Late November

I had the day off of work today and naturally I started off my day by visiting the park. It was nice and sunny out today and warmer than normal -just as it has been for most of the month. I'd taken the wood chip trail from the parking lot and as I neared where it turns north, I heard a familiar loud sound and spotted a Red-bellied Woodpecker almost at eye-level. This was an unusual occurrence as I hardly ever see them any closer to the ground than about 30 feet. The sun was shining right on him, making his red crown even more bright looking. I was lucky enough to catch just 2 pics of him before he flew off higher up into the trees. Something I learned from this photo, but was not easy to pick up from my field guide is that the also have very "red" eyes! For some reason I rarely see females of this species -who's red crown does not extend across the entire head. As I neared the bridge over the creek on the north side, I spotted a group of three Deer who where staying oddly close to each other. They were easily visible out in an open area and a number of people walking on the trail stopped to watch them. I then noticed what looked to be a person standing up along the banks of Shingle Creek. The figure wasn't moving so I had to look through my binoculars to confirm that it was indeed a person. I started to think "what the heck" when I then noticed another person up in a tree stand even closer to me. It then dawned on me that it was a Tuesday and the special Deer hunt was going on! This might have explained why the Deer were staying close together as I think they aware of all the people around. In a way I think it might be good for the Deer in the park to come to trust people a bit less than they currently do. I am always shocked at how tame they seem. As I kept walking I wondered if one of these 3 ended up claimed by the hunter.

Turkey Surprise

Today on the north side of the park before the bridge over the creek, I noticed a Deer or two not too far off the trail inside the loop. Since I'd not gotten too many good Deer photos lately I decided to walk in slowly towards them. Besides it was another nice day and I figured I could be quiet enough with no crunchy snow beneath my feet. I couldn't tell how many there were but only one was curious enough to stay put and check me out. He looked to be a younger one with that "stubbier" sort of face. As I stood there watching him, I realized there was something else right in my view just a few feet behind the Deer. It was a Wild Turkey, so well camouflaged against the fallen tree bark and brush that I didn't see him until he moved. This was of much more interest to me as I don't see Turkeys at the park that often. To my surprise there were more Turkeys -and they were only just feet away from the Deer. It was like they were all hanging out together. This first shot was not the best but was the only one that showed a Deer and Turkey in the same picture. The Deer quickly moved out further into the middle but the Turkeys stayed put for a bit longer and enough for a couple more photos. I wasn't quite close enough but as the Turkeys finally spooked and moved, the group was much bigger than I'd thought. I'm guessing there were about 6 to 7 of them all together! A very good Turkey sighting -and just two days after Thanksgiving.

Back to Warmth

Well the first snow that we'd received 5 days ago is long gone. The temps climbed right out of the teens and are back above freezing again. When I arrived at the park just before 9am it was already 37 degrees. In fact the warmth had created a thick fog that just hung over the cattails near the middle of the park. I spotted one Doe near someone's fenced in garden on the north west side but she was behind a lot of thick stuff. Shortly after moving on, the sky caught my attention as it had changed drastically in just 30 minutes time. Facing back south, the sun was trying to burst through and was reflecting orange and yellow in all direction like a nice sunset. It's still hard to believe that this was taken after the first photo. The fog soon cleared out and the sky lightened up a bit afterward. In the little pond near the east side baseball diamonds, I looked for and spotted a Muskrat in the same place I'd seen before. He looked like he'd just popped up out of the water. I'm still amazed at how certain mammals can go in and underwater in the fall and winter. But with the temps we've been having lately I bet it still feels like Spring to a Muskrat. Later I spotted one more who came out of the water and up onto the ice that has formed on Palmer Lake's middle body of water.

First Snow of the Season

I can't believe we've held out this long but it finally snowed for the very first time last night. Previous to this we've not even had a single flurry. It didn't amount to much -maybe about an inch, but the temperature dropped significantly afterward. It was just 18º when I arrived at the park after 11am. It was actually kind of nice as everything looked so different today. It was quite overcast when I first started but patches of blue sky shown intermittently through the passing clouds. I spotted a Red-tailed Hawk, a Cardinal and a Crow but later had a good chance to see a Cedar Waxwing closer than I ever have before. I was on the south side making my way back when I spotted a group of them not to far above me inside the trail. There was one even closer in the nook of a tree who seemed to be eating something. At first I thought he must be looking for something, -berries maybe- underneath the snow. But as I watched it became more clear that he was actually eating the snow. I've always assumed that animals and birds would avoid snow as a source of water but I guess I am wrong. This Waxwing seemed to be scarfing it down and his beak became covered in it. I had a great view of him and he was preoccupied enough to let me get closer and see him in great detail. I could see that he was missing the "red tips" on his wings telling me that he was less than 2 years old. I'm always happy with a such a close sighting of something.

A Fall that Just Wont Quit

It's not that I mind at all, but it's just shocking at how long our Fall season is lasting. It's near mid-November now and I'm still only wearing my baseball cap when I go for a walk. It has also been over a month already since I had been up north to Ely, Minnesota and witnessed some spectacular Fall foliage. Today on the west side I spotted a large Hawk being harassed by a couple of Crows. As I went for a second photo he flew off and perched again facing away from me. From this angle I could clearly see his rusty-red tail. I moved on and basically forgot about him until just a short time longer when I nearly ran right into him again. I just happened to glance up while on the paved trail and spotted him only 10 feet above me. I couldn't believe it. This was by far the closest I'd ever been to a Hawk and I wasted no time in going for a photo. This was the only one I got before he took off again. My sights after this included some Mallards near the creek and a small group of Cedar Waxwings. Then as I was coming up to a small pond on the east side I spotted a Muskrat swimming quickly through the water. At first he was real close to the trail affording me some good views. I could see clearly just how "water-proof" his fur was as the water just beaded up on it like it was coated in oil. He swam out further but then turned around and came straight toward me, eventually going back under near some Cattails at the edge of the pond. Getting back to that Fall foliage I mentioned earlier, I had certainly not expected to see any today -at least not in Palmer Lake Park. But when I turned the corner a short time later to head back west, this Maple tree stood out like you wouldn't believe. While many of the trees in the park had already lost their leaves, this one just now was peaking in an extraordinary luminous yellow. It was definitely picture-worthy on this mostly overcast day.

Final Attempt at an After-Work Walk

Today was the first day of November but with the temps so warm, I wanted to take advantage of being outside. Unfortunately I didn't make it to the park until nearly 7pm which gave me just roughly one hour of light. I was optimistic until I came across my first good photo opportunity and remembered how poorly my camera works in even just slightly low light. Right from the paved trail overlooking the pond on the far west side, I could see two Deer wading in the water along the edge. This isn't a real common place to see Deer and I'd definitely never seen them here in this water that is normally full of Ducks. To keep my pics from becoming completely blurry, I laid down to steady my camera on the concrete facade above the drainage pipe. This is why my only image for this post is crooked. The other Deer that was in the water had jumped out by this time and joined another up on the bank that I hadn't noticed before. I did make it all the way around but it was completely dark by the time I got back to the parking lot. I only took one other photo the whole way around -of some cattails- and that was mostly just to see if the photo would even show up on my camera screen. This will definitely be my last after-work-walk of the year.