When September Ends

After a rainy day yesterday, it was perfectly clear and sunny this Sunday. It was just a great day for a birding hike around the park and I saw plenty of them, including; Yellow-rumped Warbler, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Gray Catbird, Black-capped Chickadee, White-throated Sparrow, Northern Cardinal, American Goldfinch and even a Cooper's Hawk. One of the first interesting things I spotted was not a bird though. There were TONS of these fragile, thin mushrooms growing out of the wood chip trail on the south side. They were in clusters of 5 to 20 or so and had just the faintest hint of pale blue coloring. Many of the tops were not flat like a disc but rather flared out like a flower. I have no idea what kind they are and couldn't find any good information online either. One of the birds that I probably saw the most of today were White-throated Sparrows. They are just everywhere you can find standing weeds yet and I'm assuming they are looking for seeds in the dried up foliage. At first glance these look pretty much like any other sparrow, only just slightly larger. If you can catch a glimpse of them from the side or front, you'll see a little patch of bright yellow and a kind of "furry" looking white patch on their throat for which they are named. Here in the same patch of weeds I spotted this Goldfinch who was looking rather pale and fitting in with many of the leaves that are now just starting to turn a dull yellow.

Saturday Soaker

This Saturday it rained almost all morning. It is much needed after such a dry summer but by now it's almost too late for many plants and trees that have endured yet another hot and dry summer. After about 1:00pm or so it stopped raining and I was able to get in a walk around the park. It was completely cloudy and everything was still wet but at least my camera would stay dry. There aren't many trees showing fall colors yet but there are usually a few exceptions where immature trees turn quickly and shed a few brightly colored leaves. I figured the recent rain might really bring out the birds but instead it was somewhat quiet. One good bird I did spot was a Tennessee Warbler who was picking on the white berries of a Dogwood bush. I always wondered what birds might eat these and now I know at least one. I didn't get a good photo of him and as I approached closer he flew off, but I could definitely ID him by that unique almost iridescent olive-green coloring on his back. Other birds I saw a lot of later on were White-throated Sparrows, Northern Cardinals, Black-capped Chickadees and Northern Cardinals. After spotting a small yellow bird on the north side, I happened to notice this Woolly bear Caterpillar who was actually eating on a plant. Honestly I can't say I've ever seen one actually eating a plant before, and I never really knew what they might eat. I've almost always just seen them crawling on the ground. Surprisingly he was nibbling on a common Thistle plant. It looked like maybe the plant had broken and he was eating the inside, or maybe it was the Caterpillar himself that was responsible for eating right through the stalk. Woolly Bears have a fascinating life cycle and can actually freeze completely solid through the winter before pupating the following Spring. Eventually they turn into what is called the Isabella Tiger Moth.

Another Nice Saturday in September

It was after 4:30 by the time I arrived at the park this Saturday. It was another beautiful, sunny day just right for birdwatching. Only in the past week I've begun to notice both Ruby-crowned Kinglets and Yellow-rumped Warblers returning to our area. Only a short distance from the parking lot on the east side I spotted a few little birds in the Willows behind the baseball diamonds. I was able to get a few good looks at this Yellow-rump. I used to think all of these dull colored ones were females but now I doubt that. This one in particular, though very dull, looks to have a distinctly darker head making me think it is a male in his fall plumage but I am no expert yet. Another Warbler that I got to see today at the park is one that I'm somewhat only recently familiar with. Though I've seen this warbler in other places, I believe this is my first positive ID and photo of a Nashville Warbler at Palmer Lake Park. This one was spotted above the little creek connecting the two most western bodies of water –which is a great place to see wildlife in general. Later near the north end of the park I spotted something brightly colored moving around in the top of a Buckthorn tree and had to take a second look. It appears that someone had dumped a fair amount of apples under the trees and a Gray Squirrel was taking advantage of the plentiful meals. I've noticed piles of these same apples in a couple other places along the trail on the east side as well. I doubt that it's very good for wildlife as they can become accustomed to being fed. But for a change I'm gonna find the silver lining here and say that at least apples, corn and other food I've found at the park is at least biodegradable, and for sure better than dumping garbage in the park! On the northeast corner of the park I decided to poke around a bit in the woods where I've seen Ovenbirds in the spring, hoping I might get to see one again. They really seem to like this particular area underneath the mature cottonwood trees among all the leaf litter. I didn't see one but instead noticed a drab colored bird just a bit smaller than a Robin but with a white breast with some faint spotting. It was getting darker already by this time and even darker now under the tree canopy. I can't say for certain what bird this was but it had to be either a Veery or some kind of Thrush. Going by the prominent white eye-ring, I would be more inclined to say it was maybe a Swainson's Thrush!

Cool and Overcast Sunday

Well I think our late summer warmth has finally gone away. The temperature this morning was a surprising 37 degrees! And it was the first time I found myself wearing not only blue jeans, but a long-sleeved sweatshirt as well. It was kind of a nice change actually. Though the only Warbler I saw was a Common Yellowthroat, I saw a fair amount of other birds. In fact I saw 90% of all my birds today in one small area. Just off of the woodchip trail on the south end of the park is an area full of tall weeds and shrubs that give birds lots of hiding places as well as food sources I'm assuming. I stayed here for a good 20 minutes and in that time saw: Rose-breasted Grosbeak, American Goldfinch, Mourning Dove, Blue Jay, Northern Cardinal, Brown Thrasher, Black-capped Chickadee and Gray Catbird. A few of the Blue Jays I saw seemed to be carrying Acorns in their beaks. The Catbird I got the best photo of however was nearer the east end of the park as I was heading back to my vehicle. They rarely sit so still for me and I was happy to get this and a few other decent shots. Around the park I also noticed a few small snails slowly crossing the paved trail like they always do. I often pick them up and help them across so that they don't get crushed by bikers or joggers. Like Monarchs, they have been few and far between this year for some reason. In other years I've had to really watch my step to avoid stepping on them just while walking on the paved trail.

Friday the 13th

I got a "free pass" of sorts today as our offices unexpectedly closed up early and I found myself free on a beautiful late afternoon. The weather was simply awesome today as cooler weather had finally arrived. It was sunny, cool, dry and calm –everything a Minnesotan rarely has! I was tempted to go birding at the cemetery near my workplace but chose PLP instead, thinking I'd have a better chance for migrating fall Warblers. And I did see one right off the bat –a Northern Waterthrush bobbing his tail up and down on the muddy shore of a small pond near the east side. I was hoping for a better photo but I'm happy to spot this bird at all as they blend into their environment extremely well. In fact I put an arrow in this photo so you can locate him easier. This would prove to be the only Warbler I spotted today but I'm always happy when I'm able to see a Bluebird. I heard this one singing long before I found him atop the chain link backdrop to the baseball diamond on the west side. I was hoping his position would give me enough leeway to get close to him and indeed I did. I was able to get right up underneath this male and snapped a funny shot of him looking suspiciously at me. I'm wondering how much longer the Bluebirds will stick around before heading south. I really took my time walking the rest of the way as it was just so nice outside. As the sun was setting I found myself standing out in a field of tall ragged weeds, still hoping for another Warbler. Instead I caught this Goldfinch peering down at me from a Buckthorn tree.

A Few Good Warblers but No Photos

This weekend I went to Sparta Wisconsin for some bike riding and unfortunately I didn't get in hardly any bird watching. So my only outing to PLP this weekend was on late Sunday afternoon. Though the temp was in the mid to upper 70's, it was still humid and very much feels like Summer in the first week of September. I was hoping to see some new Warblers passing through today and indeed I did. I actually spotted 5 different Warblers including Common Redstart (female), Common Yellowthroat, a Tennessee Warbler, a Magnolia Warbler and my favorite, a Black and White Warbler! Of all these however, I didn't get a single photo as the majority of them were high up in the treetops picking insects off the leaves. I was lucky enough to even have spotted them briefly using my binoculars. Some other things I did get photos of were this Monarch Butterfly on the south east corner. Here there is usually a large field of wildflowers that was recently mostly mowed down. I'm not sure which party is responsible, or why they decided to do so, but mowing over all these wild plants effectively destroyed a ton of food sources for many birds and insects. In addition to the Warblers listed above, I saw quite a few other birds today including; Blue Jays, Cardinals, a Brown Thrasher, Chickadees, lots of Robins, Mallards, Wood Ducks, an Eastern Phoebe, a Least Flycatcher, a Green Heron, Goldfinches, Cedar Waxwings, Canada Geese and two female Rose-breasted Grosbeaks. These I spotted again on the north side along the trail in some thick Buckthorn trees. I've not seen a male Grosbeak for quite a while now which makes me wonder if the males start migrating before the females. When I got to the footbridge over Shingle Creek, I spotted one last bird –a Belted Kingfisher. It was squawking loudly and actually flew under the bridge below me to perch on a recently fallen tree over the creek. Since I've not caught a decent photo of this somewhat infrequent visitor, I figured it should be easy to hike upstream and get closer for a better shot. But every time I got anywhere near the Kingfisher it would fly further upstream and perch again. This repeated a few times before I finally lost sight of him. I was totally bummed and the Kingfisher remains elusive to my camera lens still at Palmer Lake Park.

Summer Continues Past Labor Day

I had an additional day off of work this Tuesday but I didn't get to the park until about 4:30 in the afternoon. It is the day after Labor Day now and I'm surprised that our warm weather is still hanging on this late. There is a small little pond near the parking lot on the south side that I often spend a fair amount of time near as I see a lot of birds here. This evening I was fortunate to get close to this Green Heron and get two pics before he flew off. In the dimming light he appeared a beautiful blueish-purple color. I really like how this came out except for the branch in front of his head. Not too much further on the south side wood chip trails I noticed a smaller bird in some shrubs right over me. Hoping I might have a Warbler, I followed him back and forth until I could get some good shots. I was pleasantly surprised to see that it was not a Warbler but a Red-eyed Vireo –and I was much closer than I'd ever been to one before. I could even see his red eyes through my viewfinder as I snapped a bunch of half-decent shots. This is probably my favorite one as it really shows off all of his colors. Previously I never thought of them as too colorful a bird but now I can see how much yellowish green color they have. And now that I think about it, this might be the first photo I've gotten of one at PLP! Finally near the end of my walk I spotted two young Bucks hop out of the thick woods onto the paved trail ahead of me. I've not seen a lot of Bucks this year. These two didn't seem to have any trace of velvet left anymore, and even more interesting was the one had a very awkward spike on one side not in proportion to the other. He will be easy to recognize I would think, if I see him again.

Sweet Start to September!

Well for once the weather prediction was right. Last night we finally got some much needed rain and then the temperature dropped considerably. When I left the house for the park this morning at 8:45 am it was 62 degrees, which is just perfect if you ask me. After spotting a migrant Warbler yesterday, I was hoping that today –coupled with the sharp change in weather– might bring more good luck. Sure enough it did and I had a repeat of yesterday by spotting yet another new Warbler in the park! This time was along the wood chip trail heading towards the railroad ties overlooking the water on the south side. There, on the left side of the trail is an area where many trees fell during a summer storm. It seems to be a good place to watch for birds as all the dead branches make great perches. Just as the sun was coming out, I noticed a handful of little yellow birds and got my camera on the first one I could. I actually didn't know at the time but what I was seeing was a Blue-winged Warbler! Though I didn't catch most of his blue-grey colored wing, the tell tale marking is the black stripe right across the eye. I could hardly believe it once I realized what it was. Yet another first for me! Shortly later I eyed a Brown Thrasher on the ground that seemed to be pouncing on something and then jumping back and up into the air repeatedly. As I got in closer I could see that there was a tiny little Garter Snake on the ground who was holding it's ground tenaciously. The snake was all of about 6 inches long but held it's jaws open and would strike every time the Thrasher tried to pick it up. At such a small size, I figured the bird would eventually win out but the snake just kept fighting. I must have gotten too close and scared the Brown Thrasher off at which point the snake slithered quickly back into the weeds. I was kind of disappointed that I let myself interrupt this scene but I'm sure the snake was thankful. Later on the next wood chip trail I glanced down to notice a bright green Katydid on a large bleached-out leaf. My camera and zoom lens don't take great closeups so I tried quite a few angles and distances. When I got home I was happy to see a few came out and this one even had some good detail of the wings and eye. It's quite obvious that the Katydid is purposely resembling a green leaf to avoid being eaten. Finally, this last photo I took on the north side of the park near the thick bushes of Dogwood after the trail curves. This has always been an excellent place to watch for birds and attracts everything from Orioles to Warblers and Hummingbirds. Today it was a couple of female Rose-breasted Grosbeaks. I always love to see the males and if there's a female around the male is usually somewhere behind her. I watched and waited but never did see the male. This female however posed perfectly for me in a Buckthorn tree closer to the trail. Now if I could just get all birds to cooperate this well!