Some Rare Sightings

This Sunday morning was bright but overcast; the kind of day where you could see a whole lot of nothing. In fact it turned out the opposite as I had a chance to see a few birds that are rank low on my list of recorded sightings. Being it the end of August and still fairly warm, I paused near the north west corner, hoping to catch a glimpse of a Hummingbird -which I quickly did. Interestingly enough, I was distracted by a larger bird that flew off quickly, flashing an unusual pattern of black, white and brown. I followed this sight to a new perch and spotted a bird that I couldn't easily recognize. The only hint I picked up on thick, stubby bill, making me think it was possibly a Grosbeak. Then within just seconds, another similar sized bird appeared with almost identical coloring and pattern on it's head, but with a bright red patch in the shape of a V on it's chest. I was excited both in knowing that I'd guessed correctly and in getting to see the male Grosbeak so closely! There was an obvious difference though, between this and the few other Rose breasted Grosbeaks I've seen before. This male had not the full, black colored head, but a patterned yellow and brown head just like the female. I can only assume then that he was a juvenile and not fully developed. Even more interesting is that the male was plucking and swallowing the berries from the shrubs. Later on I had a few other good bird photo opportunities including a Goldfinch, Common Yellowthroat and some fledgling Robins. The one I just couldn't pass up though was this Grey Catbird who was singing his heart out. They're not much for coloring but they really make up for it with their songs. Finally, one last thing I thought was blog-worthy, was another rare sighting of a Mink along the banks of the creek where it flows back out of Palmer Lake. I gotta admit, I thought for sure this was a Muskrat, but after watching it -and another one- swim about quickly, dive and resurface, I'm pretty sure they were Mink. It's hard to tell from this photo but it was the only time it came out into the open, whereas the other one stayed underneath the overhanging tree on the creek.

Thursday Stress-Reliever

It's been easy to forget that our summer weather isn't going to last forever and I've been slacking on visiting the park during the week. Tonight was an exception as I really needed to de-charge from a stressful work week. There were relatively few birds about until I was walking up the west side and noticed this Mourning Dove sitting very still in the evening sun. They're not the most interesting of birds but since it was so close I figured I'd snap a photo. Shortly afterward I saw yet another Cedar Waxwing as well as a single Doe in the woods. On the north side I spotted a large bird way off in the distance perched in the tall dead tree often favored by Raptors. I could barely make out from this distance that it was an Osprey and he was surrounded by 6 or 7 Crows perched near him. He looked obviously perturbed and I'm sure the crows were hassling him just like they do other large birds of prey like Eagles, Hawks and Owls. A while later I came upon the granite bench on the southeast side and noticed a little yellow bird hoping about in the cattails. Since there was a bench right there I decided to sit and watch for a bit and hopefully catch a picture. After a bit, it came out rather close to me, enough to identify it as a male Common Yellowthroat -evident by the black and white mask across it's face. I found that kind of surprising, having seen only female Yellowthroats deep in the cattails before. Since I've not seen any Yellow Warblers for a while, I believe the Yellowthroats must be the last Warbler species to still be hanging around.

Birds, Bugs and Deer

Even though summer is still in full swing it feels like we've turned a corner with our weather. Upon arriving at the park this morning shortly before 8am it was a cool 58 degrees. I was the first time in months I'd even contemplated wearing jeans versus shorts. Had I actually done so, I probably would have saved myself 20 new mosquito bites on my legs. There were many familiar birds out today but one that I'm seeing a lot of lately are Cedar Waxwings. They are having a field-day due to all the ripening berries. I caught of a photo of this one right after he plucked and gulped down a berry or two. Later somewhere on the paved path I noticed a large insect. It was a Cicada that looked dead at first. I'm pretty sure these are responsible for the high pitched "buzz" that can be heard near any wooded area in the summer time. As kids we always thought the noise came from overhead electrical wires. I've seen them on the ground before -usually dead, but I can't say I've ever seen one flying. I've wonder how well those thin, clear wings can carry such a large body. When I was coming out of the wooded area from the north side I glanced to my left and noticed something out of the ordinary in someone's front yard. At first I assumed they must have purchased one of those ornamental Deer statues. When it moved I was sort of surprised that a real life Deer was walking so closely to the house. A few other walkers came up as I paused to watch and told me that they'd seen Deer in the same yard before. As we all watched, the Deer seemed to get spooked and ran into the next persons yard. As I started to wonder if it would figure out it's way back into the park, it darted in between the two houses and back towards the woods.

Here comes the sun

Well, we made it one whole week without rain so I guess it was time again. We received about 3/4 of an inch overnight and this morning was all wet again. I actually took my rain jacket with me this time just in case it wasn't done yet -but of course I didn't need it. The sky was mostly overcast but changing quickly with a mixture of grey and darker areas. It seemed like nothing was quite ready to come out just yet except for this snail who I met on the trail. You can't tell from this photo but it was one of the largest ones I've ever seen at the park. I saw a Cardinal and just a handful of Song Sparrows and Goldfinches until I was more than half way around the park and the sun popped out. Shortly after I noticed a single Osprey over the lake and I figured I'd try to get a better photo of one today. I hiked a lot closer first, up to the water overlook by the railroad ties. There I waited over and over for him to circle closer to me. With my camera zoomed as far as it would go, it was tough to follow a flying bird but I did manage to catch a photo with just a bit more clarity. Then I cropped it even more on the computer and I almost think that I can see a band around his leg. This was the only Osprey I saw today though I've seen up to 3 at once before. I stayed on the wood chip trail on the way back to the parking lot and noticed a big, Black Swallowtail Butterfly among the wildflowers. I stood there just along the edge of the field as my camera focused and I could just feel the mosquitoes swarming my legs below. I held steady to snap just two photos before I could feel the bites coming on. As soon as I was satisfied I quickly went to swat away the mosquitoes but there must have been 10 to 15 of them already buried up to their head on each of my legs. I couldn't believe how bad they were. I think I have mosquito bites on top of mosquito bites!

Milder start to August

We've finally caught a break from our hot and humid weather. Both the temps and dew points have dropped considerably making it actually comfortable to be outside again. Also we've had no rain for more than 4 or 5 days, so I was able to take the wood chip trails again. As I got onto the first one from the south side, I quickly realized how overgrown things had become. The trail was almost grown shut from both sides with tall Thistle and other weeds. It was somewhere in here I think that I noticed this Dragonfly with a nice bright red tail. I couldn't get a photo of him from the other side but was happy with the detail in the wings. It was right about then that I was getting seriously bit-up by mosquitoes so I had to keep moving. When I got to the north side, I stopped near the flowering bushes where I'd seen Hummingbirds before. I quickly noticed a flash of orange and realized I'd just seen an American Redstart dart off into the taller trees. I waited for a bit with my camera ready and he came back again for just a few seconds. I snapped this quickly and the focus wasn't quite ready but I'm happy just to have captured one again! I noticed later too that he actually has something in his beak. Not sure if it was food or something to build a nest with. Later in the shadier part of the northeast side I spotted the pair of Fawns again. They seem to be in this area a lot and don't even seem to mind the people watching them. One of the two looked right at me before deciding to lay down for a while. I could just barely still see his gigantic ears through the weeds. The other lazily munched on some green leaves with his back to me. I waited for a while for a better angle but the Fawn was more interested in leaves than it was with me.