Hat and gloves one more time?

This Saturday morning followed the recent trend of cold and windy but with an added bonus of rain as well. Before I left the parking lot I'd actually decided to wear my winter hat -and was later thankful for it. Right away I spotted what I thought was a small group of Deer. As I went for my camera, they bolted forward quickly and then were followed by at least 6 or 7 more. The whole group actually ran right into and through the parking lot. Later, the cause of the alarm appeared to be a dog that wandered away from his owner. I saw roughly 15 or more Deer today and spotted another young Buck with new antlers. Right after the bridge on the north side I noticed a Wild Turkey in some thick brush. I was close enough for a photo but it stayed in the thickest parts moving in and out from behind trees. I decided to stalk him for a while hoping to get a better shot. Eventually he decided to move along and headed towards some more open areas. He would only pause for a second or two and only once or twice in an opening through the trees. It was ticking me off to be this close and not be getting a better shot so I followed him some more until he finally got to the edge of a field. There I paused motionless for long time and he walked right out in front of me and onto the trail. Wild Turkeys make the Deer in the park seem like tame pets in comparison. Any subtle movement on my part would have sent him running or flying off in a split second. The rest of my walk afterward was rainy as heck and my camera lens would not stay dry enough to even bother.

Chill in the air

I was able to visit the park after work this Wednesday but the weather has turned colder again. This whole Spring season has been a real roller coaster -changing from warm to cold every other week it seems. By the end of April last year, we had full leaves the trees and lots of green everywhere. For now the budding leaves seem to have stopped in their tracks and are patiently waiting for warmer temps. One of the first things I saw tonight was a Crow with a frog in it's mouth but I didn't get a good shot. I also saw a Kestral again in the open field of cattails on the north side. Mostly though, I saw a lot of Deer this evening. Some lounging on the banks of the Creek and lots of others busy foraging along the paths. As I was rounding the southeast corner I spotted another group of 3 on the outside of the trail near some houses -a place where I've never ever seen Deer before. At first I barely noticed the one of them had a fresh set of antler nubs. I tried for a long time to get him to look up at me for a photo but he was much too interested in whatever was on the ground. As I was watching this group, a very light snow flurry began to pepper the air. A short time later while at the edge of the lake I grabbed this shot as it really shows how crummy the weather was. What a difference from last April!

Three for three

Today was my third visit to the park in three days. The weather was still great today but even warmer. It will be just a matter of days I think before the trees really start looking full again. Something I noticed right away today was Butterflies. Specifically Mourning Cloaks. This was the first one I saw but I later spotted more as I went. I kind of associate these with Summer so I don't know if they're early this year or maybe I just haven't been paying attention in years prior. On the north side I again spotted a Kestral -which also marks 3 days in a row! It's kind of like when you notice a certain type of car for the first time and then you start to see it everywhere. I guess the same holds true for nature. You start to notice subtle behaviors or colors or postures -with birds especially- that can help you pick them out the next time. Today's Kestral sighting was cool because as I was looking at this one through my binoculars, I noticed another one in a different tree even closer to me! Both appeared to be males but I can't say I'm an expert at telling them apart yet. Later I spotted a Great Egret, Great Blue Heron, Goldfinch and more Painted Turtles. This Common Grackle was close to me alongside the paved path near the pond on the east side so I took a pic just for the heck of it. I tried to get his iridescent head but he must have been at the wrong angle.

Beautiful Easter Sunday

At last, the nice weather the forecasts were talking about all week arrived on Sunday morning. It was darn right gorgeous with clear blue skies, low 50's and little to no breeze. When you live in Minnesota, this is the kind of weather you wish you could have every day. The buds on the trees and brush seemed to have doubled overnight and there were birds and waterfowl everywhere soaking up the sun. I even saw a few Slugs on the paved path. On the west side, in the very same group of trees as yesterday, was a Bluebird again -in fact there were a few of them. I can see how easy they are to confuse with Robins. Shortly afterward I spotted a Kestral again in familiar territory on the north side. It was far away again and hard to tell for sure but it may have been a female as the colors seemed a bit muted. Near the ball fields on the east side I could see a few little birds in the bare shrubs surrounding a little pond. I decided to sneak in closer and immediately noticed a Yellow-rumped Warbler. He was at way closer range than I've seen before and I was finally able to get some good shots. At first he had his back to me but that was not bad as this showed off the yellow rump for which they are named. He must have felt safe in these shrubs as he stayed in them for a while and eventually even came closer to me. They have quickly become my new favorite bird. Not only do they have patches of bright yellow on their rump, but also on both shoulders and on their head. This is most likely a Male and I can't say I've positively identified a female just yet. Near the end of my walk I could see a small group of Ducks way way out in the lake that had some very obvious white patches on their head. At first I assumed they were Hooded Mergansers but I'd not seen any of those for quite a while. Also, unlike Mergansers, the white patch extended all the way to the edge of the head. Despite the distance I'm pretty sure I can positively identify them as Buffleheads. There were also females with a much smaller white patch that fits the description.

Dark Saturday evening

I didn't make it to the park until about quarter to 7 this Saturday evening. Though the forecast called for a break in the clouds, it remained dark, cold and windy all day long. There actually was a lot to see but unfortunately it was one of those days where the light was just too dim for my camera. I'm continuing to see more Yellow-rumped Warblers and also saw the Mink again on the south side of Shingle Creek. I've also caught glimpses of Wild Turkeys here and there since my first sighting a couple weeks ago. Tonight I had one in view for quite a while near the creek on the southwest side. It wandered back and forth for a while and eventually walked off into the Cattails. I saw a group of 3 Deer shortly afterward and then I spotted the first Bluebird of the season as well. I took lots of pictures of both the Deer and Bluebird but again they just weren't turning out. On the north side I did a double-check with my binoculars on what seemed to be an odd looking Robin and realized it was the Kestral! Last time I'd seen one there was still snow on the ground. He was quite a ways away and when I hiked closer he took off so this is the best shot I got. A little while later I spotted another lone Turkey and a few more Deer. Then another group of 10 more Deer as it was really starting to get dark. As I was coming all the way around back to my vehicle in the parking lot, the clouds broke way way off in the horizon and the sun finally shown for the first time in the day. It was short lived but a brilliantly colored sunset.

All about the birds

The weather today was a whole lot better than yesterday -around 55º and sunny. Today was all about the birds as I seemed to hear or see a different one every few minutes. I didn't see a single Deer but that's probably because I had my head to the sky most of the time. On the north side before the foot bridge I spotted a group of 10 or more Cedar Waxwings. They were still picking at leftover, dried up Buckthorn berries. Only one stayed put long enough for a photo but he was in kind of a darker area of a larger tree. In the same little swamp where I'd seen the Great Egret yesterday was a lone Coot right near the path. I usually don't get this close to them so I snapped a few pics and watched him for a while. One feature I'd never noticed before is they have this weird "chestnut" looking bump at the very top of their bill. Many birds were content to sit still for me today which was odd -maybe they were soaking up the sun. One bird that was doing just that was this House Sparrow. I normally don't photograph Sparrows or wrens as they're small, don't usually stay put, and all tend to look alike. I think I'm going to try though from now on as it should help me learn all the subtle differences. As I was about to get back into my vehicle back at the parking lot, I could hear a bird making all kinds of different calls. Whenever I can place a call with a visual, there's nothing better to help me remember that bird later. I walked a bit until I found the source of all the noise and spotted another American Goldfinch. I had no idea they were such song birds.

Cold and Wiiinnnnnndddddy

This Saturday I actually had to break out my winter hat again. Not only was the temp around just 35 or 36º but it was extremely windy. I don't know what it was gusting to, but at times it was hard to walk against. The lake itself even had whitecaps on the water! Despite the crummy weather I was able to see quite a bit and took exactly 70 photos. On the far north end by the drainage ditch I came across what started as a small group of 2-3 Deer. As I snapped pictures, more and more appeared and after a while the group grew to 8 or 9. They were moderately close when I first saw them but many of them actually moved closer to me. A few were brave enough to venture within about 10 feet of me! At this distance I had no problem seeing the two small bumps on his head. This is probably the earliest I've been able to confirm seeing a young Buck. It seemed like after a while the group got used to me but then all of a sudden all of their heads perked up. I looked behind me to see a biker coming down the trail so I moved on. On the east side I spotted a Great Blue Heron in one body of water, and the first Great Egret of the season in another. I did get shots of both but the Heron made for a slightly better pic. Right after I took this shot, he flew over and kicked the Egret out of his spot. Shortly afterward I noticed a bunch of little birds on the ground and on the chain link fence surrounding the baseball fields. What caught my attention was small, bright yellow patches on their wings and head. The rest of them was slightly blue-ish. This was definitely not a bird I've seen before so I tried for a long time for a good picture. Unfortunately all 30 or 40 stayed out in the grass and would move away as a group when I got too close. I confirmed later from my field guide that they are Yellow-rumped Warblers!

Wednesday night wildlife

This Wednesday evening was much more mild with temps near the norm of 50-55 degrees. When I arrived at the parking lot on the south side I could see a lot of waterfowl in the usual place where the creek empties into the lake. As I started walking and got a bit closer though I could see that a large portion consisted of Northern Shovelers! This time there were males and females. Again I checked by posts from last year and my first sighting was on April 18th. It's pretty neat to have a sightings record of various birds and then to learn that it's within days of the previous year! One bird I've been seeing a lot of lately has been the Common Grackle. I first started to notice them among large groups of Red-winged Blackbirds. They are a bit larger than the Blackbirds and have an iridescent blue head that only appears at certain angles. This evening a few were feeding on and around the flooded low areas just off the woodchip trails. One pulled a worm out of the ground just like you normally see Robins do. I saw quite a few Deer tonight though most were at long distances. For a while I stopped to watch a group of 6 in which one was acting completely goofy. It would jump up into the air, spin around, then bolt quickly in a different direction. I even witnessed it trot backwards -something I've never seen a Deer do before, and it was quite funny. Later on the south side I spotted something swimming quickly through the water. Though I captured just one quick photo, I'm quite sure it was the Mink again. He seemed way to slender and agile to be a Muskrat -especially the way he dove under the water. I sat for quite a while here and actually saw him 4 more times. At each moment when I was about to snap my shutter he would dive back under the water. I spotted him on solid ground just once and again as I went for a pic he dove back into the water.

More return visitors

This Tuesday evening I started around the park from the east side just to be different. Upon rounding the baseball fields I caught a glimpse of a yellow bird up in the trees above me. I was surprised to see that it was a Goldfinch. Though my field guide says they are in lower Minnesota year round, I don't typically see them in the park until summertime -maybe June at the earliest. Just before crossing the stream on the south west side I spotted a couple of Wild Turkeys in the thick brush. These were the first Turkeys I've seen at the park since October of 2009! As I tried to get closer they flew over to the other side of the stream and disappeared into the woods quickly. Fortunately I spotted a couple more quite a while later on the north side right before the bridge. They were far away but at least they stayed put long enough for a photo. I spotted quite a bit more tonight that I wasn't able to photograph including a Hawk, Coots, Cormorants and a Wood Duck. I'd also spotted quite a few deer as well, mostly at long distances until I caught this group of 5 to 6 back near the east side. It was getting dark already so I wasn't getting the best shots. When viewing the pics on my computer though, I noticed something I didn't see in the field -both Deer seem to have small bumps protruding from their forehead. It's pretty crazy that just 2 weeks ago I saw a Buck with full grown antlers and now these young ones are just starting to grow theirs. I would have never imagined that this cycle of growth-to-shed could happen within 2 weeks of each other. How weird.

Spring on steroids

Spring-like weather seems to have taken forever to arrive this year, but today it felt like we skipped spring altogether and went right into summer! The temp was unusually high at 73º and on top of that it was extremely humid -quite strange for early April! It made for a great visit though as I spent nearly 2 hours making my way around and taking just under 100 photos. I had a hard time choosing what to post because I saw so much. First were a pair of Tree Swallows that were zooming around one of the wooden bird houses on the north side. It's an exciting sign of more colorful birds starting to come back to the park. Just a short time later I was stunned to see a 3 foot Garter Snake on the path. It seemed a bit early to see a snake but I was just now checking my older posts and saw that my first snake sighting last year was Sunday, April 11th -so exactly one year ago to the day. What are the odds of that? Surprisingly, snakes weren't the only reptile out today. I later saw a few painted turtles sunning themselves in the small body of water by the east side baseball fields. I shot a couple pics but as I walked further I ran into 2 more just sitting on the ground right off the trail. This side of the park was quite flooded by snow melt and there's still water everywhere hence the turtles. I've seen Great Blue Herons flying overhead since late March but I've not seen many stop in the park until recently. I swear they are 10 times more skittish than any Deer in the park so I often have to stalk them for a while to get a decent photo. They are an interesting bird as they can look quite different in every photo. I had an easier time locating this one against the backdrop of cattails by looking for his reflection in the water so I decided to include that in my photo. As I was making my way back to the parking lot I could see Bald Eagle seemingly sitting right on top of the water. As I got closer I could see that he was perched on a small portion of a branch barely jutting above the surface. It was funny because Canada Geese would swim right by him and he would tip his head as if he thought they were strange looking birds or something. He put his wings up once to balance himself as he turned to face the other way but I missed that picture moment.

Meal for a Hawk

This evening after work was partly sunny and 54 degrees and just begged for a visit to the park. Though it was another short one, I was able to do it without a jacket for the first time in roughly 5 months! From the paved trail on the far western edge, I noticed a large bird perched low to the ground on a fallen tree. It was a Hawk feasting on a recent kill and making a lot of commotion. In fact as I watched, it began making loud noises unlike most calls I've ever heard from a Hawk before. Then I noticed a second Hawk perched on the same log further to the left. Eventually the first Hawk flew off while still making these loud calls and the second Hawk moved in to finish up the scraps. Both looked like the same species and my best guess is that they were Coopers Hawks. I could see red eyes on one for sure but both had that bluish, slate gray appearance to their back side.

Quick evening visit

I didn't make it to the park this Sunday until almost 7pm. There were quite a few Deer to be seen again and they were pretty much the only thing of interest this evening. Not only am I spotting them in their usual locations but for the first time it's easy to spot them way out in the middle of the park. Because the Cattails took such a beating this winter, you can see Deer moving clear across the opposite side of the park sometimes. The lighting was just too poor for my cheap camera all evening so even when I did get closer, my shots weren't turning out good. Later I crept along quietly near the creek on the south side hoping to see a Mink again. There was no sign of them or anything else -just a very flooded lake basin. It's hard to tell from this pic but the eastern body of water still has ice on it, while the western side is completely ice free.

New month

April has finally arrived and it feels good to have the snowiest months behind us now. The early morning temps are still below freezing so I had dressed accordingly warm. The big difference now is that temperatures can climb up into the mid 40's before I make it around. So there I was today in my heavy winter jacket and stocking cap while joggers ran by me in shorts. From the parking lot I noticed a group of black and white Ducks on the far end of the lake. I assumed they were more Goldeneyes but when I looked closer I could not see the white patch on the head. Then I realized they were Common Mergansers. I'd only ever seen one single female last fall so these were the first males I've spotted at the park. On the southwest side I noticed Pussy Willows blooming and speckling the horizon with bright white dots. The trees should be budding any day now too. The last few weeks has been good for Deer sightings and I'm averaging about 10-12 every walk. Today was about the same but the first ones I saw were also being admired by a lot of other park goers within just feet of the trail. All 3 looked like young ones and they were tilting their heads in the air trying to smell me.