One Extra Day

Today was Monday and the 4th of July so I had an extra day to visit the park. Today also marked a special occasion because my hike was with a fellow nature lover -someone whom I'd actually met at the park itself. Paul is amazingly knowledgeable in all kinds of aspects when it comes to nature and wildlife. I thought birding was quite a challenge until Paul was showing me how to identify Dragonflies and Damselflies. We tried catching a few with a net and I snapped a quick photo of this one as he was holding it. This is the same bright blue one I've been so fascinated with and previously referred to as a "Dragonfly." I now know it is in fact a "Damselfly" because it holds its wings parallel with it's body when at rest. I believe it's name is a Common Blue Damselfly. I also learned to spot a male and female "12-spot" Dragonfly. Later while near the south west side of the park a Hawk swooped overhead and perched close by. It moved a short time later to another tree but stayed in close proximity. We had a few good glimpses and could tell pretty quickly that it was a Coopers Hawk. I always think their back side had almost a blue-ish color and this was definitely the case. As we stood there watching it we were thinking it's behavior was rather territorial. Then we looked almost straight up to realize we were directly underneath a large nest. Furthermore there was a Chick visible in the nest! Paul said he saw some movement indicating another one but it must have been further down inside the nest. This was quite a sight as I've never really seen a young raptor before. Their eyes and beak look almost way too big for their head. Paul and I also had lots of fun watching the Osprey who where back again today. In fact, we spotted three of them together! In addition I think we may have found their favorite place to perch and eat the fish they are pulling out of the lake.

Great Day of Birding

It was another warm day this Sunday but I got a slightly earlier start than yesterday. Even so I was eager to head into the cover of trees on the southwestern wood chip trail. About half way up the trail I spotted a large Hawk perched and facing directly towards me. From this vantage point I couldn't see it's tail or backside and it was also hard to tell the coloring as I was looking into the sun. Interestingly it was sitting on one leg with the other tucked in towards it's breast. Based on it's size and what little I could see, I would guess that it's a Red-tailed Hawk. It's head and beak looked too large for a Cooper's Hawk. He quickly flew off before I could definitively ID him although I still struggle with Hawks in general. As I made my way around I was able to positively ID a fairly long list of other birds including a Cedar Waxwing, Downy Woodpecker, Brown-headed Cowbird, Yellow Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Song Sparrow, Crow, Common Grackle, Northern Flicker, Cardinal, Great Egret, Great Blue Heron, Osprey and even a Blue Jay. The best bird sighting of the day however was the first Hummingbird of the season. On top of that it was smack dab in the place where I've been expecting one to be. I've been scanning the tops of these 4 or 5 dead trees on the northeast side for weeks hoping to see one and finally got lucky today. I got off one shot and as I was taking the 2nd, I could see him take off already. Luckily the camera went off not a moment too soon. Hopefully I will start to see them more often now. Another slightly interesting sighting was at the end of my walk right before I was about to head to my vehicle. This bird had a slightly larger and fuzzier head than most which is what caught my eye. It perched on a small branch and then would dart out for just a second before returning. I'm assuming it was catching insects and this behavior matches up with the description for an Eastern Phoebe.

First Saturday in July

Summer is in full swing now and our temps have easily been reaching highs of 80 to 90º. It's something I just don't feel very used to anymore especially after our long winter and slow, drawn-out spring. It would have been better to arrive earlier in the day to avoid the heat but unfortunately I got a late start around 11:30 today. There wasn't much of interest until I'd gone more than half way around the park. On the east side I glanced up and noticed this Great Egret in a dead tree above a little pond. Maybe the warm weather will start to attract some more of them as their numbers seem to be down in comparison to previous years. In this very same area, I noticed an odd looking bird on the ground in the grass with his head cocked towards the sky. It wasn't easily recognizable so I looked closer and grabbed a few pictures. He kept his head at this funny angle for quite a while before taking off. I only noticed after I got home that there were markings on his head that very much reminded me of an American Kestral. Could it have been a young one possibly? It is my best guess at this point. Almost the entire way around I'd been catching periodic glimpses of what I'd suspected was an Osprey. It was circling around the park over the water and when it finally perched in a tall, dead tree I was able to confirm with my binoculars. When I got to the railroad ties overlooking the water, he was just overhead and I got to see him quite close up. This was the first positive ID I'd made of an Osprey at the park, although others have told me they've seen them before. They are quite fun to watch as they will hover for a few seconds before diving straight down into the water to grab a fish. My camera is not really meant to be capturing birds in flight but I tried anyway. That is the reason this photo is cropped so strangely.

Quiet Sunday

This Sunday morning I arrived at the park just after 8:00am and it was noticeably quieter than usual. I think a lot of people are out of town on vacation or something because I nearly had the park to myself. Something I find myself doing often after visiting the same park time-after-time, is to find myself in a particular place and remembering a previous encounter with wildlife. While rounding the southwestern corner of the park I paused to look at spot where I'd seen a Coyote sitting in winter, staring out across the middle of the park. The landscape had changed so drastically since then. I didn't see as many birds as yesterday although I did spot a few Goldfinches and a big male Flicker in the tall grass of the baseball fields. After walking up the wood chip trail along the creek on the south side, I quickly spotted a Mink swimming across the water towards a thicket of trees. I'm not sure how to describe the difference between a Mink and a Muskrat when they swim -but I would say that a Mink looks a lot longer and holds it's head almost completely above water. I'm glad to know they are still in the area -maybe they will help clean out some of the Carp in Shingle Creek. While in the same area by the water overlook, I took some time to clean up a bunch of garbage left by people fishing from the railroad ties. I really don't get people who bring in all kinds of stuff -cans, bottles, plastic wrappers and bags, proceed to fish for a while, then just up and leave without a care in the world about cleaning up the mess they just made. What a bunch of idiots. It's a whole 10 minute walk back to the parking lot where there are 3-4 garbage cans, yet they'll leave empty plastic bags and even tangled up fishing line just feet from the edge of the water. After picking up all this crap, I noticed a fairly large, winged insect and decided to grab a photo as it was kind of unusual. It reminded me of some much larger "water-bugs" I've seen in the past along Minnesota riverbanks. When I came back to the parking lot, I'd just gotten in my vehicle when I noticed a Chipmunk crawling around in the trees and bushes near my parking space. Though Chipmunks are so common, it was the first time I'd seen one at the park so I rolled down my window and took this photo from inside my truck. Another mammal to add to my list!