Colorful July Day

This Sunday at the park was a fantastic day for birds. I always think of August as a slow time for birdwatching at PLP so today being the 27th of July, it could be one of the last good days of the summer. Among the many birds I spotted today were Great-crested Flycatcher, Red-eyed Vireo, American Goldfinch, Gray Catbird, Song Sparrow, Northern Cardinal, Indigo Bunting, House Sparrow, Baltimore Oriole, and Red-winged Blackbird. But one bird I really got a good long look at was this talkative House Wren. I could hear two of them chattering back and forth at each other in the low brush to my right. I focused on an open spot where I could get a clear view and sure enough one of them jumped right into my view. The other one flew off but this one stayed around for a few minutes posing and chattering loudly at me. Wrens are neat little birds with a lot of attitude and of course they don't stay put for very long so it is a fun challenge to photograph them. I was super happy to get a photo of the one in mid-chatter with his bill wide open. I have found that Wrens are eager to respond to a recorded call of their chattering sound. There's a lot of quick noise in that call and I wonder what on earth they are saying in such quick bursts. The remaining Wren hopped back down into the brush but popped out for a second to check me out. Out in the baseball fields on the east side of the park were a pair of Killdeer. I've tried in the past to get closer to these guys and they usually bump and fly away very easily. But with my new lens giving me more reach I was finally able to capture a better shot of one today. Killdeer are considered a member of the "shorebird' family and you can see why by the length of their legs. They would allow them to easily walk through flooded and muddy areas while searching for food. Killdeer also make such an interesting and unmistakeable noise –the noise for which they are named, sounding like "kill deeeer, kill deeeer." Along my hike today there was no shortage of Butterflies and insects. I spotted a number of different Dragonflies, Monarchs and even a Black Swallowtail butterfly. A number of the Monarchs I saw were landing on the hot pink colored Swamp Milkweed plants, making for great photo opportunities. I took dozens and dozens of shots but it was worth it to get just this one gorgeous image. I may indeed get this one framed later on. A very enjoyable visit!

Mid-July Warblers

Today was predicted to be hot and muggy so I wanted to get in a walk early in the morning. I arrived at the park around 6:45am and this was the earliest I've hiked in a long time. In addition, I had intended to make it all the way around today –another thing I've not done very often as of late. I had my new lens with today as well so I was bound and determined to get a few decent bird photos. There are still two species of Warblers that can be found –American Redstarts and Common Yellowthroats, and I figured I would be happy if I could get a good shot of either one. But before I had an opportunity at either of these birds, I was in for an even better surprise. From a distance I'd spotted what looked to be a female American Redstart, but it quickly moved up into the thick part of a Buckthorn tree. When I got closer, I looked up and into the area and saw a little bird with even more color than I expected. I thought "hey, that looks almost like a Chestnut-sided Warbler." As the bird came into an open area through the leaves, I realized it was indeed a Chestnut! The last CSW I've seen at Palmer Lake was in May. This is the time when the vast majority of them are heading even further north to their breeding grounds in northern Minnesota and Canada. But what was this one doing here? Well, for one thing it's color and pattern did not look quite fully formed, meaning that it's likely a juvenile. I didn't notice at the time, but it's tail is extremely short and stubby, another sign that the bird is not fully developed yet. So the big question now is this; is this an early migrant that fledged further north and is making it's way south? OR, is this possibly a bird that was born and fledged right here in Palmer Lake Park? Though I've not seen a single CSW in the Twin Cities area since May, it IS entirely possible that this bird fledged within or near Palmer Lake Park. The reason is that if you look at what's called a "range map" for a Chestnut-sided Warbler, the Twin Cities metro area is near the southern-most edge of their "summer range." Not too long after this exciting sighting, I ended up having my best chance at the bird I was most determined to capture today –a Common Yellowthroat. This was in a more open area where the wood chip trail runs along the cattails on the south side. There was a dead shrub sticking up out of the cattails and as my luck would have it, this beautiful male Yellowthroat decided to perch here for a brief moment. Earlier on my walk I actually saw a female Common Yellowthroat which for me this year has been much harder to find. I got an OK pic but not as good as this one of the male. But before my walk was over, I ended up having a much closer encounter with one more Warbler –the American Redstart. This particular bird (another male) came within very close proximity and actually stayed put! This is something Redstarts –and other Wablers for that matter– rarely do! The bird was in kind of a darker area shaded by the canopy of trees and I ended up not having my camera set very well to compensate. Thus these photos have been lightened up considerably. But despite this oversight, I was pleased to see how much detail came through on some of my shots! Even in person, this little guy appeared pretty mangy and beat up. Some of his tail feathers seemed to be broken off and he was just overall rough looking. But despite his appearance he sat there singing away. There have been times I have seen Redstarts sit still for a while and I would say it always seems to be later in the season, long after they've adjusted to their new surroundings after arriving in early Spring. This guy surely beat the record though for holding still and I shot 57 photos of him alone! Another thing that I liked about my view of this bird was that I could see some detail in his face and eye, which is something that doesn't always come across in a photo because they are just so black on the head. It's shabby appearance and uncommon cooperative behavior makes me wonder if this too was a juvenile bird! Oh and just a few other birds that were spotted today; Gray Catbird, Black-capped Chickadee, Northern Cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle, American Goldfinch, Rose-breasted Grosbeak (female) and Cedar Waxwing.

Lots to See on a Sunday in July

I took well over 100 photos today on my hike around the park. There were lots of birds out today including young ones such as a juvenile Barn Swallow sitting on the baseball infield with his mouth agape waiting to be fed. There was also some bird courtship on display –this time from a pair of Baltimore Orioles high up in a tree. I was looking directly into the sun during this so I had to drastically lighten up the photo to see any detail. But it was interesting none the less to see that it almost looks like the female is pursuing or displaying for the male instead of the typical other way around. I don't know if that's truly what's going on in this photo and I'd have to do some research to find out if that's even a possibility. After stopping to watch a Rabbit in the green grass and take note of an unidentified bird overhead, I found the male Indigo Bunting singing from the treetops near his usual territory on the north side. It's been such fun to see this guy so often this year but he's sure hard to catch any lower than about 25 - 30 feet up in a tree. Thus most of my shots are "under view" perspective but at least I'm picking up a bit more detail now with my new Tamron lens. One more bird I spotted on the north side today was something I've just not seen much of at all this year. In fact I heard other birders also say that Eastern Phoebe's (a very common summer species) have been somewhat scarce this year. I first took notice of this myself way back in early Spring around April. In other years at PLP, I have noticed that Eastern Phoebes are one of the very first migrating songbirds to return. In fact I usually start to notice them when I'm out watching the returning Waterfowl which come back weeks earlier than most of the songbirds. So finding one today was something of a treat. They're not a distinct looking bird by any means but rather plain looking. Mostly brown with a belly that looks olive-yellow in the right light. In fact there are number of other species that can look quite similar –also being in the same "Flycatcher" family. Don't even get me started about Flycatchers. There are two species of Flycatchers known to be differentiated ONLY by the call they make, otherwise looking perfectly identical in appearance. One bird that is often misidentified by birders around the country are Red-winged Blackbirds. Specifically the female Red-winged. She is also drab and mottled and lacking any very distinct coloring or patterning. Many times birds of each sex from the same species will bear some general resemblance to each other. But I've always thought the male and female RWB almost break that mold. After seeing so many females in the park each year I've become a bit more familiar with their shape and behavior so that I'm seeing other variances. Such is the case with this one who appears more yellow colored overall, especially in the face. She is in fact a juvenile female Red-winged Blackbird who hasn't grown into her full adult plumage yet. Other species seen today included; Barn Swallow, White-breasted Nuthatch, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Mourning Dove, Common Yellowthroat, and American Robin.

New Lens is Finally Here!

After placing an order for a new Tamron zoom lens way back in February, it has finally arrived. I don't know why but apparently the same lens came out much earlier in the year for Canon camera mounts but there was a delay for Nikon mounts. This Tuesday after work was the first time I've been able to bring it out to the park and really get to test it out. I noticed some difficulty right off the bat in that my focus was not very good or off of where I wanted it to be. This was very apparent when I was shooting a juvenile Tree Swallow sitting on the chain link fence at the baseball fields. The top of the fence was in focus but the bird was not. It did seem though like I could get further away subjects in focus easier. So when I spotted the Indigo Bunting on the north side I was able to catch 1 or 2 pics with a little more detail. At the baseball fields on the opposite side of the park I noticed what appeared to be Brown-headed Cowbirds searching through the bright green grass. But some of these birds had a much longer and thinner bill that the Cowbirds. I believe they were juvenile European Starlings who have not grown into to their fully dark plumage yet. The head and bill shape sure seem like a Starling anyway. There were a couple more perched on the chain link fencing here as well and one even had hints of the light spotting that Starlings would show as an adult. The last bird I tried to get a photo of today was a Gray Catbird who was doing a good job hiding from me in the leaves. I maneuvered around until I could at least see his face. This was probably the photo with the most detail I got today. Other birds spotted today included; Song Sparrow, Downy Woodpecker, Mallard, American Robin and Rose-breasted Grosbeak (female). Feeling a little frustrated by the focus of my new lens I headed home to figure out what I was doing wrong.

Gotcha! A New "Life Bird!"

After more than 5 years of hiking at Palmer Lake and watching birds, I've learned what kind of birds to expect and where and when. But I'm thrilled to report today that I saw and photographed a brand new species at the park! As with most sighting like this, there is a little "back story" that I'd like to share. About two weeks ago my friend Larry who also walks at the park, called to tell me that he'd heard a Black-billed Cuckoo calling from the trees near 73rd Avenue North. He said that he listened to it calling for over 30 minutes but never spotted it within the thick trees. When he told me that, I actually rushed over to the park right then and there. I poked around the area he mentioned but I never heard or saw anything. The mosquitoes were bad that day and it was hard to be still and listen. Anyway, I pretty much gave up on the bird since then. In fact I was much more interested in the Indigo Buntings today. I'd decided to walk counter-clockwise around the park today –which I rarely do. And when I came out into the sun on the north side where the trail is perfectly straight, I spotted a bird with a very long tail fly out from some low brush to my left. I am not very good at noticing tail or feather length, but this bird had an unusually long tail! 

The only other species I am familiar with that looked anything like this bird would have been a Brown Thrasher. But Brown Thrashers are much more rusty, reddish color and this bird was very dull. When it landed in a thick shrub, still at eye level, I could just barely see it's head. I looked through my binoculars and was stunned to see bright red coloring on the eye! Then I knew, this was no ordinary bird for me! I realized quickly it had to be the Black-billed Cuckoo that Larry had told me about. It continued on to another perch again but amazingly it stayed at eye level. Once or twice it landed in the lower part of a shrub that with less foliage where I got even better looks at it. It also had quite the long, downturned bill which is another reason it probably reminded me of the Brown Thrasher. 

The funniest thing about my sighting is that I've read that this bird is most often heard, before it it seen, or heard and never seen. My particular sighting was exactly the opposite, whereas I saw it first  but then never even heard it. I would have like to have heard it's call –a monotonous "cu cu cu cu" for which it is named. Though a rare sighting for me, this bird's summer range covers most of the midwest states including the entire state of Minnesota. I'm hoping this is not my last sighting of one! Before this entire escapade, I did spend quite a bit of time listening and watching for the Indigo Buntings that I've seen so much of this summer. It's my personal belief that it has been a good year for this bird as I've seen and photographed them countless times, not just at PLP but at many other places around the metro area.

 In years past I feel like I might see them between 1 and 3 times each season. But then again, I may just be looking harder than I used to! Here is my favorite photo of one today. Near the end of my walk I spotted one of those little white Butterflies that are also so common this time of year. They never seem to sit still for me but this one was interested in some like–colored white flowers. I learned today that the Butterfly is referred to as a "Cabbage White Butterfly" with the scientific name of Pieris rapae.

A Quick Hike With Good Sights

Today is July 3rd and my workplace closed early for the 4th of July Holiday weekend. So of course I went straight to the park after going home to change. I wanted to make a quick hike out of my visit since there was much to do this weekend. But there was so much to see and photograph it took me longer than I had planned at around 2 hours and 15 minutes. After stopping to admire the mixture of Blue Vervain and Swamp Milkweed near the culdesac at 73rd Avenue, I headed south to the wood chip trails. There I came across a lone Doe who stopped in front of me in very nice light. I took a few shots of her before she headed back into the brush. I would see just one other Deer during my walk later on. On the west side near the baseball fields I spotted an Eastern Bluebird perched along the chain link fencing. This side of the park seems to be preferred by the Bluebirds as the fields offer a lot of open space which is what they really like. And of course I couldn't get past the north side quickly when again I spotted an Indigo Bunting. This has really become one of my favorite and most-photographed subject this year. I've been fortunate to see one here on the north side nearly every time I visit and have spent countless hours following them from tree to tree. Other birds seen on my walk today included: American Redstart, Wood Duck with chicks, American Robin, Yellow Warbler, and Least flycatcher.