Since May is THE best month of the entire year for bird watching, I set a personal goal for myself to go out bird watching every day in May, all 31 days in a row. So far so good but this Sunday is actually my first visit to Palmer Lake Park for the month. The first half of my visit was by myself and I spent quite a good deal of time just meandering slowly around the east side of the park. Later I was joined by a good friend of mine for the remainder of the hike. But before that I'd already spotted a handful of good birds and I was seeing so many species that I tried to keep the list in my head. On one of the ponds on the east side I spotted both a male and female Wood Duck perched on a log.
At least at Palmer Wood Ducks are easily spooked and of course the male jumped off the log the instant I pulled up my camera. But the female stayed put as I tried to get an angle through the cattails. The females can be equally as beautiful as the males in the right light and I was surprised just how much blue showed up on her feathers. Near the southeast side I was spotting good birds left and right, including a number of different Sparrows including White-throated, Swamp, Song and this White-crowned Sparrow!
This is a bird I usually only see once or twice a year if that so I was thrilled to find one today. He wasn't quite cooperative for a photo and this is the best one I got after much chasing back and forth. In this same area I also found a more cooperative Brown Thrasher. I was closer at first but then it flew up a little higher and into even better light so I was really happy with how this photo turned out. They have such bright yellow eyes and if I'm able to capture just that I'm usually pretty happy.
When I met up with my friend near the south parking lot, she noticed a small flock of a dozen or so shorebirds land out in the muddy waters of the lake. They were so small they were barely noticeable and we wouldn't have even known they were there had we not seen them fly in. I tried to get a picture but they were so small and blending in so well I still don't know what they were. For size comparison you can see the bottom of a can of pop off to the right.
We had a good hike through the rest of the park and noticed lots of good plants too, such as newly emerging Jack-in-the-Pulpit, lots of Marsh Marigold and Blue Violets. All in all I counted a total of 33 species of birds. Some of the more notable ones were my First of Year Grey Catbird, FOY Baltimore Oriole and FOY Yellow Warbler! P.S. I believe a friend has helped me to positively ID the shorebirds at Pectoral Sandpipers. A brand new species for me at Palmer Lake Park!
At least at Palmer Wood Ducks are easily spooked and of course the male jumped off the log the instant I pulled up my camera. But the female stayed put as I tried to get an angle through the cattails. The females can be equally as beautiful as the males in the right light and I was surprised just how much blue showed up on her feathers. Near the southeast side I was spotting good birds left and right, including a number of different Sparrows including White-throated, Swamp, Song and this White-crowned Sparrow! 
This is a bird I usually only see once or twice a year if that so I was thrilled to find one today. He wasn't quite cooperative for a photo and this is the best one I got after much chasing back and forth. In this same area I also found a more cooperative Brown Thrasher. I was closer at first but then it flew up a little higher and into even better light so I was really happy with how this photo turned out. They have such bright yellow eyes and if I'm able to capture just that I'm usually pretty happy. 
When I met up with my friend near the south parking lot, she noticed a small flock of a dozen or so shorebirds land out in the muddy waters of the lake. They were so small they were barely noticeable and we wouldn't have even known they were there had we not seen them fly in. I tried to get a picture but they were so small and blending in so well I still don't know what they were. For size comparison you can see the bottom of a can of pop off to the right. 
We had a good hike through the rest of the park and noticed lots of good plants too, such as newly emerging Jack-in-the-Pulpit, lots of Marsh Marigold and Blue Violets. All in all I counted a total of 33 species of birds. Some of the more notable ones were my First of Year Grey Catbird, FOY Baltimore Oriole and FOY Yellow Warbler! P.S. I believe a friend has helped me to positively ID the shorebirds at Pectoral Sandpipers. A brand new species for me at Palmer Lake Park!
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