A Wet and Humid Sunday

This Sunday morning it had been raining just enough to get everything wet and also deter me from taking out my new camera. The new one is just too big (with the lens) to easily cover it up under my clothing to keep it dry if need be. So the only way I was going to get around the park today was with my much smaller and older point and shoot. When I arrived at the park the sky was still overcast and drizzling so I wrapped my raincoat around my waist in case the rain got heavy. The first thing I ran into was a Doe on the south side that other park goers were pointing out. She was right alongside the trail and I got some OK pics but it made me realize once again just how tricky my old camera really was. Unless using a tripod or leaning against something solid it's just very hard to get crisp and sharp details. I noticed that all the foliage had nice drops of moisture on them and figured I might try to focus more on that and other closeup shots -the one thing my old camera does very well! This first one is of raindrops on a Spotted Jewelweed (touch-me-not) plant. I really like the how the drops were glistening in the sun. Oh I forgot to mention that not even 1/4 of the way around, the sky cleared up completely and it began to warm up quickly, making my raincoat pretty pointless to have brought with. On the north side, in the same area I always look for them, I finally caught my first closeup glimpse of a Hummingbird this year. I've seen them already from distances, but not feeding low to the ground like this one. He was also feeding on the Jewelweed flowers and I snapped a few photos while he took just a quick break. It's neat to see Hummingbirds in action but I think it's also neat to see them perched. You really get an idea of just how small they are! Later I spotted another Doe and this time with two young fawns. They were back aways from the trail and I really couldn't get any decent photos. They fawns were quite young and still short enough hide well under the tall weeds. The wet and humid weather had brought out the Dragonflies, Turtles and even Toads. I caught this one on the edge of the paved trail.

Join us for a Nature Hike!

Friends of Palmer Lake Park has scheduled a Nature Hike on Saturday, August 11, at 8 AM until 10:30 AM. Come for fun and learning as we identify various birds, mammals, plants and even dragonflies that inhabit this gem of a city park. Bring a pair of binoculars if you have them. We will be meeting at the East Palmer Lake Parking Lot at 8:00 am. From 694 exit on Shingle Creek Parkway about a mile North, to 69th Ave. N make a Right to go East. Make a left onto Oliver Ave and go 2 blocks to the parking lot on your left. Or, from 252 go west onto 70th Ave N keep following it past a stop sign to Oliver Ave. where you will make a left and go two blocks to the parking lot on you left, as above.

It is FREE and it is FUN! For more info call 763-228-3383 or email palmerlakeguy@gmail.com

For an online map click here: http://goo.gl/maps/dEUw

Slowly it is Surely Summer

With a healthy amount of rain and warm temps, the park is life. At the start of my walk today I saw a young Buck with velvety spiked antlers, a female Redstart, Eastern Phoebe and a Green Heron among other things. As with many summer days it started out hazy but gradually "burned off" as I made my way around. For all of the birds above me there are equally interesting things below me and one of them that caught my eye was this tiny little snail making his way across a leaf. I just love snails and how slow they move. It reminds me that nature develops slowly but surely and perfectly. Sometimes I wish I were a snail and able to experience life at that pace versus my often too-hectic life. The next thing of interest I decided to post today is this pair of Mushrooms. I can't say for sure if I've seen this type before but if I have it's not been to often. A lot of mushrooms I see at the park have a skinnier shaft and wider "umbrella" top versus these kind. I obviously have no idea what they are but at the moment I'm sticking to learning more birds before overwhelming myself with a whole new challenge. I took the picture simply because to me it looks as though the one is leaning in to tell the other one a secret. Later on I did catch a quick glimpse of an interesting bird, and one that I don't have many closeups of. This female Rose-breasted Grosbeak was hopping about the lower portions of the young Willow trees probably looking for insects. She looked a bit on the scraggly side, maybe ruffling her feathers as she went through the willows. Or possibly it was a juvenile as well. They are definitely not a pretty as the males but it's good to spot any Grosbeaks in the park!

Sunday Stroll

This Sunday morning I arrived at the park just after 8am and was once again seeing lots of American Redstarts. They were high up in the trees today and making me realize how tough it is to see them near the ground as I did yesterday. I wanted to check on the "re-built" Cooper's Hawk nest today and was happy to see at least one chick peering over the edge of the nest. With all the activity surrounding this nest lately I really hope at least one of them makes it into adulthood but only time will tell. I don't remember exactly where I saw this Common Yellowthroat. They are very very common at the park, but yet another common Warbler that can be hard to catch a good photo of. Like the American Redstart, the Common Yellowthroat doesn't seem to want to come out into the open very much, preferring to hide in thickets near cattails or among the cattails themselves. You'll most always hear a Yellowthroat before seeing it as they are quite loud for such a small little bird. They have a great and easy to remember call and I've had a fair amount of success attracting them closer by using recordings from my iphone -and even my own poorly imitated whistles. I've really come to associate their sound with the warm summertime. You can hear their sound and a lot of other birds on the Cornell Lab of Ornithology site Common_Yellowthroat/sounds. They say that birds often have different "dialects" in different areas and I would have to agree because the recording at this link sounds different than the Yellowthroats I hear every day at the park. The pitch or tone is the same but the emphasis and tempo are different. Later on towards the end of my walk I could see a Northern Flicker up ahead on the ground along the edge of the paved trail. Flickers apparently love to eat ants right off the pavement and they spend a fair amount of time on the ground. After I tried to sneak up behind him he flew just a little ways up into a tree and I was able to catch him before he went up even higher. This one is a male as he has a black "mustache" marking behind the bill whereas the female has no markings here at all.

Colorful Saturday Evening

This Saturday I didn't make it to the park until after 5:30 pm but that ended up to be a good thing. I saw a lot of good sights and took nearly 70 photos during my walk around the park! The first thing I spotted on the south end was an American Redstart who instead of being way up in the trees above me, was actually near the ground. When I first saw him he was sitting on a small log and seemed to have something in his beak. I approached very slowly so as not to spook him away too soon for this was quite a neat vantage point to see one so low. I got a few pics before he did fly off but thankfully he didn't go to far -just across the trail and still at eye level. That is when I grabbed this shot and saw that he had a bright green insect -possibly a Mayfly or Damselfly. This was quite a neat thing and he was even perpendicular to me so I could see much of his bright orange coloring. I wish it would have turned out just a bit more sharp but oh well. I don't normally shoot a lot of flowers and plants -especially with my new camera because it doesn't do closeups well. But the lighting was so beautiful on these tiny purple flowers that I couldn't resist. These are quite prolific in the park and they are often mixed in among the Cattails and Jewelweed. I've never really tried to figure out what they were until just now. Interestingly enough upon a search for "tiny purple flowers in Minnesota," I found their proper name explained by a fellow nature blogger. They are called "Blue Vervain" and are a member of the Verbena family. Thanks to Ecobirder from St. Paul, Minnesota! After seeing more birds including Barn Swallows, Flickers and Cardinals, I spotted a much larger bird up ahead at the end of a dead branch among some Willows. I could tell it was a Hawk of some kind as I slowly made my way around to his front for a better view. It was a mature Red-tailed Hawk and I had a great view of him as the sun made his rusty color even more vibrant. While I started taking pics, he decided to stretch and spread out his left wing which was kind of cool. After appearing to be so comfortable with me standing below him taking photos, I thought he might stick around longer but he did end up taking off shortly afterwards.

Cooper's Hawk Chick Rescue!

I had no idea of the adventure that awaited me today when I arrived at the park. I'd arrived quite early in the morning just before 8am to beat the heat as much as possible. In only the first few minutes I'd seen or photographed Yellow Warblers, Common Yellowthroats, Baltimore Orioles, Cardinals and lots of Goldfinches. But my mood was soon struck down when I noticed something white and fuzzy laying right on the paved trail. It was a young Hawk Chick and was unfortunately dead though it seemed to not have happened all that long ago. I wondered how it came to be laying on the trail and then I realized to look upwards. Straight up above me was a large nest in tatters with an adult Cooper's Hawk perched nearby. I thought what a bummer that this chick had apparently fallen right out of the nest and likely hit the pavement below. I started taking some photos of the adult Hawk who flew off moments later. As I looked at the nest -or what was left of it, I noticed one more fuzzy white body moving around in there somewhere. At least one was left but man, that nest was precarious as could be. I went to take another look at the dead chick on the trail and felt how sharp it's talons were -nearly like the tip of a needle. As I was looking I just barely noticed another white clump of downy feathers only a few feet away and further into the weeds. Oh no I thought -another one had fallen out! Then I noticed it breathing. I quickly used my phone to dial another member of Friends of Palmer Lake Park who happens to have quite a bit of experience with bird rehabilitation. While I waited for him to arrive with gloves and towels, I called the Raptor Center of Minnesota and was surprised to have a real person answer the phone! We exchanged information and called back after a while once we had the chick safely in the box with towels. Over the phone they helped us assess the situation, the bird's condition and even the condition of the nest it apparently fell from. For a number of reasons, the Raptor Center decided the best course of action was to track down a tree climber who could come out to the park, restore the nest and then return the chicks to it. With my inexperience in this area, that really seemed like a long shot to me. The nest was a good 60 if not 70 feet up in a Boxelder Tree that wasn't all that big around. On top of that it was Sunday morning and the likelihood of finding a climber within a short time seemed slim. Nevertheless, I went along with the plan to take the chick home to my house and wait until being contacted by a climber. It was a bit nerve-wracking, driving it all the way home trying not to jar it around too much in my truck that rides like a brick on wheels. Our resident bird rehab specialist who'd come out to help explained that sometimes it takes 4-5 hours or even a whole day to track down a climber who is available and in the area. So I had no idea how long I was going to have this bird in a box but worried that the longer we waited the less chance it had. Then in a stroke of luck less than an hour later, I received a call from a tree climber named Jim who was not only close but available to tackle the project in just one more hour. I gave him directions to the nearest place to park and headed back over the park with the boxed up chick to meet him. I pointed out the nest and to my amazement he said it was do-able and started gearing up to climb the tree! At this point I was pretty excited that I was gonna get to see this done first hand -not to mention even help out however I could. He leaned a tall extendable ladder up against the base of the tree, got out a whole lot of rope and started making his way up. I went for my camera to take some pictures and was heartbroken when I didn't hear the familiar click. I looked and sure enough, I'd forgotten my camera card at home when I earlier emailed in some photos of the chick to the Raptor Center. Dang!!! I realized I would just have to watch. On his belt, Jim carried up a 2'x2' piece of bendable wire fencing that would be used to provide a completely new base for the nest. With great care and calming words to the one chick still left up there, he scooped it up and put it into his bag which he then lowered down as he proceeded to rebuild the nest. After creating a sturdy and snug base in between the crook of 3 branches, he broke off other twigs from the tree to quickly reinforce it. At the bottom he asked me to collect anything I could find that was soft -like grasses and weeds. I shoved those into the bag and then got the opportunity to transfer the other chick from the box into the bag. Luckily I'd brought along my own heavy gloves just in case. Within mere minutes Jim had quite a new nest lined with the softer material and then transferred both chicks back into it. The whole process took maybe 25 to 30 minutes tops and I could hardly believe it went so smooth. The nest looked better than ever and hopefully will contain the little guys for just another week or so. Jim estimated that they might be flying within one to two weeks so they just have to make it a little longer. What an all around great experience it was to have worked with the Raptor Center and Jim who was able to perform such and amazing feat with speed and finesse. My feet would have never made it past the top rung of the ladder! Make sure to check out their website at www.raptor.cvm.umn.edu After the chicks were safely back in the nest I didn't hang around so as not to draw any more attention to it. We could hear the mother calling from nearby trees but when I left the park she'd not returned yet to the nest. Jim was extremely knowledgeable about raptors and explained that he could have been up there for 2 hours and a Cooper's Hawk will still return afterwards. A few hours later after telling my wife of the whole story, we returned to the park and saw that the mother had indeed returned and even looked to be feeding the chicks as we walked up within viewing distance. This last photo is of the new nest and mom's tail feathers sticking out. A happy ending I think -as long as the chicks don't get to rambunctious and take another dive. A HUGE THANK YOU TO JIM AND THE RAPTOR CENTER OF MN -YOU GUYS ARE AMAZING!!!

Hot Hot Hot 4th of July

I had the day off of work this Wednesday for the 4th of July holiday. It was weird having one day off in the middle of the week but a good reason to visit the park. It was gonna be another hot day and in fact there has been much talk of it being the hottest 4th of July on record with temps nearing 100 degrees! To beat the heat I got to the park just before 7:30 in the morning. There's been Gray Catbirds everywhere in the park since late spring but I've not been able to catch any good photos of them yet this year. Here is my latest attempt. They can be one of the noisiest birds in the woods throughout the summer. On the north side in the glaring sun I watched a pair of male and female Baltimore Orioles in the shrubby trees where the Hummingbirds become prominent later on. The male stayed back further where I couldn't see him as well but the female got a bit closer. The females look so much duller orange -almost yellow- compared to the males but they are still fun to see. This area of the park is actually one of the better places to see birds and attracts everything from Goldfinches and Yellow Warblers to Rose-breasted Grosbeaks and Hummingbirds. There have also been a LOT of Rabbits everywhere lately -especially a lot of little young ones. I think in the summer they come out of the woods more due to the mosquitoes. I sure know I would!

Heading into Summer

I arrived at the park early this Sunday morning just before 8am. Even the month of June has been unusually warm so I'm thinking that July will be more of the same. For a couple of my early morning walks in June, the first bird I would spot and/or photograph was a Brown Thrasher. That was true again this morning which is making me start to think of them as a "morning bird" -even more so than a Robin. This one was right up above me but I still had a great view of him and his bright yellow eyes. You can't tell so much in this photo but another distinguishing trait is that they have very long, slightly curved bills. It makes them kind of stand out from other similarly colored birds. A short while later I had a chance to photograph an American Redstart from quite a close distance -only he was unfortunately facing directly away from me. I was kind of bummed but the photo actually shows some wing and tail details of the Redstart that I've not really been able to see before. They are much too quick of a bird and are often sitting in dark shaded areas hence you never really see much of them long enough to really understand what they look like. On the north side of the park I was surprised to see a single Wild Turkey heading out of the woods and towards the paved trail. I think it was a female and I waited until she was right on the trail so I could take a shot. When turkeys come out into an open area they're usually walking quite a bit faster so of course the head was moving a bit to fast for my camera.