Mid December Blizzard

Towards the latter part of this week the weather forecasts were predicting a major snowstorm so I thought it would be fun to visit the park. Despite 7 to 8 inches of snow I got to the park fairly easily but by the time I was about 1/4 mile in, I was having second thoughts. Strong winds were driving icy snow sideways right into my face and glasses. It was building up so fast that even the Ducks in the pond were starting to get covered up. I actually walked backwards at times where the path would cross an open field. I couldn't wait to get into the woods just to avoid the sideways snow. The first 1/3rd of the path was actually plowed but the rest wasn't. The latter 2/3rds was terrible walking and I found myself sweating under all my layers of winter clothes. Deer were not moving at all today but I did see one Pheasant early on. Later I spotted a group of 4 or 5 Cardinals eating berries up in the shrubs. I walked off the path to get closer to this female and soon found myself in snow up to my knees! Everything was so white that it was hard to tell where the trail even was at times. The snow kept on piling up as I went and showed no signs of letting up. This is about the closest to a real "Blizzard" the Twin Cities area has gotten in years and they are already comparing it to the Halloween Blizzard of 1991. When I finally got back to the parking lot, snow drifts were already creeping up the tires of my truck.

Fourth Day in a row in December

This Tuesday morning was my 4th visit to the park in as many day. It's a great start to December considering I visited only 4-6 times in previous months with a lot nicer weather. The cloud cover from the last few days had dissipated, making it even colder today. Today was December 7th (Pearl Harbor Day) and oddly enough I took only 7 photos my entire walk. I'm guessing the temps were just too low yet for much wildlife to be active. I saw no deer and barely even any birds. Interestingly one of the birds I did see was a Blue Jay, who have been eluding a good closeup from my camera lens for a long time. I settled on a long distance shot as there was no way I was going to wait around for him to get closer in these cold temps. The creek was serene today with a blue sky and blue shadows on the snow. I did stop here briefly to watch for wildlife, but again nothing was moving. It was just quiet and cold everywhere. With 4 visits now this December, maybe I can beat my 7 visits from last December. Still have not seen any Owls yet this winter but it shouldn't be long.

Hawk chasing

With a couple extra days off from work, I was planning to visit the park again this Monday morning. Today however I didn't see a single Deer and the temps were even colder than yesterday. I think it was roughly 6 or 7º above zero. As I was coming around the north side I was looking out way in front of me, generally looking upwards for the first Owl of the season. I realized how well I've come to know the park as the tree branch up ahead of me had one too many bumps on it. I quickly got out my camera to take some long range pics and realized it was the odd looking Hawk I'd seen yesterday. What made him odd looking was that his head and shoulders were mostly light colored, almost white, giving him the appearance of a Bald Eagle. I always have a hard time identifying Hawks as I think they're all so similar. According to my field guide though, a bird of this size would likely be a Red-tailed Hawk. It also says they can have a wide variety of colors ranging from dark brown to nearly all white, so maybe that explains the head. Knowing he would spook easily I walked slowly and as quietly as I could on the loud snow covered path but eventually scared him off again before getting too close.

Quiet & Cold Sunday

After taking 135 pictures yesterday, I took only 12 today -and even these 12 aren't too interesting. The park was just all around quiet today. There were still flurries in the air, adding to the already heavy branches of pine trees and any thick shrubs that caught the snow. For most of my walk it was the only thing I noticed. It definitely makes the woods seem thick again even without leaves. I did end up seeing a few deer, but all Does today. They were generally far off and I had a hard time catching one decent photo, especially as the snow started falling harder. They were already looking higher up for food versus trying to find anything beneath the 6-7 inches of snow on the ground. Later I spotted an interesting looking and very large Hawk but he would scare off anytime I got within a hundred feet.