Extra Day with Stormy Skies

Today was my vacation day, rounding out a nice and extra long holiday weekend. I arrived at the park just before 4pm in order to get in a walk right before helping Friends of Palmer Lake Park survey an area to be pulled of invasive Buckthorn trees. The skies were a mix of layered light and dark clouds, dropping only a few scattered raindrops as I made my way around. On the south end right off the parking lot I noticed a couple of birds that didn't fit the size and color of things I've been seeing lately. I saw where they landed and realized it was a pair of Cedar Waxwings! I was kind of shocked as I don't think I've seen any since maybe March. The two stayed close together even as they moved from tree to tree. I could just barely notice a hint of bright red wingtips on one of them. On the north side, I again spotted a lone Wild Turkey in exactly the same place as last time. I'm almost positive now that she has a nest out there in the tall weeds. I'd like to walk out there and find it and see the eggs but I also didn't want to disturb her or possibly scare her away. Hopefully I will get to see the little ones soon. Along my way I saw and heard plenty of Baltimore Orioles but on the east side, I think I located a nest hanging from a tall tree. From a distance I swear I saw an Oriole climb into it but as I got closer, I could not for the life of me find the opening where it entered. Nor could I tell if there was indeed a bird inside. But as I watched, this male came and landed in the same tree very near the hanging nest. He didn't go up to it but hung around for quite a while. Maybe he was guarding the nest. At this point I can't say that I've ever positively seen a female Oriole but I think I would have had a good chance today had I just been 3 minutes ahead of myself.

More Memory for Memorial Day

As I set out to go 'round the park tonight I was using for the first time, a brand new SD card for my new camera. It holds 8GB and that I paid just $8 for so I was a bit apprehensive that it would perform well. For the price, I half expected it to give me problems -partial or corrupt photos. I took a bunch of photos of nothingness at first just to see if it worked and it seemed to be doing fine. Only five minutes into my walk I was able to spot a male Common Yellow throat fairly close up, though in a darker area. I really like seeing (and hearing) this bird and have developed a fondness for what I would call the "swamp bird" of the Warbler family. Almost anywhere you go in Minnesota near a marshy lake, you can hear the Common Yellowthroat. As common as they are though, you'll be hard pressed to get a long look at one as they are extremely quick and prefer thick areas such as the low areas of Cattails. Later on I was able to see an Osprey fishing over the lake, some Yellow Warblers, Cowbirds and an Nuthatch. Then on the north side I spotted an odd looking tangle of large birds trailed by a couple of Crows. The pair finally landed one one of the tall electrical poles running across the park. First one then the other, I could see from the sunlight the rusty red tail of a Red-tailed Hawk. Although I don't like taking bird photos with man-made structures in them, it's rare that I see two Red-tails this close together -especially perched in the same place. Only seconds after landing, the Red-tails were off again followed closely behind by the two Crows. I sometimes wonder which is worse in the bird world -to be the prey or to be the hunter. While watching this take place overhead I couldn't help but notice some other movement on the ground right out in front of me. There was something fairly large moving through the tall grass inside the trail. I was surprised to see this lone Turkey poking it's head up periodically while wading through the tall grass. I waited for quite a while until it finally made it's way out into some shorter grass where I could catch a better photo. There were no others around and I wondered if possibly it might have a nest out there somewhere in the grass. As I walked the rest of my route, I could hear a Memorial Day Service taking place at Mound Cemetery on the south side of 69th Avenue.

Birds and Snakes and Butterfly's

My work let out early today to get a jump start on the long Memorial Day weekend so I enjoyed a nice long and leisurely walk around the park. From all the recent rain, the trail is flooded in a few different areas so slight detours were necessary. On the wood chip trail on the south side I spotted this Question Mark Butterfly and despite having only my zoom lens on my camera, I was still able to capture a good pic. It's colors really stood out against the faded wood chips. Along the bottom edges of it's wings you can see just a hint of iridescent periwinkle blue coloring. As I was coming up to the baseball fields on the west side I saw a bird fly past that didn't look so familiar. I followed it to where it landed in one of the large (planted) trees surrounding the ball fields and was surprised to see that it was a Bluebird. I've not seen one for quite a while now but I'm glad to know they are still around the park. I'm still hopeful that one finds my newly installed Bluebird Box on the northwest corner. I couldn't tell if this one was a male or female but it's coloring did seem a little on the dull side so I'm guessing a female. After detouring around some more flooded trail, I made my way across the north side where I spotted this Garter Snake just off the trail. As I got closer for a photo I figured he would dart away but instead he held his ground and turned his head directly toward me. After I got closer still he began flicking his tongue out. I wanted to get a photo of that but every time I pressed the shutter his tongue disappeared in an instant. He never did move on and when I walked away he was still in the same spot. Somewhere later I was able to catch a good view of a nice Baltimore Oriole as he hopped around in a tree -somewhat lower to the ground than usual. He was stretching his neck and turning his head every which way so I assume he was looking for caterpillars to eat. Though I've seen many Orioles already this year, I still have a tough time getting a great photo of one. They are always just too high above for a good angle and they also don't like to sit very still. I sure don't get tired of seeing -and hearing- them however!

Yellowthroats After the Rain

It's been raining for 2 days straight but this Thursday it finally stopped just long enough to squeeze in a walk around the park. It wasn't that nice out and the ground was still soaked therefore I was one of just a handful of people out walking. Something I've noticed a lot this year is that if you want to see a good variety of birds, you'll never be disappointed if you go out after rain has moved through. After being hunkered down while enduring the weather, every bird seems to come out when the rain is finally over. A bird that has captured my attention every spring for the past few years is the Common Yellowthroat. These Warblers are abundant in the park, easy to identify by sound, but super hard to photograph. Like other Warblers they don't sit still for more than a second or two before changing direction. The one thing though that gives you a fighting chance at photographing one is that they tend to be feeding near the ground or just above it. You're way more likely to catch a Common Yellowthroat at eye-level versus say a Yellow Warbler or American Redstart who are often high up above in the tree tops. Tonight I was lucky enough not only to catch the male -with the familiar black face mask, but also a less-obvious female in an Oak tree. Lately I've been attempting to lure them in by imitating their call "wickety-whickety-whickety" and have found it a slightly easier sound to whistle versus some of the other more high-pitched Warblers. I gotta admit though that I had some help with recorded sounds from Stan Tekiela's "Birds of Minnesota" audio cd that I have downloaded to my iphone. I'm sure birders with more experience will hate me when I say this but I often pull it out after hearing a bird call to confirm what I've heard. Though I have found that all the variations of songs & calls aren't included -such as some completely new songs I heard today from a Baltimore Oriole. Later I was able to see some other good sights such as an American Redstart, Cardinals, Golfinches, Catbirds, a Flycatcher and a pair of Deer. On the west side near the baseball diamonds I noticed an oddly speckled little bird running through the grass and realized it was an immature Robin. He had only just the faintest hints of orange on the breast and I thought it was kind of neat to see.

A Good Walk After Work

I knew I wasn't going to get to the park this coming weekend as I had a trip coming up so I figured I would go Thursday after work. It was a beautiful and warm day with clear skies and a just a bit breezy. I was with a friend tonight and prepared not to shoot as many photos as when I'm with myself. By the end though I was surprised at how many pics I'd taken and at all the great birds we saw -many of which were pointed out by my eagle-eyed friend. The first was a male Common Yellowthroat at which we both peeked at through binoculars but did not manage to catch a good photo of. The next was a Rose-breasted Grosbeak that we watched and listened to for quite some time. He was on the north side perched way high up in tall Willow tree but we could really see his bright red patch in the evening sun. He was singing away loudly and this was the longest I've ever been able to listen one. At times it was so similar to a Robin and then other times not at all. Later on we ran into a pair of Blue Jays and since I'm still pining for a better Blue Jay photo, I just had to follow them from tree to tree. I ended up catching this one but unfortunately it shows only a dull and mostly grey bird, not the beautiful blue color that I normally think of. At least they are easy to identify by their louder-than-normal call and I should have more chances in the future. Coming back to the east side we got a chance to spot a brighter bird -a bright orange Baltimore Oriole. As I've seen them doing so often, this one was also high up in a tall Cottonwood tree, nearly hanging upside-down from the very ends of the branches. As with many Oriole sightings, the angle is that I'm underneath them looking up at their belly. To me it seems like this is the only way you'll see them in the Spring, but as the season progresses into Summer, you'll start to see them lower to the ground. I will see if this holds true this year as well.

Another Great Day of Birding

I got an early start this Saturday and arrived at the park just before 8am. The sun is getting higher in the sky every day and the weather today was fantastic. I heard and spotted a huge variety of birds and took exactly 90 photos! In only the first 15 to 20 minutes, I'd seen Common Yellowthroats, Baltimore Orioles, Yellow Warblers, and an Osprey picking a fish out of the lake. I'm constantly trying for a better photo of a Yellow Warbler so I stalked this one for a while until he finally came out into the open. They tend to hide out in the dense tree tops so it's always nice to see one in clear view without any leaves in the way. After watching some Canada Geese with babies and then a small group of 3 deer, I spotted a most unusual pair of birds high up some thick trees on the north side. In the brief moments that I could see them through the leaves, I could make out 2 distinct colors -a deep blue and a rusty brown. I thought for sure I was seeing a new Warbler of some kind and it was quite exciting. I desperately tried for photos but the view was unforgiving as the pair hopped around quickly inside the thick tree top. Based on my photos, later study told me that it just couldn't have been a Warbler. I had to call in support from more experienced birders who confirmed that they were Indigo Buntings -in their second year plumage! This explained the brown color as they were probably molting. After spending close to 30 minutes alone trying to get better photos, I moved on but didn't have to go that far to spot yet another colorful bird. This Rose-breasted Grosbeak actually flew right into view just a bit further down the trail. He initially landed with his back side to me and though not as colorful, it was interesting to see the sharp black and white patterns. This bird also didn't like to stay put for very long but with all the moves he made, his front side eventually came into view. I was quite happy with this photo and they are sure a fun bird to see -and hear, though this one never made a sound. Near the end of my walk I'd run into a fellow birder and we stood comparing photos and watching whatever came by. He pointed out a Tennessee Warbler to me and I was able to spot it in my binoculars for just a few seconds. I'm going to try and remember it's drab olive greenish-grey color but it was a pretty plain looking bird. Then a Baltimore Oriole flew in fairly close to us and began picking at the leaves, sometimes even nearly hanging upside down to get at what he was looking for. My birder friend explained that he was eating up all those little green inchworms that are so plentiful lately.

A New Wednesday

By mid-week I was really itching to get outside and to the park -especially seeing as how we're still in a trend of crummy weekends and nice week-days. With help from a friend, I'd recently installed a Bluebird box onto the east side of park. Today I planned to go off road a bit just to check on it and see if there was any activity yet. It's been a while since I've spotted a Bluebird and I was hoping I might stir one up on my way. I watched the favored dead tree for a bit and noticed a pair of mating Tree Swallows. It was easy to tell which one was the Male this time as he would fly in and hover around the female. In the past few weeks I've seen dozens of Swallows but no Bluebirds. There was also no activity at my new Bluebird house which makes me wonder where they've all gone. There were a fair amount of interesting birds noticeable tonight despite my attempts to make it around the park quickly. Parts of the park are deafening with the sounds of birds -mainly warblers with their high pitched, rapid songs. I was lucky enough to look up at the right time to catch this American Redstart -a bird which I doubt I will ever capture a satisfactory photo of. They are elusive, move fast and prefer dense tree-tops, making them quite a challenge to capture. I think nearly every one of my (handful of) pictures of them are taken from directly underneath versus straight on. Seeing and photographing this one actually reminded me of an encounter with one last year in which I was able to see one closer to eye-level. So when I came to that part of the park again later on the west side, I made my way through the small Willow trees up to the water's edge hoping I might recreate that sighting. As before, I picked a spot with a better view and just stood there waiting to see what might stop by. I saw a few Cowbirds, Red-wings, Grackles and even Orioles before an unusual bird came into view. It was mostly drab in color and from the size I quickly mistook it for an Eastern Phoebe. There was one obvious marking however that I don't associate with Phoebe's and that was a white eye-ring. Being still the novice birder that I am, my thoughts immediately jumped to some type of new warbler. However, after showing the photo to more experienced birders, they suggested a "Least Flycatcher." This is a bird I'm not that familiar with -being not included in my Birds of Minnesota Field Guide from Stan Tekiela. My photo is a near-perfect match with the illustration in my more comprehensive Peterson Field Guide, so I am pretty sure that this is what I saw. This adds additional species to my list of birds at PLP so it was a good visit indeed!

Best Day of Birding Ever - so far!

Today was an unbelievable day for birding at Palmer Lake Park! I have 5 photos to post today -which is a lot- and 3 of those 5 are completely new species that I've never photographed before! And in addition to what I'm posting, I spotted so many more that I just want to name them all here just for record keeping purposes: Tree Swallow, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Gray Catbird, Black and White Warbler, Baltimore Oriole, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Blue Jay, American Redstart, White-crowned Sparrow, American Crow, Brown-headed Cowbird, Red-winged Blackbird, American Robin, Great Blue Heron, Black-capped Chickadee, Northern Cardinal, Mallard, Wood Duck, Blue-winged Teal, Yellow Warbler, American Goldfinch, Common Yellowthroat, Barn Swallow, Green Heron, Downy Woodpecker, AND two or three unidentified birds to boot! I also distinctly heard White-throated Sparrows, Pheasants and possibly spotted a Brown Thrasher later. It was a landmark date that I should really put on my calendar for next year. The first bird of interest I posting here is a Black and White Warbler, something I'm familiar with from my field guides but can't honestly say I've seen before -much less photographed. I can see why it's so easy to overlook this member of the Warbler family as their streaked color and small size can look like nothing much from a distance. I believe this one is a male because of the extra black coloring around the eye, not to mention that he was singing to beat-the-band. My next photo is of a bird I've spotted only once or twice before -but always in the same spot of the park. I've seen -and heard- these Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers before but have never been able to catch a shot until today. Despite all that I saw today this was my favorite sighting by far. They are fantastically colored Woodpeckers with a beautiful pattern that connects a yellow streak on their shoulder to the white stripe under their eye. They also make an incredible noise that I think is strangely similar to a Ring-billed Gull. Later I spotted a small, rather bland looking bird perched in some shrubs along the inside of the trail. I noticed it had a rather distinct looking striping along it's head so I paid attention and followed it until it hopped right out onto the paved trail. I think I identified it right away as a White-crowned Sparrow though again I can't say I've ever seen, much less photographed one. For a brand-new bird (to me) I was happy that it stayed fairly close and just sort of followed along ahead of me on the edge of the paved trail. It eventually went into the grass, pulling at some Dandelion flowers when I started getting the best shots. I got an even closer shot than this but unfortunately it didn't show the "white crown" for which it is named. As I entered the thick areas on the southeast side, the woods were just bursting with the sound of birds. Right away I spotted a Yellow Warbler and I was really excited to see my first one this year! In fact they were all over the place, singing loudly and I tried to remember and repeat their sound out loud by whistling. As I repeated the phrase and tone that I thought I'd heard, I looked up only to see a totally different bird making that same noise. This time it was an American Redstart -also a member of the Warbler family and quite difficult in my opinion to get photos of. It was a bit on the dark side today with the light and now that I was under the canopy of the trees it was not helping either. Regardless, I was able to see one and photograph it, which is no small accomplishment in my book! As I continued I realized that the Redstarts and Yellow Warblers were both in the same area and it was fairly difficult to tell them apart merely from their songs. I used my Birds of Minnesota Audio CD -played on my iphone- to try and help but the noises of the actual birds in the area made it difficult to decipher between the two. Quite a few Yellow Warblers would periodically fly out from under the tree canopy to land in another spot and this was the best way spot them and get my camera on them. These Yellow Warblers are beautiful birds when you get to see them and their singing is just as beautiful. They're not quite the same yellow color as a Goldfinch and I would describe them as a deeper, richer and more orangy-yellow, with no black patches like the Goldfinch. The only other coloring they have is some rusty-orange streaking on their breast. Later I spotted yet another small bird with some striking yellow coloring -a Common Yellowthroat that I wasn't able to get great photos of. I expect to see many more of them this summer but it was a perfect end to my walk today -and added a 4th Warbler sighting in just one day!

May Day

This Tuesday evening after work I visited the park for the 4th day in a row. It was nice but sort of that hazy bluish-grey sky that makes for bad photos. Not that there was much to photograph though anyway. One thing I did see on the south side was my first Great Egret of the season. This one was flying overhead and I tried quickly to catch a shot before he passed. I'm a little concerned about Egrets as they've not been as plentiful as in previous years. I'll be counting their numbers at the park this year for comparison. I've been off-roading it a lot during my hikes lately and I did so again on the northeast side, spotting a Blue Jay just before leaving the trail. I hiked through the woods to a line of trees that runs almost perfectly east - west. Here I spotted a Sparrow similar to one I'd seen yesterday and for the life of me I cannot positively identify it, though I know it's either a Chipping Sparrow or an American Tree Sparrow. When I first started birding, I purposely stayed away from Sparrows because I knew how difficult they could be to distinguish from one another. But I'm now to a point where I'd really like to know how to tell them apart. Going from my photos only, there are more clues pointing to a Chipping Sparrow but by gut instinct says that it's an American Tree Sparrow -based more on the streaked breast and faint-but-noticeable dark spot in the middle of the breast. I will have to keep looking for more and hopefully get some more comparison shots before I can finally make up my mind.