I had this Monday off of work and after a day of running errands I decided to try and squeeze in a walk around the park before it got dark. I didn't get there until about 3:15pm and I knew it was gonna get dark in a hurry. The first things I spotted were a Red-tailed Hawk and then on the southwest side was still the one, lone Wood Duck with all the Mallards. I'm not sure why he's hanging out with all these noisy ducks but he was huddled up on a branch of his own that was poking out of the water.
On the north side I spotted a young looking deer, then another and another and then two older ones. I never saw much for Fawns in the park this year so I wasn't really sure how many yearlings are around. A bit further down the trail I spotted yet another young one but this time a little closer to the trail. Another park-goer was walking by as I was taking pictures and we talked about how you usually see one deer, then another and realize they're part of a group of 4-5 or even more. I didn't hear an "official" count of the number of deer taken during this year's archery hunt, but other park goers told me it was only between 8 and 10 I think.
That actually seems kind of low to me, but if you consider that the hunt only takes place on the Brooklyn Park side of the park -and the hunters can't cross the line into Brooklyn Center- then I guess it might be more difficult than you'd think. The Deer can easily run out into the center of the park which is just past the dividing line. As I was coming around the north side, it was starting to get dark already and I was looking at the smaller Oak Trees that still have a lot of leaves on yet. I was thinking to myself that if I were an Owl, this is where I would hang out -and then only minutes later I heard one "whoo!" I figured I would try and follow the sound for a bit just in case. I believe there were two of them and by the sound I guessed they were Great-Horned Owls. I'm pretty sure that December and January are their mating season and like other years it's fairly common to hear them during these months. Before coming to the drainage ditch that runs under the path, I caught a glimpse of one, lower than expected and near a group of houses.
I took one photo before it flew out and actually flew towards me, across the trail! It landed in a taller tree directly over the drainage ditch where I had a better view. Only thing was that it was really dark out by now. I tried setting my camera to a night-time setting which is why this photo looks so blue in color. At the time I couldn't even see his face or tell which way he was facing. This is the first GHO I've seen this season.
On the north side I spotted a young looking deer, then another and another and then two older ones. I never saw much for Fawns in the park this year so I wasn't really sure how many yearlings are around. A bit further down the trail I spotted yet another young one but this time a little closer to the trail. Another park-goer was walking by as I was taking pictures and we talked about how you usually see one deer, then another and realize they're part of a group of 4-5 or even more. I didn't hear an "official" count of the number of deer taken during this year's archery hunt, but other park goers told me it was only between 8 and 10 I think. 
That actually seems kind of low to me, but if you consider that the hunt only takes place on the Brooklyn Park side of the park -and the hunters can't cross the line into Brooklyn Center- then I guess it might be more difficult than you'd think. The Deer can easily run out into the center of the park which is just past the dividing line. As I was coming around the north side, it was starting to get dark already and I was looking at the smaller Oak Trees that still have a lot of leaves on yet. I was thinking to myself that if I were an Owl, this is where I would hang out -and then only minutes later I heard one "whoo!" I figured I would try and follow the sound for a bit just in case. I believe there were two of them and by the sound I guessed they were Great-Horned Owls. I'm pretty sure that December and January are their mating season and like other years it's fairly common to hear them during these months. Before coming to the drainage ditch that runs under the path, I caught a glimpse of one, lower than expected and near a group of houses. 
I took one photo before it flew out and actually flew towards me, across the trail! It landed in a taller tree directly over the drainage ditch where I had a better view. Only thing was that it was really dark out by now. I tried setting my camera to a night-time setting which is why this photo looks so blue in color. At the time I couldn't even see his face or tell which way he was facing. This is the first GHO I've seen this season.
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