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.
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.
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