A Nice Sunday in Early April

Today is Sunday, April 6th and it was a nice evening for walk around the park. The majority of snow is melted except for in very shaded areas or where it has been piled high on the edges of the paved trails. There were a fair amount of birds (and people) out today. Where the snow melt has pooled alongside the trails, the water was attracting everything from Robins to Ducks, giving me some good photo-ops. This Robin just looked so bright and orange I had to take a photo. American Robins are in the "Thrush" family of birds that includes (in the MN area); Eastern Bluebirds, Veery, Swainson's Thrush, Gray-cheeked Thrush, Hermit Thrush and Wood Thrush. If you were to compare all of these species next to one another, there may be some small difference in sizes, but the overall general shape and posture of the birds would look very similar. Unfortunately everything I saw today wasn't all so pleasing. What had initially brought me to the park today was actually a report of someone who had dumped used auto parts as well as used motor oil in the parking lot! It is beyond reasoning to me why anyone would do such a thing. An acquaintance of mine who I've come to know through our Friends of Palmer Lake Park group was nice enough to contact me after she initially saw the garbage discarded in the West Palmer Park lot. Another Friend of the Park wanted to come out and take some photos before we picked up the trash and consolidated it in a more safe area. We then called the city who promised to come and pick it up the next day. Though I was upset about the incident, this was a great example of how having a "friends of" group dedicated to the park resulted in a quick response. Though it appeared that some of the used motor oil actually spilled onto the ground and traveled into the grass by way of melting snow, things could have certainly been worse if not addressed when it was. Later on when I was able to turn my attention back to the wildlife, I spotted a pair of Blue-winged Teals swimming in the snow melt right near the paved trail on the northwest corner. This is not a great photo but I wanted to share it simply because it's a great comparison in size to the Mallards swimming on the left. A great many of the more "wild waterfowl" such as Wood Ducks, Teals and especially Ruddy Ducks can be quite a bit smaller than you would imagine. Later in the evening after I parted ways with my friend, I decided to hike out along the banks of Shingle Creek and sit for a while. Since last year this has been a favorite viewing place for me, just quietly waiting to see any interesting waterfowl that may swim by. After watching Northern Shovelers and a Pied-billed Grebe, I spotted something walk out of the cattails. It was a Ring-necked Pheasant who walked almost right up to the water's edge. It can be tough to actually spot Pheasants as they can so easily hide among the tall grass and cattails, so this was a fun sighting. I thought maybe I would witness him taking a drink from the creek but in a quick second he burst into the air and flew to the other side. Again, not a great photo here but I think it might be my only photo of a Pheasant in flight. A few other notable sightings today include: Brown Creeper, Northern Shrike, Great Blue Heron and a Cooper's Hawk!