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.

Warmer Saturday

This Saturday morning I didn't get to the park until almost 11:30 and walked with a friend. I did bring my camera but knew I wouldn't be paying as much attention to birds or other "sights" as I typically do when I'm by myself. I think it was quite a slow day anyway and there just wasn't much to be seen. It was relatively warmer today, in the upper 30's and sunny enough that I almost wore my baseball cap. On the north side we did spot a Red-tailed Hawk that we bumped as soon as I rasied my camera. It flew to another tree further back so I didn't get quite as good a shot. After talking with a fellow birder who has much more experience, it sounds like this one might be an immature Red-tailed.

First Sunday in December and Nothing to See

I arrived at the park this Sunday; the first one in December, just before 10am. It was kind of a humid day and everything was wet, though there's currently NO trace of snow on the ground. Today was one of those completely uneventful walks with just nothing of interest to see. I found myself taking photos of wet Oak leaves and other scenery just because there was nothing else. Finally I did spot a few birds -common ones such as Nuthatches and this Tree Sparrow. Later as I was coming back to my vehicle on the east side I was noticing how badly the Deer have scraped up this newly planted tree along the boulevard. I think this was put in last year after the new curbing was installed along Penn Avenue. You can see the tree behind it had some rabbit wire wrapped around for protection but I'm not sure if this one ever got that, or if maybe the Deer just ripped it right off. Even the one with the wire has some damage to it from Bucks scraping their antlers, but this one is scraped all the way around! As I was looking at it, two women walked up and asked if it was from Deer to which I replied "yes" but that it looks as though a person had also grabbed a piece of loose bark and yanked it upwards as far as it would go before breaking off. Sadly I don't think this tree will make it when spring time comes around next year.