Another Slow Day in January

It's this time of year that walking around the park can be not only challenging but a little on the boring side –at least for birdwatching that is. But don't get me wrong, I'd take a stroll in the park any day over a day at the office! It's just a bit frustrating when the birds and other wildlife are so few and far between. One bird I photograph and was quite pleased to see was this Cedar Waxwing on the south side of the park. He or she (the males and females look the same) were picking the last remaining berries from a Buckthorn Tree. I've not seen a Cedar Waxwing in quite some time and it was a nice change from the Chickadees and Downy Woodpeckers that make up about 75% of all the birds I see this time of year. There was just one other item that I found interesting on this late January day, but was not a bird.

I noticed that the Pussy Willows were already sprouting their soft fuzzy "catkins!" I've also noticed these coming out much later like March or April so I would have never thought they could be out this early. I would doubt they sprout many times but I wonder if it's possible. Something else I will have to look into.

Not Quite Warmed Up Yet

This Saturday morning I was expecting our temps to be a little better than they've been lately. Unfortunately it was still -4º in the early morning and had only warmed up to 6º above by the time I arrived at the park. When I parked on the west side I immediately spotted a Red-tailed Hawk before I even got out of my vehicle. I took a few pics of him after rolling down my window but of course I tried to get closer afterwards. Red-tails to me are much easier to bump than other Hawks. It seems that once they realize you are looking at them they immediately fly off which is why I have so many photos just like this! Shortly after this I spotted another Red-tailed just down the path but it too flew off the minute I looked at him through my binoculars. On the south west side a bird suddenly flew into view atop a tree inside the patch and began flicking it's tail. I seemed rather large and at first I couldn't figure out what it was. When it turned it's back to me is when I realized it was a Northern Shrike who was carrying a mouse! When it first landed it looked like the mouse was part of the bird's head thus making it's head look unusually large. This is now the 4th time I've seen a Shrike with a catch -all 4 times a rodent of some kind but I'm guessing a mouse. They must be easy picking this time of year for the Shrikes. Later I spotted a Shrike again and I'm not sure if it was the same one but it was singing like crazy. They make some pretty beautiful sounds for such a carnivorous bird. I ended up taking a video and capturing the sound and have posted it to my flickr page here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/59831440@N04/ Later I saw quite a few bright red male Cardinals, Downy Woodpeckers and lots of Chickadees. Oh and for the first time this season, I couldn't locate "Waldo" the Wood Duck over on the southwest side with the Mallards.

January 20th

I took all of 10 photos total on my walk around the park today. There just wasn't much to be seen. Only saw a handful of birds including a mature Bald Eagle flying high overhead, a couple of Robins and this House Finch. There were also ice crystals in the sky making a bit of a rainbow effect against the clouds as the sun already began to lower in the sky.

Pre-arctic Blast

This Saturday I got to the park around 9am with a friend of mine who also wanted to get outside before predicted shift in weather hits. We are due for a blast of arctic air coming down from the north that is supposed make our temps plummet into the single digits or below. To our surprise, Waldo the Wood Duck was still hanging out with the other Mallards on the south west side. In fact he was sitting up on the snow bank by himself. I wonder how he'll fare when the temps drop. A short time later as we were walking up the west side of the park we could see some other hikers looking and pointing towards the middle. We then noticed some movement and spotted at least 5 or more Deer. Others appeared quickly and before our eyes more and more began to group underneath a thick patch of Buckthorn trees. It was hard to count them all but we think there were around 15 or so. This is the largest group of Deer I've seen in quite a while and we wondered if they were "herding" in regards to the pending shift in weather. The group worked it's way southward and eventually into the cattails. We didn't see a whole lot else save for one Red-bellied Woodpecker near the end of our hike.