Snipe Hunting

If you've ever heard the term "Snipe Hunt" or "Snipe Hunting" or have unwittingly taken part in said practice, you might know that it is a common practical joke. The idea is to send an inexperienced person –maybe on a camping trip– into the woods with a bag or pillowcase and tell them that if they make particular strange noises or bang rocks together, that Snipe will come running towards them. The practical jokers know that such an idea is preposterous but I've even seen television shows that "let on" that there is no such thing as a Snipe. But there is indeed such a bird and the origin of the joke is likely based on the fact that real Snipe are terribly secretive birds –and would never be found near anyone making loud noises. My first sighting of this elusive bird was yesterday and I really wanted to go back today in hopes of a better photo. Considering just how skittish they are, I think I did fairly well by periodically moving my stool closer and closer to the edge of the flooded field. But even so, I was difficult to get close before they would spook and fly back into the bordering woods. For a while I actually could see one hiding right up against the chain link fence in a clump of grass. I attempted to move closer and closer to this one as well but it too let me get only so close before taking off. But now that I was in a good position, I stayed long enough for a small group of Lesser and Greater Yellowlegs to return. I really liked how this particular photo came out as you can see both Lesser and Greater next to each other, and especially you get an idea of how they delicately walk through the water. Shorebirds can be an especially tough family of birds to know and identify. Many many of them tend to look quite similar in size, shape and color –distinguishable only by very subtle differences. After a fair amount of sitting, I felt like hiking again and decided to walk out along the edge of the woods on the north side. I quickly spotted a Hermit Thrush by eyeing the bright, rusty reddish brown coloring on the back and tail. For such a mostly brown bird, these are quite a beautiful bird and they are fun to see! This one appeared to be grooming and let me get in closer than usual. While hiking through the tall grass I could periodically hear something rustling down below me and one of the times I looked down I caught a glimpse of this Common Garter Snake. He had his head held up as he knew I was there. I got down low to his level to take a few pics and was waiting for his tongue to come out but it never did. Never the less, I like how the photo came out –showing both old dried up grass as well as new, bright green grass as part of the backdrop. There was one more bird I really wanted to "hunt down" today and that was a Rusty Blackbird. Though I'd recently gotten some great photos of one down at North Mississippi Regional Park, I wanted to document them at PLP as well. I'd definitely heard and spotted glimpses of them but had not gotten a photo here yet. So on my way back I checked the flooded fields at 73rd Ave. N. and sure enough there were one or two poking around the water. I've almost always found Rusty's in or near snow melt or some type of standing water. On quick tip on telling them apart from a more common Red-winged Blackbird is that they will have bright yellow eyes versus black eyes. The Common Grackle also has bright yellow eyes but is much larger than both the Rusty and RW Blackbirds.