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!
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!
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