These are one of my very favorite ducks and I was lucky enough to see them close up a the Coon Rapids Dam area last spring. This one (a male too) was pretty far out there with a group of Northern Shovelers, but I took a photo anyway just to confirm my sighting. He is on the far left in the photo. On the south side of the park in the little tiny pond near the parking lot I noticed a pair of Blue-winged Teals and managed to catch a half-way decent photo of the male. 
Like many of the more wild ducks, they are easily spook-able and tough to get close to. I guess I ought to mention that the weather was incredible today at 75ยบ and sunny. The park was just teeming with people who were out enjoying the weather. The park just emanated Spring today, from the smells to the constant calling of birds, to the Pussy Willows who's fuzzy white catkins are now morphing into bright yellow-green color. 
I walked the entire 3 mile circumference of the park tonight and boy was I really seeing a lot of birds. I was taking photos of even common birds so that it would help me remember them all when I got home. I will list all the birds I spotted tonight at the end, but one that I managed a pretty good photo of was a Ruby-crowned Kinglet. This is one of the smallest birds we see here in Minnesota, and they are known for not sitting still for very long. I've been seeing them fairly regularly in the past week but it seems that I am seeing more females than males. 
Like many birds, the species is so named after the male who exhibits a tiny, bright red patch on his head that can raise up like a crest. The females look exactly the same but without the red crown. So this one here is obviously a female. Coming back to the east side parking lot I spotted an unusual looking bird perched in the setting sun. Upon looking closer with my binoculars I realized it was a female Red-winged Blackbird! 
This is somewhat exciting simply because it's the first female I've seen this year and shows that the females tend to show up weeks after the males do. I have yet to ever come across a RWB nest which seems odd simply because of how many there are in the park. I had one more surprise for the evening as I sat on the granite bench overlooking the eastern most body of water. I could see a few Common Mergansers way out there and this is a species I've only documented one other time before at the park. There were actually two pair –two males and two females but I didn't get them all in this shot. 
I am always surprised at the variety of waterfowl that pass through the park each spring! It always makes me wonder –if the water was less polluted, would they stay longer? And might there be even more species that would visit Palmer Lake Park?My total list for the day (32 species):
1. Red-winged Blackbird (and first female of season!)
2. Brown-headed Cowbird
3. Common Grackle
4. Song Sparrow
5. Fox Sparrow
6. American Tree Sparrow
7. Northern Cardinal
8. Blue Jay
9. Cedar Waxwing
10. American Coot
11. Mallard
12. Ruddy Duck
13. Canada Goose
14. Blue-winged Teal
15. Common Merganser
16. Lesser Scaup
17. Wood Duck
18. American Robin
19. Great Blue Heron
20. Pied-billed Grebe
21. Hairy Woodpecker
22. Red-bellied Woodpecker
23. Pileated Woodpecker (heard)
24. Ring-necked Pheasant (heard)
25. Great Horned Owl
26. Tree Swallow
27. Mourning Dove
28. Yellow-rumped Warbler
29. Black-capped Chickadee
30. Ruby-crowned Kinglet
31. American Goldfinch
32. Northern Shoveler
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