The snow was actually coming down pretty good and it was wet and heavy, thus sticking to my camera and melting upon landing, making everything wet including me. I didn't have but an hour so it was a short visit.
Thursday, November 26, 2015
Thanksgiving and First Snow
Today is Thanksgiving Thursday and the Twin Cities metro area is seeing our first official snowfall of the season. We've had light flurries in the air about a week ago but nothing sticking to the ground like it is today. I decided to do a very short loop around the Duck Pond at the park this morning before heading to the in-laws. As suspected there were some Mallards hanging out in the snow and it was really the only wildlife to photograph. 
The snow was actually coming down pretty good and it was wet and heavy, thus sticking to my camera and melting upon landing, making everything wet including me. I didn't have but an hour so it was a short visit.
The snow was actually coming down pretty good and it was wet and heavy, thus sticking to my camera and melting upon landing, making everything wet including me. I didn't have but an hour so it was a short visit.
Saturday, November 21, 2015
First Shrike of the Season
We've had an extraordinary amount of rain recently which is a bit odd for this time of year. When I arrived at the park today it was obvious just how often it's been raining. But now the morning temps are cold enough to have frozen it in place overnight and the trails on the west side of the park were covered by an inch of ice. We still haven't seen any snow and the grass on the baseball fields looks like it could be June. 
Here I spotted a Crow wrestling with something on the ground, standing on it and picking at it. Not a great photo but this one shows that the Crow had found a discarded hot dog and bun! Crows are resourceful and will eat pretty much anything. The park was rather slow for wildlife today and some of the only other birds I saw were American Tree Sparrows. But on the north side I happened to notice a bird perched alone in the top of a tree and thought to myself "it's gotta be!" Indeed it was a Northern Shrike, the first one I've spotted this season! 
It didn't stay still for long and the only few pics I got were from quite a distance. But still it was ID-able. I ran into some friends shortly after this and asked if they'd seen it but they hadn't. Instead they were watching 2 Red-tailed Hawks soaring very high above the center of the park.
Here I spotted a Crow wrestling with something on the ground, standing on it and picking at it. Not a great photo but this one shows that the Crow had found a discarded hot dog and bun! Crows are resourceful and will eat pretty much anything. The park was rather slow for wildlife today and some of the only other birds I saw were American Tree Sparrows. But on the north side I happened to notice a bird perched alone in the top of a tree and thought to myself "it's gotta be!" Indeed it was a Northern Shrike, the first one I've spotted this season! 
It didn't stay still for long and the only few pics I got were from quite a distance. But still it was ID-able. I ran into some friends shortly after this and asked if they'd seen it but they hadn't. Instead they were watching 2 Red-tailed Hawks soaring very high above the center of the park.
Sunday, November 15, 2015
Bigger Deer and Better Gadwall
Well I pretty much repeated my steps from yesterday by looking again for the Deer and Gadwall. In both cases I got lucky and got some better photos. First off I saw not one but two bucks together on the south side. This time they were a bit further down the trail, closer to the south parking lot. It's surprising how much green is in the background of this shot. 
The other buck, a smaller 4-pointer is just off screen as I zoomed in closely on the bigger one. I really didn't notice all the burs stuck to the top of his head when I took the photo! Well now I was certain I'd found the "big buck" that my friends had told me about yesterday. But I was wrong! Having walked a bit further down the trail myself I noticed some more movement in the cattails. 
There, stood an enormous deer with a huge set of antlers. It was hard to count them as they blended in well with the cattails but I finally did count 5 on each side. As I stood there watching and waiting for a less obstructed photo, another park goer came by on his bike and saw what I was looking at. He was a photographer too and got off his bike to pull his camera out of his backpack. 
We both watched the buck for a while but the whole time he never really came out of the cattails. I guess that's how he got so big in the first place, by being smart. I moved along, leaving the other photographer still waiting. I saw a few Goldfinches and Juncos along the way to the other side of the park. By the time I got to the little pond on the west side, the sun was getting very low and cast a golden glow on the water. There right in the middle of the pond was the Gadwall from yesterday! 
I quickly snapped photos as it swam slowly to and fro with a small group of Mallards. Though not all of my pics turned out as sharp as I'd hoped, the beautiful light almost made up for it.
I was just thrilled to capture this duck in a golden November glow. Even the Mallards look gorgeous in that kind of light.
The other buck, a smaller 4-pointer is just off screen as I zoomed in closely on the bigger one. I really didn't notice all the burs stuck to the top of his head when I took the photo! Well now I was certain I'd found the "big buck" that my friends had told me about yesterday. But I was wrong! Having walked a bit further down the trail myself I noticed some more movement in the cattails. 
There, stood an enormous deer with a huge set of antlers. It was hard to count them as they blended in well with the cattails but I finally did count 5 on each side. As I stood there watching and waiting for a less obstructed photo, another park goer came by on his bike and saw what I was looking at. He was a photographer too and got off his bike to pull his camera out of his backpack. 
We both watched the buck for a while but the whole time he never really came out of the cattails. I guess that's how he got so big in the first place, by being smart. I moved along, leaving the other photographer still waiting. I saw a few Goldfinches and Juncos along the way to the other side of the park. By the time I got to the little pond on the west side, the sun was getting very low and cast a golden glow on the water. There right in the middle of the pond was the Gadwall from yesterday! 
I quickly snapped photos as it swam slowly to and fro with a small group of Mallards. Though not all of my pics turned out as sharp as I'd hoped, the beautiful light almost made up for it.
I was just thrilled to capture this duck in a golden November glow. Even the Mallards look gorgeous in that kind of light.
Saturday, November 14, 2015
Lots to See this Saturday
When I arrived at the park this Saturday morning the first thing I saw was dried up Goldenrod plants. They reminded me that it was indeed much later in the season than it feels. Temps are still mild and there was plenty of sun today, making it feel more like early October versus mid November. Heading toward the duck pond I again ran into a couple of friends of mine who told me about a monstrous Buck they had just seen in the area. So after chatting for a few minutes I scouted around in search of some Deer. While heading along the wood chip trail north of the duck pond, a pretty Doe walked right out in front of me and just stood there. 
It made for a nice portrait with the big Cottonwood trees in the background. I was seeing a few birds here and there, including a few Cardinals and Woodpeckers. I paused for a bit to watch this Downy Woodpecker do his thing and he inched closer and closer to me until he was less than about 6 feet away. I still enjoy taking photos of common birds if they are close and/or doing something interesting. I love being able to see the feather detail in the photos later on as it's something you don't see for very long in the field. 
While standing there admiring the Downy, I noticed another Deer in the field of cattails just past the trail. It was a buck with a healthy, yet smaller rack of 4 tines on each side. This one was a bit more shy than the first and stayed mainly in the cattails, not giving me any good clear looks. After a while I turned my attention back to the trailside in search of birds but then yet another buck stepped out onto the trail in front of me! It's been some time since I've seen this much deer activity in the park and I was glad that not all of them had been taken by the archery hunt. This particular buck had what first looked to be just a single spike on each side, though be it very tall ones. 
After he too posed nicely for a few photos, he turned to the side, sniffing along the trail and I could see that each spike was paired with a second, much smaller spike pointing off to the back. I also noticed he looked kind of "beefy" around the head and neck which is probably a sign of their mating season or "rut." The next thing that caught my eye was a bright red male Cardinal who seemed to be playing hide and seek with me through the brush. I thought to myself "it's hard to hide when you're this bright!" 
I sure love seeing Cardinals but unless they're busy at a feeder, they can be tough to approach without bumping. You also need some pretty good light for photos as they're SO red that your camera often wont pick up the feather details. So I definitely have more less than favorable photos of Northern Cardinals. After having finally moved on from the duck pond, I came across one very interesting waterfowl species that pretty much made my day. A single Gadwall was swimming in the little pond on the east side of the park, just south of the parking lot. It was actually right up near the trail and I was too close when I spotted it, sending it heading away from me rather quickly. But at least it didn't fly off to the next pond and I was able to observe it for a while. 
Gadwalls will usually show a "black butt" when they're in mating plumage. This one had mostly black, but also some light feathers there too so it may have been a first-year bird, or maybe they just lose some of their color this time of year like other waterfowl. Either way I was thrilled to see a Gadwall at the park again!
It made for a nice portrait with the big Cottonwood trees in the background. I was seeing a few birds here and there, including a few Cardinals and Woodpeckers. I paused for a bit to watch this Downy Woodpecker do his thing and he inched closer and closer to me until he was less than about 6 feet away. I still enjoy taking photos of common birds if they are close and/or doing something interesting. I love being able to see the feather detail in the photos later on as it's something you don't see for very long in the field. 
While standing there admiring the Downy, I noticed another Deer in the field of cattails just past the trail. It was a buck with a healthy, yet smaller rack of 4 tines on each side. This one was a bit more shy than the first and stayed mainly in the cattails, not giving me any good clear looks. After a while I turned my attention back to the trailside in search of birds but then yet another buck stepped out onto the trail in front of me! It's been some time since I've seen this much deer activity in the park and I was glad that not all of them had been taken by the archery hunt. This particular buck had what first looked to be just a single spike on each side, though be it very tall ones. 
After he too posed nicely for a few photos, he turned to the side, sniffing along the trail and I could see that each spike was paired with a second, much smaller spike pointing off to the back. I also noticed he looked kind of "beefy" around the head and neck which is probably a sign of their mating season or "rut." The next thing that caught my eye was a bright red male Cardinal who seemed to be playing hide and seek with me through the brush. I thought to myself "it's hard to hide when you're this bright!" 
I sure love seeing Cardinals but unless they're busy at a feeder, they can be tough to approach without bumping. You also need some pretty good light for photos as they're SO red that your camera often wont pick up the feather details. So I definitely have more less than favorable photos of Northern Cardinals. After having finally moved on from the duck pond, I came across one very interesting waterfowl species that pretty much made my day. A single Gadwall was swimming in the little pond on the east side of the park, just south of the parking lot. It was actually right up near the trail and I was too close when I spotted it, sending it heading away from me rather quickly. But at least it didn't fly off to the next pond and I was able to observe it for a while. 
Gadwalls will usually show a "black butt" when they're in mating plumage. This one had mostly black, but also some light feathers there too so it may have been a first-year bird, or maybe they just lose some of their color this time of year like other waterfowl. Either way I was thrilled to see a Gadwall at the park again!Monday, November 9, 2015
Magical Marigold!
Today being November 9th, the LAST thing on earth I expected to find at the park today would have been a flower. But as I was hiking around the southwest corner of the park I couldn't help but notice two little bright yellow flowers near my feet just barely outside the paved path. This is the area where I find Marsh Marigolds blooming each spring. I've come to really appreciate this beautiful wildflower as it's blooming period is actually very short somewhere between 3 - 4 weeks at most between late April and early May. This plant thrives in low, wet areas and even the ones I find in the spring can be tough to get close to without getting your feet wet. Maybe it was all the rain we've had lately, coupled with the well above average temperatures for this time of year that has this plant confused and blooming again in November. 
I could hardly believe my eyes and thought it had to be something else. But that flower and shape of the leaves were unmistakeable. But after running into a friend of mine who really knows his plants, I showed it to him and he agreed instantly that it was indeed a Marsh Marigold. There were just two flowers but a third unopened pod was visible as well. 
After sharing my finding on a number of online sources, many people reported back to me about other very-late blooming flowers in their own yards. Our temps have been unusually warm, but wow this really proves it! I spent nearly the rest of my time today around the duck pond on the southwest side after spotting one lone Northern Shoveler among the Mallards. It was so drab and mottled that it had to be a female, though it's very hard to tell this time of year. Last year both a male and female pair hung out in the exact same spot for a week or two around the same time. 
It was hard to follow her along the shoreline as she blended in so well against the shore and nearly disappeared. She also seemed to have something hanging off and stuck to the side of her bill. Periodically she stopped and tried to pry it off with her webbed feet to no avail. Whatever it was was almost the same orange color as the bill so I wondered if it she'd been injured. She never did get it off after several attempts. I sure hope it wasn't garbage of some kind, especially a fishing lure! Other birds seen today included the usual suspects of Northern Cardinals and Black-capped Chickadees.
I could hardly believe my eyes and thought it had to be something else. But that flower and shape of the leaves were unmistakeable. But after running into a friend of mine who really knows his plants, I showed it to him and he agreed instantly that it was indeed a Marsh Marigold. There were just two flowers but a third unopened pod was visible as well. 
After sharing my finding on a number of online sources, many people reported back to me about other very-late blooming flowers in their own yards. Our temps have been unusually warm, but wow this really proves it! I spent nearly the rest of my time today around the duck pond on the southwest side after spotting one lone Northern Shoveler among the Mallards. It was so drab and mottled that it had to be a female, though it's very hard to tell this time of year. Last year both a male and female pair hung out in the exact same spot for a week or two around the same time. 
It was hard to follow her along the shoreline as she blended in so well against the shore and nearly disappeared. She also seemed to have something hanging off and stuck to the side of her bill. Periodically she stopped and tried to pry it off with her webbed feet to no avail. Whatever it was was almost the same orange color as the bill so I wondered if it she'd been injured. She never did get it off after several attempts. I sure hope it wasn't garbage of some kind, especially a fishing lure! Other birds seen today included the usual suspects of Northern Cardinals and Black-capped Chickadees.
Sunday, November 8, 2015
November Moth
It was sunny today at the park but very very quiet. I hardly saw any birds, and none even worth taking a photo of. The only thing I saw that peaked my interest was this small, drab colored moth flitting about over the trail. I'm always amazed to see insects, and especially moths or butterflies late in the season when temperatures start to really cool down. I followed him to a perch just on the edge of the trail and captured a few photos. No idea what this one is called as I don't own a field guide for moths –yet!
Friday, November 6, 2015
Long Time No Write
Well I'm sad to say how many months have gone by without a post! This May - September was one of the best and busiest Spring/Summer seasons I've had birding in Minnesota –and beyond. I've got backlogs of images and miles of stories to share so stay tuned.
But for now if you've like to follow me elsewhere, see the following links...
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