A Memorable Walk and a NEW Species!

It's been just over a week now into my leave of absence from work for some minor back surgery. The doctors all suggested to walk as much as I felt I could so of course I've been spending some long days at the park. Today before my walk even began I met with a writer for the SunPost who wanted to interview me! This was because myself and the Friends of Palmer Lake Park were planning a "Spring Bird Hike" near the end of this month. To my surprise the writer asked if we could meet at the park so I said sure! We sat at the picnic tables underneath the shelter on the east side and he recorded some of our conversation. Afterward he wanted to walk a bit with me and see if he couldn't get any bird photos himself. We had barely started around the path when we spotted a Black-and-white Warbler so at least it DID appear to him that there were indeed some interesting birds to be seen here. The article was published later and you can read it here. After parting ways I quickly spotted more birds –as early May is likely THE best time of year anywhere in Minnesota to be out bird watching! A Chestnut-sided Warbler, Goldfinch, Brown Thrasher, Gray Catbird, Red-winged Blackbird, Wood Ducks, some type of Shorebird and an American Coot were all seen before I got to the wood chip trail just to the south! But upon setting out onto the wood chip trail, I met another birder –a young woman who instantly showed me a photo of a bird she'd taken just minutes earlier. It was of a Golden-winged Warbler, a bird I've NEVER seen before! She had managed a fantastic shot of the bird while it was close to the ground and I was shocked. Together we tried to relocate the bird and in not too much time we managed to do so. This time we found a couple of them atop some tall Aspen trees, picking at the freshly budding leaves. This bird was beautiful and I was ecstatic to be watching a brand new species for me at the park! I had a hard time catching the bird sitting still and also because of the height, I wasn't able to get many great photos. But here is my favorite shot, quite cropped but it shows the trademark black mask and throat as well as the bright yellow "cap." The only thing it doesn't show is the bright yellow "stripe" on the outer wing for which the bird is named. After spending a LOT of time here taking many many photos, I finally moved on to find a very curious young Buck who walked out on the trail very close to me. He was just getting "nubbins" and they must have been itchy because he was trying to bring his back leg all the way up to his head. He was followed shortly after by a Doe and they both passed into the woods. Scanning the trees and brush even more closely now, I spotted yet another Golden-winged Warbler more near eye level. But it was such seriously thick brush that I couldn't manage even one decent photo. But not too much further along, my probing eye caught another interesting species –a White-crowned Sparrow. This is a bird I just don't see a lot of in general, especially at PLP. But as I said, this being early May, you never know what you might find!