Today was my first visit to the park recently where the water was actually iced over -not totally frozen but just a thin layer. It was only 30º this morning and we had our very first snow flurries in the air just this last Thursday, October 25th so it seems that winter is just around the corner. Maybe I'll actually get to use my snowshoes this year! I first noticed Dark-eyed Juncos have come back to our area nearly a month ago, but this morning they made up about every other bird I spotted.
I'm always trying for a better photo of one because they tend to flit about quickly and don't let you get very close. This one landed near me for just a split second before moving again. Another bird I don't have many photos of is an American Tree Sparrow. I saw quite a few of them today as their rusty colored cap was very noticeable in the bright sun. If you are able to see them closely enough you'll notice that their upper bill is dark while their lower bill is yellow.
People also go by the dark "spot" visible on the breast but I think sometimes this can be kind of tough to see as it's not always that dark or defined. Before I was even half way around the park I ran into a friend (and quite talented birder) who told me that he'd seen a Northern Shrike today -and even as early as 2 weeks ago. I had just been thinking to myself that with as cold as it's been, and how often I'd seen Shrikes last year that they should be coming back any time now. Well as luck would have it, I too spotted one a bit later on the north end of the park. It was perched in the tall dead tree right alongside the straight part of the paved path and I would have missed it had I not been watching more Juncos again.
It almost seemed like it was watching the smaller birds below it and I was wondering if I might be lucky enough to see it go after one of them but no luck there.
I'm sure I'll be seeing a lot more of the Shrikes this winter season but I was fairly surprised to know they are back so early. Among lots of other more common birds I spotted today, I also caught a few good glimpses of Yellow-rumped Warblers who are still apparently passing through on migration. All of the Yellow-rumps I've seen this fall have been this brown color with dull yellow shoulders -not the darker blue that you'll see in the springtime.
I'd assumed they were all females but I'm wondering now if maybe some are males. Someone recently described the plumage to me as "transitional" so I'm wondering if some could be immature males. Either way, it was neat to realize that I spotted a Warbler and a Shrike on the same date.
After I moved on I saw only a handful of birds including a Downy Woodpecker, White-throated Sparrow, Goldfinch, Chickadee and Dark-eyed Junco. The Golfinches have now lost their brilliant yellow plumage from summertime, really hitting home that there's not too much left of this fall season.
I'm always trying for a better photo of one because they tend to flit about quickly and don't let you get very close. This one landed near me for just a split second before moving again. Another bird I don't have many photos of is an American Tree Sparrow. I saw quite a few of them today as their rusty colored cap was very noticeable in the bright sun. If you are able to see them closely enough you'll notice that their upper bill is dark while their lower bill is yellow. 
People also go by the dark "spot" visible on the breast but I think sometimes this can be kind of tough to see as it's not always that dark or defined. Before I was even half way around the park I ran into a friend (and quite talented birder) who told me that he'd seen a Northern Shrike today -and even as early as 2 weeks ago. I had just been thinking to myself that with as cold as it's been, and how often I'd seen Shrikes last year that they should be coming back any time now. Well as luck would have it, I too spotted one a bit later on the north end of the park. It was perched in the tall dead tree right alongside the straight part of the paved path and I would have missed it had I not been watching more Juncos again. 
It almost seemed like it was watching the smaller birds below it and I was wondering if I might be lucky enough to see it go after one of them but no luck there. I'm sure I'll be seeing a lot more of the Shrikes this winter season but I was fairly surprised to know they are back so early. Among lots of other more common birds I spotted today, I also caught a few good glimpses of Yellow-rumped Warblers who are still apparently passing through on migration. All of the Yellow-rumps I've seen this fall have been this brown color with dull yellow shoulders -not the darker blue that you'll see in the springtime. 
I'd assumed they were all females but I'm wondering now if maybe some are males. Someone recently described the plumage to me as "transitional" so I'm wondering if some could be immature males. Either way, it was neat to realize that I spotted a Warbler and a Shrike on the same date.
Unlike the northern part of our state, there are still some leaves hanging on here. I'm not quite so good with trees but I think these were Poplar (?) on the northwest side that were so brilliant against the blue sky today. The first bird of note that I spotted this morning was a White-throated Sparrow. 
I'd not seen one since early October and this time I was able to get just a little closer -though my view was still a bit obstructed as they like to sit "inside" the trees. Later I saw a Red-bellied Woodpecker and also a few Mallards in Shingle Creek. But near the end of my walk I spotted a Ruby-crowned Kinglet and this may indeed be the last one I see this year considering how November is coming up quick.
I couldn't tell for sure but it seems it was another female as I never saw any hint of a red crown atop it's head.
I'd never quite seen a RWB with this type of coloring before. Most noticeably his bright red shoulder patch was quite drab and most of his head was actually quite brown instead of black. Also, the tips of almost all of his feathers showed a similar brown edging. I don't think I've seen one Cedar Waxwing in all of October this year until today. 
I first spotted him in a Buckthorn tree among all it's still green foliage, but he flew out into the open a short time later. Because of the angle of being more underneath him I couldn't get a look at his wings to see if he had the red tips to tell me if he was at least 2 years old or not. I later ran into another bird I've seen quite a bit of this month - a Yellow-rumped Warbler. Again I found myself underneath it which doesn't make for the best photo but at least I could positively identify it. I'm not quite sure whether all of the Yellow-rumps I've seen this fall have been male or female but based on all of my guides, everyone of them better fits the photos and descriptions of a female. 
Why this is I'm not quite sure but I've not spotted one this fall with a darker and more distinct pattern of a male. In hindsight this would be the last day I would see a Yellow-rumped Warbler at the park this year. I was lucky enough to spot one interesting bird today that I often think of as a Warbler though it technically is not. The Ruby-crowned Kinglets have been very active all this Autumn and for the first time I've started to notice them in many other locations besides Palmer Lake Park. 
This can be an awfully hard bird to catch standing still but I'm always hoping to get a photo of the small red patch on the top of the head for which they are named. Unfortunately only the males have this ruby crown and although I'm quite happy with how this photo turned out, I was a little disappointed to not see that bright red patch atop this inquisitive looking face staring directly at me!
