Duck, Duck, Odd Duck!

Today was Monday and I had the day off of work. My car was in the shop however so I hadn't quite planned on getting to the park. But earlier in the afternoon, my friend Ron (a talented birder and photographer) called me to say he'd seen a Duck today at PLP that I might be interested in –a Muscovy Duck! This is a species I've never seen before, much less at the park. So I kind of paced back and forth at home for a while, hoping I might hear about my car soon. As luck would have it, they called and I nearly ran down the street (the shop is only blocks from my house) with my camera in hand. As I hastily signed the paperwork, I told the woman at the desk that I was going to go over the park and hopefully track down this odd duck to photograph it. She must've thought I was crazy - LOL! I drove over quickly to the area of the park where Ron had spotted it –in the "duck pond" on the southeast corner. But when I got on the trail I didn't see ANY ducks anywhere. I decided to walk quietly along the wood chip trail alongside the pond, hoping maybe it was huddled up with some Mallards further up. But then I heard something scurrying very near the water only feet away from me. I stopped, waited and lo and behold there it was! The duck was all by itself but it was definitely not afraid of me. Muscovy Ducks –around here anyway– are not a wild breed, but rather a domesticated duck. They are commonly raised on farms and are only 1 of 2 ducks that have been domesticated, the other being the Mallard. The photos I've seen before of this species have shown the bird to have quite large and ugly folds of skin around the head and bill much like a Wild Turkey. But this bird didn't have that and was actually quite beautiful. He eventually made his way back into the water and seemed to "befriend" a pair of Northern Shovelers that were also here in the pond. He dwarfed the Shovelers, appearing to be almost a full 2x their size. I hadn't quite realized how big he was until then and again later when some other Mallards came near. He seemed content to hang around the banks of the pond, drinking some water by scooping it up and tilting his head back. Here I got great views of his colorful blue back side. I have no idea what might have brought this duck to PLP. Had it escaped from a farm? Was it possibly released here by someone who no longer wanted him? He certainly did seem to be the odd duck out though as he continued to approach other Mallards only to have them quickly move away from him. Later at home I read up some on the Muscovy Duck. Apparently they can be seen at the MN State Fair but that is one place I typically try to avoid.

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.

A Somewhat Un-birdy Day

I visited the park today around 12:15 in the afternoon. I had been out of town yesterday visiting some MN State Parks in the Alexandria area. In all the hiking I did on Saturday I saw very few birds so I was anxious to get to PLP and hopefully see some more. But much like the larger State Parks, today was very slow for birdwatching. In fact I think I had only seen about 10 birds –not 10 species– but 10 birds total by the time I was 4/5ths of the way around. Then finally near Shingle Creek on the south side I spotted a bit of movement. There were 2 Eastern Phoebes skimming the water here in search of insects. I had many opportunities to photograph them as this particular species is just not very skittish of people at all. Phoebes are known for constantly flicking their tail and also for "hawking" for insects, meaning they will often fly out from their perch after an insect and then land in the exact same spot again. One more reason they are easier to photograph than many other birds. Just a few minutes earlier I had spotted a group of about 40-50 Coots out in the lake near here. They are the first Coots I've seen at the park this fall but they were a little too far away for any good photos. But while sitting on the banks of the creek watching the Phoebes, one lone coot came swimming down the creek nearly in front of me. I took advantage before he scared off and at this close distance I could see his red colored eyes. I was hoping others might come in towards me too but for some reason it was just the one. Eventually he turned around and headed back out towards his group. Also here I spotted a Pied-billed Grebe, another FOF (first of fall) for the park. He too quickly headed out into the larger area of the lake. Other sightings for the day included; American Robin, Song Sparrow, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Mallard, Wood Duck, Ring-billed Gull and one single Yellow-rumped Warbler. Near the end of my walk I noticed that the miniature Maple Tree on the east side was in nearly full fall color. There is NOT a lot of colorful foliage to be seen at Palmer Lake Park in the fall, but this particular tree turns a brilliant red every year about this time. I recently had a friend tell me that this tree was a Maple variety from China. I have a hard time remembering but I'm fairly certain he said it was an "Amur Maple" synonymous with the Amur River in China. Reading a bit about it now led me to the MN DNR's website that lists it under their "invasive species" section! I guess I shouldn't be too shocked as I've been coming to realize just how many non-native and other invasives are present within this park.

Still Some Good Birds!

It was warm this Sunday in early October but I did not make it to the park until late afternoon around 4:30pm. Daylight runs out quick these days so I knew I only had a limited time to find some birds today. I started out by hiking across the field just east of the creek on the north side. It is still full of tall grass but most of it is laying down now making it a little easier to see. Here and there I was scaring up sparrows and they would fly to the next withering bush just out of range. But finally I caught up with a small group of them and began taking photos. I could tell right away that they weren't "common" sparrows like maybe a Song or White-throated Sparrow. These showed more rusty-red coloring on their wings which is usually indicative of a Swamp Sparrow. I had to get clarification on this photo to be sure but indeed it IS a Swamp Sparrow! I only just learned this species earlier this spring so I was happy to see one again and even happier to get a decent photo! I kept creeping through the grass which led me to the edge of the woods on the other side of the field. Here I found kind of a neat area that I've only maybe walked through one other time. It is an interesting part of the park with a bit of diverse habitat. Here I started to see other birds flying about and I quickly picked up on one that I've been trying to find again since last week –a Swainson's Thrush. By this time the evening sun was casting an warm, orange glow on everything which to me is ideal light for photographs. I tried and tried and tried to get close to the Thrush but he would quickly move further away from me each time, so I had to settle on this photo which is quite cropped. I didn't actually see his backside or tail which is the best way to differentiate the various species of Thrush. I can't be 100% but since my good birder friend pointed out a Swainson's Thrush to me only yesterday, odds are best that this is also a Swainson's. In this same area I was seeing some even smaller birds flitting about, some moving quickly which would usually indicate a Warbler. Indeed, I spotted a Yellow-rumped Warbler and then suddenly a flash of bright yellow appeared. This was too bright for a Kinglet so it also had to be some kind of Warbler. To my surprise it was a Nashville Warbler as indicated by it's gray "hood" and sharp white eye-ring. I think I saw more Nahsville's this year in the park than in all previous years. But I think my identification skills are getting better too. Or at least I hope they are! Regardless, this was one pretty bird to see yet nearly one week into the month of October.

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.

Golden-crowned Kinglets!

Just 10 days earlier, I happened upon a little bird that I'd never seen before. This was at Hillside Cemetery in Northeast Minneapolis over my lunch break. It was a very tiny bird that moved incredibly quickly and often but it didn't look like anything I'd ever seen. It had a mostly white breast but I was catching glimpses of bright yellow on it's head. I assumed it was a Warbler of some kind. After several dozens of shots that came up with an empty branch, I began thinking to myself "what is the only other bird I know that moves this quickly?" A Ruby-crowned Kinglet was my answer. Then it hit me –there was another type of Kinglet! I looked him up on my phone right then and there and realized I was seeing a Golden-crowned Kinglet! I was so excited to have stumbled upon something new but my photos weren't too great. I even went back to the cemetery that evening after work, attempting to locate them again but no such luck. I never considered that I might see them at PLP but today I did. And even more exciting was that I ran into them several times today in different parts of the park! In the end I was able to get at least 2 post-able shots to share here, but this was 2 out of probably 50 shots I took. In the very brief instances that I've been able to see this new bird, I've decided that one clue you could go by to identify one is that they almost appear to have no neck. Their head seems to be almost part of their round little body, giving them a "chubby" appearance much more than any other bird I know. I've also learned that while both male and female have a bright yellow crown atop the head, only the male has an additional tiny little orange-red patch at the back of his crown, making his crown appear more of a rich orange all around. I was able to see that in at least 2 of the birds I saw today and you can just barely make it out in my first photo here. I was quite excited to get to see this bird for only the 2nd time ever –and especially excited to see it at PLP!
One more bird that is coming through now with the change in weather, is the Fox Sparrow. I became familiar with these only over the last couple of years but now I can pick them out easier than before. First and foremost they are noticeably larger than other sparrows. And since they often are among other Sparrow species, you can see the difference in size quite easily. They are also often colored a rich, rusty red, contrasting a lot against their bright white but speckled breast. This one was posing in the bright sun for me, making him appear even more distinctive than I would have previously thought. I've not heard this bird make too many sounds but upon looking it up I found they have quite a unique and beautiful voice. As I neared my vehicle back on the east side I caught a quick glimpse of a small bird land in some weeds just below me. I got off just one shot before he flew away and I ended up getting a pretty neat shot of a Song Sparrow. Though I definitely notice the return of Song Sparrows in the early spring, I've not paid particularly close attention to when they might leave. After just looking now at their range map, it seems both their summer and winter territory almost converge in southern Minnesota.

The Birds of October

It was an absolutely gorgeous day this Saturday to be hiking around the park. Despite our days starting off quite cold in the morning, the temperature today made it up into the 50's. I saw a good amount of interesting birds today and some that didn't make this post were: Northern Cardinal, Dark-eyed Junco, Song Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow and Fox Sparrow. The first bird of interest I was able to capture however was a Gadwall swimming among the other Mallards in the "Duck Pond" on the southwest corner. I believe this is the first and only time I've seen one here in the fall versus the spring. And furthermore, something makes me think that this might actually be the very same duck I saw earlier this spring. Again it was just one male Gadwall with the Mallards and in the exact same place as in March of this year. As I hiked up the wood chip trail on the west side I spotted a Downy Woodpecker busily carving out a hole in a dead limb right at eye-level. I normally wont go out of my way to photograph Downy's or Hairy's but I'll never pass on any bird that is so close. But even at this distance it can be hard to catch a Woodpecker without their head in motion. This was a female Downy as indicated by a lack of red feathers at the top, back of the head. I tried to only snap pictures during the brief moments she paused her steady pounding into the tree. Later on the north end of the park I ran into two other bird-watching friends of mine and I ended up heading back the way I came in order to walk with them. They told me that they'd spotted the Northern Shrike returned to the park just some days earlier –which would be approximately within the same week that I'd first spotted one last year, October 27th 2012! I thought that was pretty neat. Unfortunately I didn't see a Shrike this day but we did spot a Hermit Thrush within photographic range. I see Hermit Thrushes quite often in the spring, about the time when there are only small patches of snow left on the ground. I'm still trying to learn the difference between a Hermit Thrush and Swainson's Thrush which look very similar. I believe one indication is that a Hermit might bob it's tail while the Swainson's does not. I'm not 100% on that though. Three more fairly similar looking birds, the Wood Thrush, Gray-cheeked Thrush and Veery, can also be found in our area but I'm afraid I'm not quite experienced enough yet to quickly tell them apart in the field. An interesting fact; all Bluebirds and your common everyday American Robin are both part of the "Thrush" family!

A Much Overdue Walk

Somehow most of October has passed by without many visits to Palmer Lake Park. Now with the daylight hours dwindling so rapidly, it's nearly impossible to fit in a full walk (all the way around) after work. And it's ever harder to get decent photographs with such low light. So my visits are narrowing down to weekends only and after being out of town last weekend, I was itching to get back to PLP. This afternoon I hiked around the park with someone whom I first met while at the park. I remember the first thing she ever said to me –"that's a Yellow-rumped Warbler"– as I spied on one through my binoculars while standing on the bridge over Shingle Creek. I immediately liked her and found that we not only shared an interest in birds but in Palmer Lake Park as well. She has quite a passion for the environment and is also one of the most knowledgeable people I've ever met in regards to plants. I don't know if she realizes how much her friendship has inspired me to learn more about nature. And had we not met, I really doubt that Friends of Palmer Lake Park would have ever been founded.

Some More Rain for October

The on-again-off-again rainy weather we had yesterday decided to continue again today. Now that I've upgraded to such a larger camera, this type of weather makes it harder than any other to hike around the park taking photos. I've seriously thought about buying some kind of weather protection for my camera but I've procrastinated about it and instead carry a selection of large plastic bags with me instead. When I was on the south side overlooking the lake I could really see a swath of rain moving over the park and tried to capture it in a photo here. Things are still pretty green everywhere in the park but the cattails are showing just a tinge of rust coloring now that it's October. I saw a handful of interesting birds, of which most I didn't get a good photo of. These included a Least Flycatcher, House Wren, and a pair of mottled birds weaving through the grass that I'm pretty sure were two female Pheasants. There's also a few new mushrooms popping up here and there and though I really don't know any of them by name, they can still be fun to photograph. I've recently heard someone refer to these at "Tree Mushrooms" but I'm sure they have another name. I never realized until a few years ago that mushrooms that look the same as you find on the ground will grow right out the side of a tree. Now I see them quite frequently. Almost always they are growing out of a hole where a dead branch broke out, making me think that the spores are simply finding a good place to settle and grow. Later near the end of my walk I spotted one more bird that I tried to photograph but was moving quickly. I'm pretty sure this was a Nashville Warbler, of which I've only seen just once or twice at the park. So despite the less than favorable photo, I'm posting here anyway just because I have so few pics of this Warbler.

A Rainy First Week of October

Well today is Saturday and it's been raining almost continuously since Thursday evening. And when it's not raining, it looks like it might start again at any moment. So when I arrived at the park this morning I had my rain jacket on just in case. It was quite overcast and dreary but at the time I didn't realize it would be the nicest part of the day! I was pleasantly surprised to see so many birds today and I had a few close encounters that resulted in some neat photos. Some of the more memorable sights of the day included Ruby-Crowned Kinglet, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Hairy Woodpecker, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Pileated Woodpecker, Song Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, Tree Sparrow, Eastern Phoebe, Northern Cardinal, House Wren, Common Yellowthroat, Eastern Bluebird, and an Ovenbird! I was bummed that I didn't get any photos of the Ovenbird worth posting here, though I sat and waited patiently for quite a while hoping to see him again. It is only maybe the 2nd time I've seen one in the fall as opposed to in the spring. I had no problem getting this first bird here, a House Wren. There were a pair of them together in a shrub with little to no leaves. When I went in closer to see them they seemed to become interested in me and came right out to the edges in plain sight. I've had similar instances with Wrens and I'm realizing that they must be one of the most curious of all birds I've encountered. There were other small birds in the very same shrub and a flash of yellow caught my eye only seconds after snapping the Wren photo. Here was a Common Yellowthroat also very close and unobstructed and I was lucky enough to catch just this one shot. It is un-mistakenly a male as indicated by the black mask, but both his black mask and white stripe above it are faded considerably. I've not had an opportunity to see one this closely so late in the season before so that was kind of a treat. My favorite sighting of the day however was still to come and I barely noticed it just 30 seconds before I had decided to get back in my vehicle. On the east side right near the parking lot I spotted a flash of bright blue on the ground and noticed not one but two brightly colored male Bluebirds! They were drinking from a small puddle that collected in a low spot from all of our recent rain. I decided to sit down on the ground but of course I scared them off quickly. But they didn't go far, only straight up into the trees above me. After sitting here for only just a few moments I became aware of just how many Bluebirds –and other sparrows– that were taking a liking to this area. I bet there were at least 6 male Bluebirds around. I didn't notice any females but I'm guessing they were also around somewhere. As I watched the little puddle in front of me, another larger puddle off to my left became the new gathering place. Both Tree Sparrows and Bluebirds would wade in and take a bath, shaking vigorously and splashing everywhere. It was quite fun to watch as I've never seen a Bluebird bathing before. I took lots of photos on continuous mode hoping to catch a neat splashing shot. I did get some but there was more splash than bird in most of the photos. It was one of my favorite Bluebird encounters to date!

Last Visit for October 2012

It was a bit of a greyish fall day today and the park was pretty quiet. One of the first things I took a photo of was a car parked in the south parking lot that seemed a bit suspicious. It seemed like maybe they were dumping garbage out as they were parked in the very end spot near the woods while there were no other cars in the lot –and I noticed some freshly dumped garbage very near there. I hung around a bit hoping to catch them in the act but never did. Instead I blatantly stood behind their car and took photos of their license plate hoping to scare them off but they never did move. After I moved on I saw only a handful of birds including a Downy Woodpecker, White-throated Sparrow, Goldfinch, Chickadee and Dark-eyed Junco. The Golfinches have now lost their brilliant yellow plumage from summertime, really hitting home that there's not too much left of this fall season.

Cold Saturday and First Shrike

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

A Beautiful Fall Day

It was another gorgeous Fall day this morning at the park. I arrived early around 8am but kept it a quick walk and took just 21 photos by the time I was done. Unlike the northern part of our state, there are still some leaves hanging on here. I'm not quite so good with trees but I think these were Poplar (?) on the northwest side that were so brilliant against the blue sky today. The first bird of note that I spotted this morning was a White-throated Sparrow. I'd not seen one since early October and this time I was able to get just a little closer -though my view was still a bit obstructed as they like to sit "inside" the trees. Later I saw a Red-bellied Woodpecker and also a few Mallards in Shingle Creek. But near the end of my walk I spotted a Ruby-crowned Kinglet and this may indeed be the last one I see this year considering how November is coming up quick. I couldn't tell for sure but it seems it was another female as I never saw any hint of a red crown atop it's head. 

Last Birds to Leave?

Today was Monday and I'd just gotten back in town from a nice long vacation along the north shore of Lake Superior. Despite hiking nearly 7 miles a day for the past 3 days in a row, I got out to the park today and spent quite a long time watching the birds and other wildlife. The weather here in the Twin Cities metro area was SO much warmer -and sunnier- than in the northern part of the state so I guess I just couldn't pass it up. It's been getting harder and harder to spot the familiar birds of summer. Even the Red-winged Blackbirds have been silent for some time now and I was surprised to see this one as I'd thought they'd all left already. I'd never quite seen a RWB with this type of coloring before. Most noticeably his bright red shoulder patch was quite drab and most of his head was actually quite brown instead of black. Also, the tips of almost all of his feathers showed a similar brown edging. I don't think I've seen one Cedar Waxwing in all of October this year until today. I first spotted him in a Buckthorn tree among all it's still green foliage, but he flew out into the open a short time later. Because of the angle of being more underneath him I couldn't get a look at his wings to see if he had the red tips to tell me if he was at least 2 years old or not. I later ran into another bird I've seen quite a bit of this month - a Yellow-rumped Warbler. Again I found myself underneath it which doesn't make for the best photo but at least I could positively identify it. I'm not quite sure whether all of the Yellow-rumps I've seen this fall have been male or female but based on all of my guides, everyone of them better fits the photos and descriptions of a female. Why this is I'm not quite sure but I've not spotted one this fall with a darker and more distinct pattern of a male. In hindsight this would be the last day I would see a Yellow-rumped Warbler at the park this year. I was lucky enough to spot one interesting bird today that I often think of as a Warbler though it technically is not. The Ruby-crowned Kinglets have been very active all this Autumn and for the first time I've started to notice them in many other locations besides Palmer Lake Park. This can be an awfully hard bird to catch standing still but I'm always hoping to get a photo of the small red patch on the top of the head for which they are named. Unfortunately only the males have this ruby crown and although I'm quite happy with how this photo turned out, I was a little disappointed to not see that bright red patch atop this inquisitive looking face staring directly at me!

Another Good Day of Birding

Well this Sunday ended up to be a lot warmer, though when I arrived at the park it was only 30 degrees! This time I was a bit more prepared with gloves and warmer clothes but the sun that was mostly hidden yesterday was out in full force to help things out. Upon arriving at the park I ran into a fellow friend and birder who gave me a tip on where I might catch a glimpse of the supposed Sora that had been reported in the park. He actually had photos of it to show me and after I explained my brief encounter with it yesterday, we determined that I must have seen something else such as a Woodcock or Snipe -but not a Sora. So after much talk about a lot of birds, I found myself nosing around the purported area. Sure enough it was right where my friend said it would be and I quickly realized that indeed this was NOT what I'd seen yesterday! At first it was standing upright in the water facing me, but not exactly the way I would have expected. It's posture was more of with a bent leg -though I'm not sure if this is typical or not. Regardless, it was quite a colorful bird with grey and brown streaking across the head, a distinctly sharp mottled back side and bright yellow bill that more resembled a chicken than anything else. It stayed very closely in and around the cattails but once or twice appeared to swim -though it's possible it was just standing in deeper water. It appeared to be eating the Duckweed off the surface of the water. It was quite an interesting sighting for me and I've read that they are one of those species that are rarely seen versus heard. Again I saw and heard more White-throated Sparrows today but I also spotted a slightly larger looking sparrow that caught my attention. I've only seen a Fox Sparrow just once before but I was lucky enough to see it so closely the first time that I was able to recognize it again the second time. They look a lot like other Sparrows, only their head is mostly solid grey versus patterned like the rest of their body. They're also noticeably larger than say a Song Sparrow or Tree Sparrow. The last bird pictured here is a Yellow-rumped Warbler; something I've been seeing a lot of lately. You might wonder "where is the yellow rump?" and the answer is that it's actually on the top side, not the bottom and is hidden in this particular view from below. I've seen so many of these recently -not all at Palmer Lake Park- but enough to recognized that they are females in "fall plumage." The size, faint hint of a yellow shoulder and the distinct wing bars still give it away even without seeing the yellow rump from behind or above.

A Little Snow and Some Fantastic Birding!

Yes, the Palmer Lake Park Nature Blog is still alive -despite having not posted anything in over a month! Believe me, my desktop is cluttered with great photos from late summer and fall but I've just not had enough time to post them. Being out in nature, shooting photos and learning more birds continues to be the thing I enjoy most, but lately I've been focused more on improving -or "coping" maybe is the right word, with some other parts of my life that I certainly don't enjoy nearly as much. I've not been getting to the park quite as regularly as I'd like, but again, I do intend to go back and post a lot of stuff I've seen over the past month. So if you are a geek about birds in our area, you may want to look back every so often. When I got to the park today I could hear White-throated Sparrows singing all over. These are honestly one of the easiest to remember of all bird songs, once you've heard it once or twice. It's also one of the few that I can imitate to any resemblance of the real thing and I soon found them responding to me and coming in closer. They were everywhere today and not a bird I see all that often at the park. I was really not prepared for how cold it was today. We've undergone a HUGE shift in weather recently. Roughly 3-4 days ago, we'd hit 80º and then today it was nearly like winter and only in the upper 30's! I'd not even brought gloves today and just figured I'd "tough-it-out." Boy was I toughing it out alright. After stopping to talk to a fellow birder friend for a while, I could no longer even feel my hands. But things picked up as I walked along with my hands in my pockets and started seeing one great bird after another. Coming around the corner I spotted a large group of sparrows feeding on the ground up ahead but before proceeding I decided to spot them quick with my binoculars first. There was one bird in the group that clearly did not belong with the others and at first I thought it was a young Robin. Then it as it moved around and kept sticking it's tail high up in the air I realized it was a Towhee! This is only the 2nd Towhee I've ever seen, and the first I've ever seen at Palmer Lake Park! I was too far away for a photo, especially as it was digging in the tall grass up ahead but I approached as closely as I could before it scared up and into a neighboring tree. I tried desperately for a pic as it bounced around quickly and unfortunately this is the best I got. I can see why they're easy to mix up with Robins as the orange color is a perfect match, only there's a very definite line where the orange sides meet the white breast. Next I saw 2 little birds that also didn't seem all that familiar to me as they hopped along the edge of the paved trail ahead of me. They would pick at the edge of the grass, periodically wander off into the grass, and then back onto the trail. I wondered if maybe they were Common Yellowthroats but they seemed a little too large. They were definitely too big for Ruby-crowned Kinglets. I got as close as I could without scaring them off and snapped this photo of the one. I'm not an expert by any means on Warblers, but I'm thinking they were possibly Palm Warblers! Per my field guide it looks a lot like a "Western Palm" in fall plumage. Shortly later I spotted a Brown Creeper. This is only the 2nd Brown Creeper I've seen as well -and the first one was also in the park. He was making his way up a tree and I hurriedly snapped photo after photo before he got up too high. They are the "chubbiest" looking birds, resembling a ball more than the typical shape of a bird. I got to see him actually turn his head and poke his bill into the bark of the tree which made him look slightly more like a regular bird -almost like a nuthatch or woodpecker. Then after this I spotted a first for me anywhere -and quite an exciting species I thought! There was a little bird hopping through all the fallen leaves on the northeast side of the park -more where some of the bigger and older trees are, like the large cottonwoods. When I first spotted the bird I noticed how distinctively "olive green" it was and thought -ooh, this is interesting. I tried my best to follow it as it hopped along through the underbrush and when it would come into view I could also see a distinct white eye-ring as well as a very well defined white white breast with dark spotting or striping. For some reason I knew right off the bat what this bird was -as I must have paged past it numerous times in my field guide to Warblers by Stokes. Indeed it was an Ovenbird! I even saw hints of the yellowish-orange crown on it's head whenever it decided to head directly away from me. This was by far my favorite sighting of the day -even though earlier I'd actually caught a glimpse of a supposed Sora in the area that others had been reporting. I only saw the Sora for a split second though and I got to watch the Ovenbird for quite some time. Still later on the east side as I was coming out of the woods, a group of 6 to 8 Dark-eyed Junco's were ahead on the paved trail. I've seen Juncos already this year about a week ago at a cemetery near my workplace that I've also started birding in. I was shocked to see them last week as it feels so early for Juncos. I think of them as a mid-winter bird that I see in January or February. But I guess with the season changing so quickly they are probably on time. After all, there was actually little snowflakes -or snow pellets- in the air today! OK, I know this is a long post but I saw one more bird of interest today that I was thrilled to see. As I was coming back to my vehicle on the east side of the park, there right in front of me were 2 Bluebirds perched on one of the recently planted pine trees. One was actually right on the very top of the tree and I thought this would make a fantastic photo. As I approached slowly, he took off but landed right back where he was in just a few seconds. I kept getting closer as I took my shots and then even a House Finch came in an landed right below the Bluebird. I got a photo of this too but am posting this one after which I'd gotten a lot closer. I've not seen a Bluebird at Palmer Lake Park for quite some time now, -maybe months. I'm thinking that possibly this bird and many of the birds I saw today were making their way south. In learning so many birds over the past year or so, I've really begun to appreciate both Spring and Fall for the migration periods and the interesting birds you might not see any other time of the year here in Minnesota.