January Thaw

After a long and brutal cold snap, we are finally above freezing again and even the sun came out this morning! It was a great day to be at the park hiking around and seeing what could be seen. It was so nice I inadvertently did the southwest side of the park twice. On the first round I noticed a few little birds hopping about in front of me in the shade. Upon closer inspection they were Goldfinch in their winter plumage. I think there were only 2 or 3 at the most but I like to see them in the winter time. Shortly afterward I stopped at the duck pond and noticed a group of a dozen or so Cedar Waxwings bathing in the open water along the bank. This was on the other side from me so I walked around to get closer and scared them off. But after a bit they started to come back one by one and were putting on quite a show. I wished I could have got even closer but it was so thick here. While watching the Waxwings I heard all the Mallards in the duck pond making noise all at once and move quickly in a large group. When I looked up I noticed a Hawk had just swooped over the group of ducks and perched on the opposite side of the pond. It looked to be a Cooper's Hawk but was in the dark shade. I wanted to get a closer look and immediately headed around to the other side, trying not to bump the raptor. To my surprise it stayed put, perched nearly at eye level with me. As I snuck around the back side I finally got into better light and could see bright yellow eyes –indicating a juvenile bird. A mature adult would have bright red eyes. I took quite a few photos from this angle assuming it was a Cooper's Hawk but upon processing the photo I am starting to think it might actually be a Sharp-shinned Hawk. Sharp-shinned Hawks are nearly identical in plumage but tend to have a smaller head, more square-ish looking tail, and be somewhat smaller in size. Though the larger female Sharp-shinned can be nearly the same size as the smaller male Cooper's Hawk, adding yet another layer of complexity to identification. Only last year I learned how to differentiate a Cooper's from a Sharp-shinned in flight, but perched is another story. I generally err on the side of Cooper's since they are apparently far more common to find perched among the woods. But this one really made me look more than once. I am posting to the Minnesota Birding facebook page for some help and should have a positive ID soon. If indeed it turns out to be a Sharp-shinned, it would be my first ever photo ID of one! Upon walking the woodchip trail away from the duck pond, I scared up a Great Horned Owl almost right above me! I stopped in my tracks and said a few choice words to myself as I would have likely gotten a great look at it in the full morning sunlight. The bird flew a fair distance but basically traveled in a straight line away from me. I could kind of make out where it perched and followed behind, trying not to look up toward it too often. I've noticed from experience that they tend to bump again quickly if you stare them down as opposed to just looking at the ground. In fact I've come much closer to Owls when I wasn't looking for them and just happened to look up to find one right above me. As I headed closer it moved yet again and was followed by a second Owl close behind. The pair chose a familiar roost I've seen them at before. The pair is likely scoping out a possible nest as Great Horned Owls will begin nesting somewhere between late January through February.