Last Day of June and First Hummingbird

This Saturday I arrived at the park just after 8:00am to a bright, sunny and cloudless day. I can't believe today is the last day of June already. April, May and June are probably my favorite months now after discovering birding and spring migration. After that it's a little downhill on the birding front for a while. I've not been seeing a lot of Deer lately and in fact I'd really expected to see some newborn Fawns by now. I did catch one this morning shortly after coming round the south side. I thought it made kind of a cool picture because you can the park and street signage in the background. At the railroad ties on the edge of the lake, a flock of unidentified birds were zooming around it a circle, dipping below the edge of the cattails and then coming back up. They were moving too fast for me to make out but they were something I knew I've never seen in the park before. I had a faint idea but it wasn't until I caught a mid-flight photo that I could confirm they were indeed Rock Pigeons! This was such a weird sight to see at Palmer Lake Park. I usually only see Pigeons in more populated areas under bridges and such -not in a more natural area like the park. Just one of them was of a very different color, being more brown and white versus gray. Later I saw a few Crows up ahead and I decided to take few photos only because they were close and in just the right light to see a lot of feather details. Crows, like European Starlings are incredibly tough to photograph because they are so dark. This is probably as much detail as I'd ever seen on a Crow I figured I would post it today. Going round the north side I spotted a tiny little bird on the tip of a dead branch and had to do a double-take. This is the first Hummingbird I've spotted all season though I've been on the lookout for them all this month. Though I've definitely seen them earlier in the park, this date falls right in line with the majority of my Hummingbird sightings. The most common timing to first notice them at the Park is either the last week of June or the first week in July.

Summer Has Arrived

Well it's hard to believe with how warm this Spring has been but the official start of Summer was just 3 days ago. I arrived at the park early this Saturday morning and was happy to catch this Brown Thrasher as my very first photo of the day! I had to shoot through the leaves but I was happy to have caught some of his coloring and his bright yellow eye. I saw a fair amount of birds today including lots of Goldfinches, Gray Catbirds, Common Yellowthroats, Red-winged Blackbirds, Woodpeckers and even the Least Flycatcher again. Another common sight lately are Rabbits. Lately I've been trying to get a nice photo of a baby one just 'cause they're pretty darn cute. I wonder how many get eaten by the Coyotes in the park. The Common Yellowthroat is one of my favorite birds in the park and I'm always trying for a better photo of one. This male finally perched near me and stayed put for a few seconds though his great coloring and pattern was mostly hidden by the branches.

A Clear Tuesday Evening

My walk around the park today came after work around 5:30pm. It was fairly uneventful save for a couple of interesting bird sightings. The first was this Brown Thrasher on the south side. He wasn't that high up in a tree but was straight against the sun so much that I really had a hard time identifying it. It was a bit larger than most birds and with a longer tail so I knew it was something unique but for the life of me I couldn't make out the familiar bright yellow eyes. I realized later that was just due to poor lighting. Anyway I always like seeing these birds. This one stayed quiet but if you ever get to hear one, they are one of the most amazing sounding birds in our area. To hear one visit this link Brown Thrasher voice. On the west side I've been checking the dead treetops for Hummingbirds for a few weeks now but have still not seen any. To my surprise however there were a pair of Cedar Waxwings there instead. Though they are supposedly common in our area year round, I've come to think of them more as a winter bird at the park. They are everywhere in winter but seem to get scarce in the spring and then even more scarce in the late spring and summer. These were the first Waxwings I've spotted since May 29th. The one on the right looks like he had just picked a berry of some kind.

Muggy, Buggy and Birdy

Well, you might see from now on that I may be keeping my journal entries a little shorter on the text side. After three years of blogging I'm finding that I'm struggling to keep up with entries on a regular basis. This is because I'm a slow writer and I take way too much time thinking about what I write, then correct it repeatedly and so on. What was intended to be something very fun can quickly lose it's appeal when I over think it. So going forward my posts may be simply more about what I saw, when and where and I'll leave it at that. The first photo here is of a fledgeling Robin somewhere on the south side of the park. He looked pretty skinny to me. On the north end of the park along the long, straight part of the trail, I encountered two Rose-breasted Grosbeaks perched right next to each other in a lower area of some small trees. First I thought the one sitting behind the male was a female but later my photos showed that it was a young fledgeling. I'm assuming the male was helping feed the young one as later I spotted it with nice big green insect in it's beak. During most of my walk it was so hazy and humid that it really brought out the bugs and mosquitoes. I was getting bit all over the place and was trying to hurry it up until back on the west side when I heard an unusual bird song. It was coming from very high up in a tree and when I looked I saw a tiny blue bird and realized it was an Indigo Bunting. I immediately got out my iphone which contains the "Birds of Minnesota" Audio CD's from Stan Tekiela, and began playing the Indigo Bunting sounds. To my surprise he moved in closer within just minutes and after a bit I found that he was nearly right above me! Even my camera lens was fogging up from the humidity but I was able to catch this one photo. Only a few moments later it started to sprinkle lightly and then finally rain.

Three Years of Birding and Blogging

Well this Spring has certainly been going by quickly. Earlier in the season I realized I'd be coming up on my 3rd year of (regular) walks at the park and blogging about what I'd seen. I'm amazed at everything I've learned in such a short time -and mostly on my own with the help of my camera and a lot of patience. I always tell people that I had to learn all the Minnesota birds in high school science class and that I'd long forgotten them. I can truthfully say know that I've re-learned them all and then some. There's even birds that I would now call common to the park area that are not included in my "Minnesota" specific field guide - a telling story that you need more than one good field guide to most subjects. Something I was happy to get a photo of early into my walk today was this Green Heron on the south side. Seems like they were more plentiful in the park in past seasons and this might be only my first or second photo of one this year. You rarely get to see their weird ugly feet as they are usually standing in water. Only a short while later I had the great opportunity to observe photograph an American Redstart at a closer distance than ever before. I've you every tried to photograph this flitty little Warbler before, you'll know why it is so hard. They are quite common at the park and becoming all the more familiar to me the more I see -and hear- them. I've come to recognize their very high pitches whistle now and get my camera ready before I even see them. I've quite proud of this photo here but realize that it took me exactly 3 years to get it! I won't quit after this though and I don't think I'll ever tire of the challenge in photographing these quick moving Warblers. Only a bit further on the south side I remembered the area where I'd watched the Least Flycatcher building a nest. I tracked down the particular branch and found a completed nest -and with the female sitting in it! What a find I thought as I snapped a few pics before moving on so as not to disturb her. I remember the male being overly cautious and not even approaching the nest area while I was watching so I didn't want to make it seem like I knew where it was and would be back often. The nest itself was unique in that it seemed to be made entirely of cottonwood seed and other soft material rather than sticks.

Early Morning Saturday

I hit the park really early this Saturday even before 7am. As the sunlight was still slightly lower through the trees I caught glimpses of a Yellow Warbler and then two Brown Thrashers on the south side. I couldn't manage a decent photo of either of them for some reason as my camera must have thought it was too early to be taking pictures or something. Still seeing a lot of the more common birds such as Chickadees, Brown-headed Cowbirds, Song Sparrows and such so I was bummed about not getting a pic of the Brown Thrashers. On the west side near the baseball fields I noticed this female Red-winged Blackbird who didn't mind me walking within just a few feet of her. Funny how tame the females are compared to the males. Later on the north side I spotted more Yellow Warblers, dipping into the low grass and then coming back up to perch on the surrounding Willow shrubs. They would do this over and over so I assume they picking insects. There were some other birds doing the same. Not too long after I spotted both a Flicker and then a Baltimore Oriole but again failed at getting any decent shots. Everything was just too far away today. So too was this Indigo Bunting but I'm posting it anyway because I get so few photos of them at the park. I could hear this one singing  and tried to remember it's sound so that hopefully I get more chances in the future. Even from this distance and against a blue sky you could see his brilliantly blue color. You may have to click on the photo and enlarge to really see him.

Cosmic Event on Tuesday Evening

When I got to the park this Tuesday evening after work I parked on the south side and walked over the east to meet a friend for the rest of the way. Shortly after arriving I noticed an Osprey hovering over the water looking for fish. I watched him dive a few times but when he'd near the water's surface my view was obstructed by the cattails. On another try he seemed to be below the cattails for quite some time and when he eventually came up I snapped this pic. I didn't even realize at the time but he was holding a fish -probably a little Bullhead- in his talons. Another thing I didn't know until I viewed the photo closer his that he had a band around his leg. Upon meeting my friend at the east side he explained that the planet Venus was moving in front of the Sun and tonight was the only night you could see it. I actually had no idea it was happening. My friend had seen a piece on the news that showed you how to view it using any old pair of binoculars and a piece of paper. So we found a good place in the sun and tried it out. There it was -just a tiny tiny dot, but quite obviously in front of the sun. Apparently this is the last time the event will be visible in my lifetime which was kind of strange to think about. It won't happen again until the year 2117! If you want to see some better pictures than our little grey dot, visit this link: http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com As we made our way around we spotted one or two Painted Turtles out in the open and near the paved trail. The second one was actually busy digging a hole with it's hind legs in order to lay some eggs. It was in a terrible place we both thought, right near the trail with all those people walking and biking. I'm thinking it's probably pretty tough for the turtles to find any sand or loose soil at all in the park so I can see why they come out near the trail. We watched for a while but never did see her lay any eggs so we moved on. On the north side I heard a nice sounding bird and quickly spotted this Rose-breasted Grosbeak. He was perched near the same trees I've seen them before, on the outside of the trail loop right where the long straight part of the trail meets the edge of the woods. As usual when I've seen a Grosbeak he was facing away from me and hiding his bright red patch. We kind of stalked around him a bit trying to see him at different angles and eventually he turned around to face us. I took a bunch of pictures but was having a hard time getting one I liked with the sun getting low in the sky and piercing through the trees in an unpredictable fashion. I finally got something I was satisfied with and was amazed that he stayed put for so long. Even afterward we stood there still looking and talking and he continued hanging out on the same branch. I'd never seen one stay in the same place for quite so long. It was great to be able to view him for such a long time as they are quickly becoming one of my favorite birds.

New Month and a Great Day of Birding

This Saturday, June 2nd I ended up getting in a late afternoon walk, arriving at the park just after 4pm. The weather was fantastic but it was the first day that I really noticed Mosquitoes. This was probably my second-best day of birding since back in Early May when I spotted a Black and White Warbler. It wasn't necessarily because of the uniqueness of what I saw but the fact that I was presented with some great photo opportunities on top of it. The one I most regret not succeeding on was an American Redstart who gave me lots of chances but the photos just didn't turn out that great. One photo that did turn out good though in my opinion was of this Mallard Hen with her Ducklings. This was in the little pond on the southeast side. I've been trying for a long time to photograph Ducklings but they are always moving around so fast that it turns out blurry. They also don't seem to stay together in a nice little group for very long so this photo is actually quite an achievement for me. The water is not really that green, but a reflection of the trees above. The next bird of interest I was able to catch was of a Least Flycatcher on the south side. This species is still a very new bird to me and I hope that I've identified it correctly. The first time I spotted one only a month ago, I had no idea what it was. It looked vaguely like an Eastern Phoebe but more like a Warbler because of a prominent white eye-ring. Today I got to see one closer and for quite a long time. I first noticed it fly out from a crude nest at the crook of two branches about 15 feet up in a tree. It reappeared fairly quickly with a beak full of grass though it seemed to be very hesitant to return to the nest and I wondered if maybe I was seeing a different bird. The longer I watched it, the closer it came to the nest but never actually returned while I was poised with my camera and fighting off the mosquitoes. I eventually moved on, wondering if possibly it would not complete the nest if I had discovered it. On the north side I spotted a large, orangy-yellow bird land in some dead branches just a few feet inside the trail. It stuck out as something unusual right away with it's large size but the coloring was very akin to a Baltimore Oriole -only different. Then it hit me that it was a female Baltimore Oriole in plain view! She moved to a different set of dead branches within just a few seconds and I snapped as many pics as I could. This is my first photograph of a female Baltimore Oriole and it was quite fun to see. My best photo of the day though was still to come as I made my way along the northeast side. It seemed that I was seeing great birds everywhere I looked. Only a few feet inside the trail and at eye-level was a Coopers Hawk. This was an usual sight and I quickly scared it up and it moved further back into the thicker woods. When the Hawk moved though, I caught a glimpse of a Rose-breasted Grosbeak just a bit further up the trail -also at eye-level! At first he was facing away from me and I could only recognize his mostly black back with patches of white. Since the Hawk was long gone, I decided quickly to pursue the Grosbeak instead and I was happy that I did. As I crept quietly up the paved trail, he stayed perched where he was but turned to face me, showing off his brilliant red breast patch. As I focused on him, another park-goer entered my frame probably thinking I was taking his photo! Much to my surprise, the Grosbeak stayed put as the other person walked past and allowed me even more viewing time. It felt like a once in a lifetime opportunity as I shot photos of him at a great angle, in clear view and in great evening light. Even after viewing the photo I marvel at what a colorful bird this is. He clearly had something in his beak, though I can't say for sure if it was a worm or something else.