Blue-winged Teal, Canada Goose, Mallard, Ring-billed Gull, American Coot, Ring-necked Duck, Bufflehead, Wood Duck, Tree Swallow (first of season), Northern Flicker (first of season), Hairy Woodpecker, Dark-eyed Junco, Bald Eagle, American Crow, Red-winged Blackbird, Song Sparrow, Osprey (first of season), American Robin, Cedar Waxwing, Pied-billed Grebe and Great Blue Heron.

Spring is in Swing on Shingle Creek!

I had the day off work today and it was gorgeous outside. But despite the awesome weather I purposely waited until about 5pm to visit the park in hopes to capture some waterfowl bathed in some nice orangy-sunset tones. Yesterday I had hiked downstream and sat for a while too but quickly realized I was on the wrong side and facing directly into the sun instead of away from it. So this evening I did the same but on the opposite (west) side of Shingle Creek. It was warm and sunny out without a single cloud in the sky and before I knew it, a pair of Bluebirds were perching very nearby. The male perched almost right above my head for a minute, very closely and I grabbed this shot. A great way to start off my photo expedition! Soon I had my eyes on various pairs of Northern Shovelers swimming along the creek. The male and female were both busy poking their long bills into the shoreline and I waited patiently behind a natural blind of fallen trees for them to come closer. They never did get all that close to me so I had to crop in tight on my photos. Here is my favorite one of the Shovelers, cast in a nice glow from the setting sun. My luck continued on as a pair of Wood Ducks later flew in from the north and hit the water just to my left and out of sight of me in my blind. I readied my camera and waited for them to swim right out in front of me. This resulting photo is probably one of my favorite shots of the whole year. I just love the colors on wood ducks and the reflections of the tan colored weeds and blue sky in the water compliment him nicely. Where ever there is any waterfowl there are bound to be some Mallards in the mix. I certainly don't go out of my way to photograph them but this male that swam slowly past me was just so pretty in the sunset that I couldn't resist. His green iridescent head just seemed to almost glow in the sunset and again the reflections on the water made for a nice photo I think. Much further down the creek, I could see some other interesting waterfowl with my binoculars including Ring-necked Ducks and a lot of Canada Geese. The Ring-necked stayed far away never coming any closer which was a bummer since they are also quite beautiful. But I was able to catch a few photos of one other interesting bird that would dive repeatedly before popping up very near me at least a few different times. Pied-billed Grebes –and other species of Grebes– are somewhat similar to Loons in that they are much more adapted to water and diving than they are to land. They behave similar in that they can stays submerged for quite some time before returning to the surface. Now that I think of it, I have never even seen a Grebe in flight before, only on the water.

My Big Month - Day 8

Well I'm into the second week of my "Big Month" now and I'm quite happy that I've been able to get to Palmer Lake Park every day so far. After visiting at 6am yesterday, it actually felt like a long time in between my 6pm visit this evening. I saw maybe only 5 or 6 Yellow-rumped Warblers today as opposed to hundreds just days ago. I'm afraid they might not be sticking around too much longer. I am continuing however to see lots of Palm Warblers and Ruby-crowned Kinglets. Over all though it was on the quiet side as a rain storm was approaching as I hiked around. There were two highlights of my visit tonight. One was seeing my first Green Heron of the season. He was running on the ground along the banks of a little pond on the east side. Then later when I was hiking through the woods on the northwest side, I saw a bird land up ahead of me in some very thick Buckthorn trees and it did not look familiar at all. It looked like a Blackbird of some kind but with a big white patch on it's back. As I peered through my binoculars I could hardly believe that I was seeing a Rose-breasted Grosbeak! I've never ever seen one this early in the season before -and I typically think of them as Summer visitors to the park. Of course in the thick Buckthorn I did not get a great photo but hopefully I will see him again soon. Around this time it had started sprinkling and only a short time later it was full on raining.

I had to put a plastic bag around my camera and that more or less ended my photography session. But almost right before I got to my vehicle I spotted a pair of Northern Shovelers! I had only seen Shovelers way out in the lake this year and never really got an opportunity to photograph one. So I pulled the plastic bag off my camera, slipped in between some willows and grabbed a few photos anyway. It was also getting dark out by now so I didn't end up with a great photo here but I was happy to see that Shovelers will still around the park. It was also neat to see the female up close as well.

Total species seen today: Northern Shoveler, Gadwall, Wood Duck, Mallard, American Coot, Canada Goose, Blue Jay, American Crow, Brown-headed Cowbird, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle, Green Heron, Great Blue Heron, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Palm Warbler, Yellow Warbler, Song Sparrow, American Tree Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, Mourning Dove, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Northern Cardinal, Sandhill Crane and Rose-breasted Grosbeak.

Conditions: 68 degrees, breezy, stormy skies and raining at the end.

Sunny, 78 Degrees and Two New Species!

So our weird weather just continues to get weirder here in Minnesota. Today it got up to 78 degrees and it was kind of like we skipped Spring altogether and jumped headfirst into Summer! It was hard to believe that only 4 days ago we received about 5" of snow and only 9 days ago received 6-8" of snow. There was basically no trace of snow on the ground anywhere today and in fact I took a photo of the only small pile on the side of the trail I could find. I was walking with a friend today and right away we ran into a frequent park-goer who told us of a very unusual looking creature. He told us where we might see it and sure enough it was viewable right there from the footbridge over Shingle Creek on the south side. Indeed it was a Horned Grebe and we had a front row seat, watching it dive and surface over and over. This was an exciting sight for me as it's the first time I've seen one AND the first time I've documented one at PLP. One time when he was close enough, we could see him move underwater after he dove which was neat. They have intensely red eyes which really stand out as well. As we were making our way around the lake on the south end we could see that there were hundreds of waterfowl out on the water -and not just your normal, average Mallards! We were quite a ways away but through my binoculars I could see tons of Ring-necked Ducks, a few Northern Shovelers and mabye a Bufflehead or two. Upon closer examination of the photo once I got home I noticed even more Horned Grebes and possibly even a Ruddy Duck or two but I can't be sure. Also it's possible that maybe some of what I thought were Ring-necks were Scaups but too hard to tell from such a distance. This was the largest group of non-Mallard waterfowl I've ever seen at the park! Later on the south west side I noticed a group of 4 or 5 Brown-headed Cowbirds that we'd walked right past. They weren't making any noise and just sat there silently as I took a few photos. I'd heard a Cowbird much earlier in the year up at the Coon Rapids Dam but haven't officially seen one until today. The female is on the left and male on the right in this photo. Before we turned the corner to head north we noticed a large shape in a tall tree way up ahead and looked closer through binoculars. It was an adult Bald Eagle staring out towards the center of the park. He was a long ways away but once we started up the wood chip trail we realized that he was actually perched above the waterway that connects the two western most bodies of water. My guess is that maybe he was on the lookout for a Coot to snatch up. I was able to get even closer by heading to where the old overgrown railroad ties are and snap a few photos without bumping him. It is always fun to see Bald Eagles at the park and it seem like maybe Jan or Feb was the last time I'd spotted one. On the north side we quite plainly heard Sandhill Cranes again. They have an extremely loud call that tends to echo and to me sounds like some kind of pre-historic bird. There was no sight of them but we could tell they were close. Then all of a sudden one came barreling straight towards us, above the trail but under the tree canopy. I only got off one shot just as it turned and headed to our left. I wasn't even sure if I got it but was quite happy to see this photo when I got home! This was my second new species (for the park) in one day making it quite an enjoyable day.

Last Day of March and One New Waterfowl!

It was slightly cooler out this morning -probably more normal for this time of year compared to warm days we've been having lately. I parked on the south side today and headed round the park on the paved path instead of the wood chip trail. The woods is just thin enough yet to see through to the "duck pond" on the southwest corner. From here I could see there was something different in the water -something with bright white coloring. I tried quietly to sneak through the woods but by the time I made it up to the water's edge I'd scared off 2 of the ducks which I then recognized as Northern Shovelers. I've been itching to see these again this year so I parked myself on a log and waited for a while. Eventually a third one that was further out to my left came swimming into view. The first time I saw a Shoveler, it's head looked blue but this one looked green. I guess it all depends on the angle as their head is iridescent. I was also seeing a lot of Red-bellied Woodpeckers today which was a little odd only because I tend to see more of them in winter time. I think I saw 3 or 4 all within a short time frame. The next bird I spotted I was definitely not expecting to see today. On the north side I walked back into the woods a bit just to see what I might find and there near the ground was an Eastern Phoebe! This really surprised me as I don't typically see much of these until late spring or even summer. They eat only insects and true to form it was flying out short distances to pick them out of the air and then return to the same spot over and over again. I was able to get closer and see glimpses of it's olive-green colored belly. This might have been the closest I've gotten to one so far but it kept landing in a little bush that was blocking it's face. Upon returning to the south side I could see quite a few ducks out near where the creek empties into the lake. There were Mallards, Wood Ducks, Shovelers and even Coots. But there was something else I could not recognize. They were smaller, about 3/4 the size of a Mallard and mostly greyish brown and smooth looking. There was also a female following behind that looked mottled and similar to a female Mallard. At first I thought they were Teals but there were no obvious facial markings. The male seemed to have a thin white band around it's neck and when he was swimming away from me he seemed to have a rusty colored patch on his back. Something I noticed only later from my photos is that the male seemed to have a dark bill while the female had more of a yellow bill. After going through my field guides I was still having a hard time positively identifying them. After consulting other birders and looking at other photos online, I'm almost positive that they are Gadwall. This is definitely something I've never seen before!

Humid Monday evening

Lately if I'm only able to visit the park once per weekend, I'm itching to go back by Monday or Tuesday. This Monday evening I met a friend for a walk. Right before we left I tracked a Yellow Warbler near the parking lot where it looks over the lake. There were 2 of them hopping around on the dead cattails and this is the closest I've been to them yet. This is the only shot I'm posting today as the light was just not good with a very overcast sky. I did see one other thing of interest -about 20 or more Northern Shovelers all in a group way out in the eastern body of water. They were real far away and it was quite dark by the time I spotted them.

Wednesday night wildlife

This Wednesday evening was much more mild with temps near the norm of 50-55 degrees. When I arrived at the parking lot on the south side I could see a lot of waterfowl in the usual place where the creek empties into the lake. As I started walking and got a bit closer though I could see that a large portion consisted of Northern Shovelers! This time there were males and females. Again I checked by posts from last year and my first sighting was on April 18th. It's pretty neat to have a sightings record of various birds and then to learn that it's within days of the previous year! One bird I've been seeing a lot of lately has been the Common Grackle. I first started to notice them among large groups of Red-winged Blackbirds. They are a bit larger than the Blackbirds and have an iridescent blue head that only appears at certain angles. This evening a few were feeding on and around the flooded low areas just off the woodchip trails. One pulled a worm out of the ground just like you normally see Robins do. I saw quite a few Deer tonight though most were at long distances. For a while I stopped to watch a group of 6 in which one was acting completely goofy. It would jump up into the air, spin around, then bolt quickly in a different direction. I even witnessed it trot backwards -something I've never seen a Deer do before, and it was quite funny. Later on the south side I spotted something swimming quickly through the water. Though I captured just one quick photo, I'm quite sure it was the Mink again. He seemed way to slender and agile to be a Muskrat -especially the way he dove under the water. I sat for quite a while here and actually saw him 4 more times. At each moment when I was about to snap my shutter he would dive back under the water. I spotted him on solid ground just once and again as I went for a pic he dove back into the water.

Spring of firsts

With all the Red-winged Blackbirds around it's tough not to keep trying for better photos of them. After watching this one in the cattails, I could tell he was talking to another one closer to me. Now that I know what female Red-wings look like, I looked around and spotted my first in a tree right above me. I took some pics but they didn't turn out very well. Later on I also spotted the first painted turtle of the season in a small slough by the ball fields on the east side. Hoping I'll see some more hatchlings again this summer. When I finally got back to the parking lot there was a lot of activity going on out on the water. A combination of Canada Geese, Mallards and spawning Carp were making quite the noise and prompted me to walk up to the water's edge. The first thing that caught my eye was a Great Blue Heron, also the first I'd seen this year. But as I started snapping pics of him, a strange looking duck swimming right behind caught my eye. He was a way's out there but obviously not a Mallard as his breast was mostly white. In addition he had an almost blue looking head. I watched him for a long time and it was tough to get a shot of him without his head buried in the water. When I finally caught glimpses of him with his head out of the water I could see he had an unusually large bill. Thinking hard back to my bird book I remembered some kind of "Shoveler" duck. Indeed it was a male Northern Shoveler. They apparently eat by filtering aquatic insects and plants with their bill and in this last photo you can kind of see the water draining from his bill. Definitely another first I've seen at Palmer Lake!