My Big Month - Day 12

Today was a beautiful day, a little warmer and a lot less windy than yesterday. After seeing so many beautiful Warblers yesterday I wasn't sure what to expect today. I thought just maybe I'd catch a glimpse of either the Chestnut or Magnolia Warblers again but I never saw either of them. It's possible that they've moved on already or maybe they've just taken to the trees instead of the ground to find food. I did end up seeing a good variety of birds though regardless of two less Warblers. In fact I spotted 2 other birds today that I rarely see at the park. The first was the pair of Sandhill Cranes who were walking out in a field on the northeast side. I caught a halfway decent photo of one that I'll put on my flickr page later. The other unusual bird I saw was (a pair again) of Turkey Vultures soaring overhead just a short time later. These birds are probably just as large or larger than Sandhill Cranes when they're flying so it was unique to see two of the largest birds I know of when I was out in search of the smaller Warblers. My choice of photo to post today is not a Warbler at all but a White-crowned Sparrow.

I've seen only a handful of them at the park before and until today have never had such a good opportunity to photograph one. I'd thought I'd caught a glimpse of it's distinct black and white striped crown poking around in a pile of dead branches and so I patiently waited for it to come out and pose for me. I just read in my Birds of Minnesota Field Guide from Stan Tekiela that this particular Sparrow does NOT nest anywhere in Minnesota and is only a migratory visitor.

Total species seen today: White-crowned Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, Song Sparrow, House Sparrow, Baltimore Oriole, Mourning Dove, Black-and-White Warbler, Palm Warbler, Yellow Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Northern Waterthrush, Ovenbird, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Northern Cardinal, Blue Jay, Tree Swallow, Chimney Swift, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Wild Turkey, Sandhill Crane, Turkey Vulture, Osprey, Great Blue Heron, Pied-billed Grebe, Mallard, Gadwall, Wood Duck, Blue-winged Teal, Canada Goose, American Robin, Common Grackle, Brown-headed Cowbird, Red-winged Blackbird, Black-capped Chickadee, Hermit Thrush, Eastern Phoebe, Least Flycatcher and American Goldfinch.

Conditions: 55 degrees, mostly sunny and a slight breeze.

My Big Month - Day 11

I just can't believe how much our weather changes day-to-day here this Spring. After such a gorgeous day yesterday, I found myself wearing my winter hat again this morning. It was only 45 degrees and extremely windy. Twice during my walk it even sleeted for a short time! BUT, despite the weather today may likely have been the best day of birding I've ever had at the park. I took just under 300 -yes 300 photos in one outing today. Of course a heck of a lot of them were of the same bird(s), attempting to get the best shot possible. There were too many highlights to even mention them all -but the biggest was finding an area of the park that was packed with different kinds of Warblers. It's an area I don't even typically walk, on the paved trail closest to 69th Avenue on the south side. All in this one small area I spotted Black-and-white, Yellow, Palm, Yellow-rumped and Chestnut-sided Warblers! To my amazement I tallied up 9 different Warblers that I saw and photographed today, which is definitely a record for me! So my list of total species below should be bigger for that reason alone, plus I just saw a lot of other neat birds today.
I couldn't believe I was seeing the Chestnut-sided so easily as my only other encounter with one at the park was extremely brief. I took LOTS of photos of one of the Chestnuts that stayed on the ground and let me get closer than I would have thought possible. It was great fun to see all these Warblers but I was in for another treat later on when I got to see that Magnolia Warbler I mentioned yesterday in full view on the ground where I could also photograph him easier. I sat and watched and photographed this bird more than any other today. I just found him so striking that I devoted quite a bit of time to getting the best shot I could. So for the simple reason that I was able to photograph two stunningly beautiful Warblers today, I'm breaking my rule and posting two photos today.

Total species seen today: (These first 9 in blue are all Warblers) Chestnut-sided Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, Ovenbird, Yellow-rumped Warbler, American Redstart, Yellow Warbler, Palm Warbler, Northern Waterthrush, Black-and-White Warbler, Hairy Woodpecker, Bald Eagle, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Northern Cardinal, Blue Jay, Hermit Thrush, Baltimore Oriole, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, American Goldfinch, Black-capped Chickadee, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, American Crow, Brown-headed Cowbird, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle, American Robin, Least Flycatcher, Canada Goose, Mallard, Blue-winged Teal, Northern Shoveler, Wild Turkey, Gadwall, American Coot, American Tree Sparrow, Song Sparrow and White-throated Sparrow.

Conditions: 45 degrees and very windy. Some sleet.

My Big Month - Day 10

I'd say that this evening after work was likely the nicest weather we've had this entire season. And it was mostly sunny which would give me a little more daylight and more opportunity to take picutres. I took about 120 photos while walking around and I did see quite a few interesting birds. Right off the bat on the east side I spotted a Northern Waterthrush, close to where the Sora was the night before. Probably the best highlight of the evening was seeing a really beautiful Warbler with a bright yellow breast and heavy dark streaking. I didn't know what it was at the time and tried had to get a decent photo but this bird was near impossible to photograph as it just moved around behind the trees too much. I had a suspicion that it might be a Magnolia Warbler and later my Stokes Field Guide to Warblers confirmed that it was indeed a mature Male Magnolia. I'd only ever seen an immature before and they looked quite different. I also saw my first American Redstart of the season, as well as a few close Yellow Warblers, and a Blue-headed Vireo again! My chosen photo of the day is this Yellow-rumped Warbler that I watched for some time almost hovering in the air over the channel on the southwest side. I think he was picking off tiny insects in the air and then would land to rest on one of two trees to my left or right. From this photo you cannot see the bright yellow patch on their backside for which they are named. It is quite obvious when they fly away from you and is also why some people call them "butter-butts."

Total species seen today: Yellow-rumped Warbler, Yellow Warbler, Palm Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, American Redstart, Northern Waterthrush, Blue-headed Vireo, Hermit Thrush, American Robin, Song Sparrow, American Tree Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, Gray Catbird, Common Grackle, Brown-headed Catbird, Red-winged Blackbird, Black-capped Chickadee, Wild Turkey, Great Blue Heron, Northern Shoveler, Wood Duck, Mallard, American Coot and Canada Goose.

Conditions: 68 degrees and mostly sunny.

My Big Month - Day 9

"Unexpected" would be the word to describe my walk around the park this evening after work. After beautiful weather earlier in the week, it appears we are on the downhill portion of our ongoing weather-roller-coaster this spring. With the temperature at only 46 degrees and strong winds, I actually wore my winter hat this evening! I also had to scour my entire vehicle to find a pair of gloves too. So with such crummy conditions, I was truly not expecting to see much tonight but I was entirely wrong about that. There were many highlights of the evening -some of which I'll put on my flickr page as I'm trying to keep these daily posts short and manageable. The first was seeing a pair of male Baltimore Orioles fighting over territory. Another was seeing an unidentified Warbler -which I now know was a Wilson's Warbler (very first for me) and still another was seeing a Sora up close and out in the open! Oh, I also saw hundreds of White-throated Sparrows who were singing constantly as well.

The one bird I want to post here tonight however is a Warbler that I've only seen once before. Because I've been watching for birds more on the ground than in the trees, I was able to spot this Ovenbird on the north end of the park. I desperately wanted a better photo and so I stalked him through the woods as best I could. That proved to be extremely challenging because every time I got too close for comfort, he quickly doubled the distance between us again. Eventually I must have been making too much noise and he flew up into a tree some distance ahead of me. At least he was out in the open here and not hidden by all the ground cover.

Total species seen today: Ovenbird, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Palm Warbler, Black and White Warbler, Yellow Warbler, Wilson's Warbler, Baltimore Oriole, Red-winged Blackbird, American Crow, Common Grackle, Brown-headed Cowbird, Mourning Dove, Black-capped Chickadee, Brown Thrasher, Wild Turkey, Ring-necked Pheasant, Great Blue Heron, Mallard, American Coot, Canada Goose, White-throated Sparrow, American Tree Sparrow, American Robin and Sora.

Conditions: 46 degrees, overcast and very windy.