My Big Month - Day 4

Well it was going to be hard to top yesterday's sighting now that I've confirmed what I saw was indeed a Blue-headed Vireo! The light was a lot better today so at least whatever I did see was coming out a bit better in my photos. I ended up running into a friend of mine fairly early into my walk so we walked around the rest of the way together, pointing out all the Yellow-rumped Warblers and Ruby-crowned Kinglets we saw. Together we spotted quite a few different birds and my daily total was 27 species! Some highlights of the day were a group of 5 Wild Turkeys, a White-crowned Sparrow, and the first Great Egret I've seen at the park this year! Though I took nearly a hundred pics of Yellow-rumped Warblers, my pick for today is a Palm Warbler that walked right out in front of us near the edge of the trail.

I'd seen one earlier in my walk but it was in the woods and all my photos had branches in them. When we first spotted him he was up in a tree and we just saw a flash of his yellow underside before he landed on the ground in front of us. This is only maybe my 3rd sighting of a Palm Warbler so I really wanted to make sure I was able to share a photo of one during my "Big Month" this May.

Total species seen today: Palm Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, House Finch, American Goldfinch, Wild Turkey, Winter Wren, Red-tailed Hawk, American Crow, Common Grackle, European Starling, Red-winged Blackbird, Brown-headed Cowbird, Northern Cardinal, American Tree Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, Great Egret, Sandhill Crane, Downy Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Mourning Dove, Ring-billed Gull, Tree Swallow, Mallard and American Robin.

Conditions: 46 degrees and overcast skies.

My Big Month - Day 3

Being that it is Friday I was slightly more motivated to get out birding today, though I quickly found out how truly nasty the weather was today. Unbelievably, it snowed again all morning long but didn't really accumulate except for on the grass. After noon it turned to rain which melted whatever snow had stuck to the ground or trees. So at only just 33 degrees I was dressed nearly the same as I do in January -only switching out my heavy winter coat for a rain jacket instead! To fully communicate just how foul the conditions were, I did not see a single other person during my entire walk around the park -and I was out there for a good hour and a half! Though I was definitely dressed properly, I was getting discouraged quickly as I had a hard time keeping my camera and my glasses dry and the dark overcast sky was like a bad filter on every photo I took. Gradually things got better as I went, and especially after I got to watch and photograph a Yellow-rumped Warbler up close as he preened his feathers. Actually I was quite please at the number of birds I was able to see in such crummy weather, including a tiny little Wren that I noticed hopping around through the dried up weeds. I can't say if it was a House Wren or maybe a Winter Wren. But for today's photo I'm going with the very first bird I spotted today.

Although I actually don't have it positively identified yet, I have a good suspicion what it might be and it I'm correct it would be a very first sighting of this species for me. As I watched it bounce around in the trees above me, I thought for sure it was a Magnolia Warbler. But when I got home and looked more closely at my photos I realized it was clearly not a Magnolia. I struggled quite a bit in order to get even these poor photos and they are zoomed in quite a bit. When I have a hard time identifying a particular bird, I like to make a little montage showing different angles. As I write this I've posted the same image seen here onto the flickr birdshare group and hopefully I will have a positive ID very soon. And I will be even happier if that matches what my hunch is now!

Total species seen today: Blue-headed Vireo (yeah new species for me!), Mallard, Canada Goose, Red-winged Blackbird, American Coot, Ring-necked Pheasant, American Tree Sparrow, Northern Cardinal, Common Grackle, European Starling, Blue Jay, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Wild Turkey, American Robin, Winter Wren, Ring-billed Gull, Black-capped Chickadee and Downy Woodpecker.

Conditions: 33 degrees, rain and fairly windy (crummy in other words!)

My Big Month - Day 2

On only day 2 of my "Big Month" I wasn't quite as motivated to be out hiking. My vehicle has been having problems and I wasn't even sure if it would make it to the park. In addition my chronic back problems have me worn out, and to top it off it's still just plain old COLD again. It's hard to believe that we had 2 days near 80 degrees and now we're back into the upper 30's and low 40's! It's May 2nd for god sakes and I'm still wearing flannel pants and a winter hat. At least we avoided the 15" of snow that fell only 60 miles south of the Twin Cities yesterday! What a seriously weird Spring this has been. Though I didn't make it all the way around the park today, I saw a handful of good birds just on the northeast side. Right off the bat I spotted tons of Yellow-rumped Warblers and as I watched them closely trying to get better photos, I noticed one on the ground that looked different. This one had more of an olive-yellow color plus a rusty cap and I recognized it quickly as a Palm Warbler! This is only the 2nd Warbler I've seen this year so it was quite exciting. I tried desperately to get a good photo but it was extremely tough through all the underbrush.

I did manage one or two, but for today I've decided to post something else that I really wasn't expecting to see. As I hiked in an out of the woods from the trail, I popped out and found myself staring right at a Barred Owl. He was perched right off the paved trail in plain view. It was getting a bit dark already but I snapped a few pics that turned out OK. I just couldn't resist going in closer to him and of course I scared him off pretty quickly. I followed him to another perch but the light wasn't as good and by that time he flew off again. It was a good and unexpected sighting amidst the much smaller birds I was hoping to see today.

Total species seen today: Barred Owl, Palm Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Red-winged Blackbird, American Robin, Black-capped Chickadee, Sandhill Crane, Northern Flicker, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, American Tree Sparrow, Mallard, White-breasted Nuthatch and Northern Cardinal.

Conditions: 43 degrees and partially sunny.

My Big Month - Day 1

One of my good birder friends had been telling me about this movie for some time that had something to do with birding. So in the depths of our long (long) winter, I finally got to see it and found it both funny and inspiring. "The Big Year" starring Steve Martin and Jack Black is the story of some serious birders who devote an entire calendar year to birding -and specifically to spot as many different species as possible. Believe it or not, this is something people do in real life. If you see the movie you might think the lengths they go to are embellished, but from what I know it is quite true to life. But unlike the characters in the movie, I'm not ready to quit my job and spend my life's saving's traveling all over the country. However it did give me the inspiration to do my own "Big Month!" I've made up my own rules but basically my first and foremost goal is simply to be out birding every single day during the month of May. I'm going to attempt to do this all at Palmer Lake Park -though I really can't predict where I might end up in order to be out every single day. Also, though I will try to document a total number of species for the month, I'm not necessarily out to see the most numbers I can. For me, it will be about "being out there" every day during what I would consider the most glorious month of all for birding in Minnesota. To keep things do-able, my blog posts for the next 31 days will feature only one photo. It will be my favorite photo for whatever reason strikes me that day. It might be the most interesting bird I saw, or it might just be a nice photo of a common bird.

My pick for my very first day is a returning bird I've not seen since last season -a Brown Thrasher. I actually heard it long before I saw it and the beautiful song struck me as something out of the ordinary. At first I thought it was a Gray Catbird but as I listened, I started to pick up on notes or phrases being repeated twice. This is a dead giveaway for the Brown Thrasher and I followed the sound in order to finally spot him. None of my photos turned out that great today as it was extremely overcast and dark. In fact it had been snowing most of the afternoon while I was at work, but nothing stuck to the ground thankfully. Anyway, I was most happy to see this bird today and was the highlight of my visit.

Total species seen today: Brown Thrasher, Red-winged Blackbird, American Robin, Black-capped Chickadee, American Tree Sparrow, Song Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, Canada Goose, Mallard, Wood Duck, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Brown-headed Cowbird, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, American Crow, Northern Cardinal, Common Grackle, Mourning Dove, Sandhill Crane, Bald Eagle, and One Unknown Species.

Conditions: 37 degrees and overcast with rain sprinkles.