Morning Fog and a Beautiful Day

There are just some visits to the park I will remember for a long time and today was likely one of those. It was just such beautiful weather and with beautiful sights everywhere. When I arrived just after 7am, there was a heavy blanket of early morning fog settled over the park. It made everything green feel even more so, like a jungle of sorts. It also made for some great photo opportunities and at numerous stops I would try to catch the rays of sun through the trees lighting up the fog. On the east side there was a Killdeer running around on the baseball diamonds. I was hoping the fog would let me get closer to it and for once I did come closer than normal. Still this photo is cropped in quite a bit. I'm kind of fascinated with them as I really only became aware of their presence at the park this year. Killdeer are considered a "shorebird" but can be found in some interesting places. I once saw one in the Burger King parking lot in Brooklyn Center! As the sun began to burn off the morning fog, it left a dew on everything. I liked how it was reflecting in the sun on this tall grass so I tried to capture it in a photo. Birds of all kinds were easy to spot today but on the north side I ran into a Yellow Warbler who was singing it's heart out. As with all Warblers, the Yellow Warbler can be tricky to get a photo of because they just typically don't sit still. But this one sat in the same spot for over 5 minutes just singing loudly. Periodically it would stop to itch it's head with it's leg which was an interesting sight and something you wouldn't think a little bird was even capable of until you see it. Near the end of my walk I watched another comical sequence play out on the paved trail in front of me. An adult Robin landed near a half-dead earthworm. Immediately a young Robin landed just a foot away. The adult looked at the young one, picked up the worm and proceeded to shove it down the throat of the young one. In one big gulp the worm was gone and the young one stood there again with his mouth open. I snapped photos every few seconds and thus caught the entire sequence which I posted to the Friends of Palmer Lake Park facebook page. In addition to the birds listed above, I also saw: Brown-headed Cowbird, Gray Catbird, Downy Woodpecker, Wood Duck, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Mallard, Canada Goose (the largest flock I've ever seen –nearly 75), American Redstart, Red-winged Blackbird, Eastern Bluebird, American Goldfinch, Common Grackle, Mourning Dove, Song Sparrow, and Baltimore Oriole. I also saw a couple of Painted Turtles crossing the trail.

Memorial Day 2014

Memorial Day is always seen as the "official" kick off to the Summer season and today it surely did feel like summer. It was warm and humid and felt more like a July day than late May. I didn't get to the park today until just after 4:30pm. But once I got there it was so beautiful I spent a long time making my way around the entire loop. I have more pictures than I can possibly post here today so I've picked a handful that represent some of my more fun sightings. The first was an unexpectedly close encounter with a beautiful Cooper's Hawk. It bumped out of a tree merely feet above me over the paved trail on the south side. It didn't go far and perched again in another shorter tree allowing me a very good look. I assumed it was a Cooper's Hawk right off the bat due to the very long, banded tail. But later upon looking at the photo more closely I realized it's breast was not the orangy-banded pattern I am used to seeing. I shared this photo on the Minnesota Birding Facebook page and someone pointed out that it is likely a first-year bird and has not grown it's full adult plumage yet. My second sighting of note was a fun one and I took a LOT of photos. Along the woodchip trail on the southwest corner, I noticed a Red-bellied Woodpecker land at the same spot on the same tree more than once. Upon looking closer I noticed a little hole in the side of the tree and then the Woodpecker disappeared into it! Sure enough it had a nest here and was busy feeding it's young. First the male landed with a mouthful of food and slipped inside the hole. When he came back out, I could plainly hear the loud squealing of little ones inside the tree. Then the female came in only seconds later with another mouthful of bugs and caterpillars. I watched this repeat once more before finally moving on. I ended up seeing a lot of good birds today but I had quite a good photo opportunity on the north side along the straight, paved trail. There hopping around in the small Willow shrubs was a female American Redstart. She was staying mostly near the ground and seemed to be searching for insects. I tried to predict where she might land next and it paid off as she hopped up on this small branch right in front of me! It is probably the single best photo of any Redstart I've ever gotten –not to mention a female too. I read somewhere later that the female American Redstart is somewhat unique among the Warbler family in that she does not vocalize (sing or call). And furthermore if you see what you think is a female Redstart and it it singing, then it is most likely a first-year male –who's plumage can look similar to the female when still young. I never knew that! One more photo I took not too much further down the trail was yet another female bird, this time a female Rose-breasted Grosbeak. She was busy gathering nesting material and in my first few shots she actually had a bill full of fine twigs. But as I watched, she must have decided against them for some reason, or inadvertently dropped them. You've gotta appreciate birds sometimes simply for the fact that they can construct intricate nests without the use of any limbs. I did not see the male anywhere around but I'm glad to know that this species may possibly be nesting in the park! Other notable sights spotted this evening included; American Goldfinch, Least Flycatcher, Great Crested Flycatcher, Question-mark Butterfly chasing a Red Admiral Butterly, Black-capped Chickadee, Yellow Warbler, Tree Swallow, a few Deer, Cedar Waxwing, Baltimore Oriole and Brown Thrasher. Oh, and a couple Morel Mushrooms!

A Beautiful Morning and a New Species!

I arrived at the park around 9:30am today and had decided on taking my portable stool with me in the hopes I might find another hotspot for bird watching. Looking back at my blog, it has been almost a year to the day since I had seen the Scarlet Tanager on the ground along the wood chip trail on the southwest side. So I headed to this area just in case he decided to show up again. But before I got there I did a lap around both of the baseball fields on the west side in hopes of maybe seeing a Savannah Sparrow that another birder had spotted yesterday. No such luck there but I did run into a very brave little Tree Swallow who stayed put despite me coming up to within just feet of him. Tree Swallows have been around for some time now but this is my first good photo of one this season. Also perched on the chain link fencing were a pair of Eastern Bluebirds. I can almost count on seeing Bluebirds near these baseball fields for the past few years at least. I tried to get close to the male but he quickly scared off and flew to cover in the edge of the woods just beyond the outfield. Here he didn't mind me as much. It was the exact same tree where I'd photographed the male last year –and for all I know it might even be the very same bird! Later while scouring the wood chip trail for any possible signs of a Tanager, I could hear two different Great Crested Flycatchers calling to each other. They sounded very close so I was hoping I might get a photo but when I finally found one, I was directly underneath it and facing into the sun. This is a particularly interesting and colorful bird so I'm hoping I get more opportunities to see them this season. I finally parked on my stool here, far enough back into the woods where nobody on the trail might see me. I thought about how it wont be long before mosquitoes make it much harder to just sit in one place for a while. I really wasn't seeing anything here so I ended up moving further down the trail and sitting along the water way that connects the two western most bodies of water. Here I saw a Great Blue Heron but it scared off quickly before I got a photo. But in the Buckthorn ahead to my left I caught a glimpse of a small bird moving around quickly like a Warbler. I couldn't tell quite what it was but suspected that maybe it was a Tennessee Warbler. It had somewhat drab coloring the way Tennessee's do but when it finally presented itself in a clearing, I appeared more like a Vireo. But again it didn't quite look like a Vireo that I am familiar with. I wondered if it was maybe a female or juvenile until I got home and looked in my Stokes field guide. The bird that looked most similar was a Warbling Vireo –something I've not positively identified before. I went one extra step in confirming my suspicion, by posting my photo on the Minnesota Birding facebook page, where a couple of other birders agreed. This was kind of exciting as it's been some time now since I've come across a new species at the park! Indeed with bird watching, there is always more to learn. Later I went to the very end of the wood chip trail specifically to photograph the Marsh Marigold that I noticed flowering yesterday. I don't know a whole lot about this plant, other than the habitat and time of year to find it. I did learn though today from the Minnesota Wildflowers website, that the plant is also known as "cowslip."

Friends of Palmer Lake Park Spring Bird Hike

This Saturday I saw another dream come true for the Friends of Palmer Lake Park group. In a partnership with Tiny Footprint Coffee located just across the street from PLP, we held our first ever "Spring Bird Hike!" We have done a couple of nature hikes in the past but those had happened in August when there are far fewer birds to be seen. We started off first with a tour of the Tiny Footprint Coffee plant which was fun and interesting. I can't believe all the different countries that produce and ship their coffee beans right to Brooklyn Center! Afterward the group of about 25 people walked across 69th Avenue and broke into groups to hike around the park. I had my camera with myself but spent a lot more time talking to people and thus did not take a lot of shots myself. As we entered the woods on the north side I pointed out to the group that we were getting into "Rose-breasted Grosbeak territory." And when one appeared just ahead of us only moments later I felt like I really knew this park. Back at the coffee factory, the owner had just told us that he had seen this same species of bird while on trips to the Mindo Cloud Forest region of Ecuador! We saw at least a few Warblers on our hike today and two that I remember are a Chestnut-sided and this American Redstart who looked a little different than most I see. At first I assumed this was a female but someone later pointed out to me that it's only the males who sing and not the females. Thus it is likely a young male who has not yet developed his full plumage. One more bird I stopped to photograph myself today was this Gray Catbird who was posing nicely against a green background. He's a bit in the shadows but I like how it feels. Thankfully others in the group were keeping better records of the species we saw and one even submitted a checklist to ebird.org. That person counted 41 species total and you can view the checklist here: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S18536367