Birds, Butterflies and Flowers

Wow I saw a lot of great stuff this Saturday at the park! I spent roughly 3 hours casually strolling around the outer trails but got distracted by some spring wildflowers off the trail. I usually find these Violets in the same area behind the baseball diamonds on the west side where it is typically very wet and sometimes floods. As for Butterflies, I saw a few Cabbage Whites and Red Admirals which is typical for this time of year. There are also Dandelions out already which this Cabbage White Butterfly found attractive. I saw oodles of birds including numerous bright yellow American Goldfinch, Northern Cardinal, Green-winged Teal, Blue-winged Teal, Wood Duck, Canada Goose, lots of Mallard Chicks, American Robin, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Common Grackle, Red-winged Blackbird, Mourning Dove, Downy Woodpecker and probably some others I'm forgetting. But possibly the most interesting bird I watched today were Black-capped Chickadees who were busy excavating a nest cavity in a dead tree. I watched both the male and female take turns going into the hole and coming out with a mouthful of wood chips. They timed it perfectly so that as soon as one would come to the entrance of the hole, the other would be ready to fly in. Their teamwork is pretty amazing and fun to watch. If you ever notice a Chickadee with wood chips on it's face, it's fairly safe to assume they've been hard at work! Oh right, I forgot to mention but the Marsh Marigold is also in bloom now near the southwest corner of the park. I just love seeing this native MN wildflower each spring as they are so colorful and short lived. I also saw numerous Painted Turtles today and also two Groundhogs as well. All in all, I took over 700 photos in total today and it was a beautiful day to observe nature :)

Eastern Meadowlark!

Last night a friend who also hikes around Palmer Lake Park contacted me to let me know that she'd again spotted a very unusual bird for the park –an Eastern Meadowlark! I have only ever laid eyes on a Meadowlark just once when I was a kid out exploring the fields surrounding St. Cloud, MN on my BMX dirt bike. That was long, long before I was a birder but even back then I knew it was something I hadn't seen before. When I became a serious bird watcher in my late 30's I realized that this species has continued to become even more rare since then –at least to see anywhere near a metro area. Meadowlarks are "grassland birds" preferring wide open expanses of untouched grassland as their habitat. Like other grassland birds they nest on the ground, often concealed by the tall grass. Due to loss of proper habitat, Meadowlarks along with other species such as the Bobolink and Dickcissel are in steep decline. It is easy to understand why if you can remember back to when you were a kid and think about all the fields surrounding your hometown that are now fully developed into residential or commercial areas. It is a prime example of how our ever expanding population explosion is affecting our natural world. You may have asked yourself already, why would a grassland bird be found in the area of Palmer Lake? Well that's the same question I've pondered over since my friend first spotted one at the park last year! This making two years in a row one has been seen in the very same baseball field on the northwest side of the park, makes us wonder if in fact it is the same bird year to year. Also the time of year is near migration so it is very possible this bird makes a dedicated stop at Palmer to feed for a few days before moving further north or west to more suitable habitat. Whatever the case, it is quite a unique find for the area so when my friend notified me last night, I said "I'll be there in the morning!" We both arrived at 9:00am, parked in the lot nearest this baseball field, walked a hundred feet and there he was! Here in Minnesota we can get both Eastern and Western Meadowlarks and both birds look nearly identical save for one small stripe of color near the base of the bill. From a distance they look so similar that the best way to tell them apart is by song –which differs between the two species. This particular bird wasn't exactly cooperative in regards to a photograph however and I quickly found that it had a tendency to continually turn it's back towards us. This is likely a survival mechanism to conceal it's brightly colored yellow breast with distinct black "necklace" pattern, and instead show us his back side, mottled brown and white in order to blend in more easily. The bird stayed out in the open grasses of the baseball field, and it was VERY aware of our presence, continually flying off a hundred feet in the opposite direction every time we approached it. This was kind of a bummer as I was hoping to get better photos, but all in all I was more excited just to finally see and observe one –especially in the very park where I do the majority of my bird watching! After watching the bird for well over 90 minutes, we finally caught a few glimpses from the front and saw it's bright yellow and black pattern. This was the only bird I came to the park to see today but it was well worth it!

Some Very Good Bird Watching

Earlier this morning, myself and other members of Friends of Palmer Lake Park held our annual spring cleanup. Except for a couple of known problem areas, we were happy to see that the park was in better shape than usual in regards to garbage. But because you can't do much bird watching while picking up litter, I decided to come back after lunch for a long and slow hike around to see what I could find. I started counter clockwise from 73rd Avenue and noticed that a few trees had been marked for removal. Whenever I see this in the park I get truly upset as I feel there's usually not good reasons that specific trees get marked. Yes the ones shown here were somewhat dead or dying, but most of them were far enough off the trail as to not pose a safety risk. In fact the one seen on the far right with the hole about 5 feet up was home to a family of Grey Squirrels that I photographed years before. With the city continuing to cut into the woods, where will it stop? And I have yet ever to see a single invasive Buckthorn tree marked for removal. Instead they choose to remove native trees that are 100's of times more beneficial to wildlife. It gets me so angry that about all I can do is pretend not to see it. Moving on. Today was really good bird watching and I saw a lot of species I don't have room to share them all here. Some notable sights were many migrating waterfowl including Northern Shoveler, Gadwall, and Widgeon! Near the northwest corner I paused to watch a Black-capped Chickadee poking at a seeding out Cattail. It's not too early for them to be looking at nest cavities so I like to think thats what this one was doing with the soft material. Shortly after I noticed a Common Grackle who was much more interested in finding something to eat than with me. I snapped a couple of pics that I feel really capture their colors. I'd tried for years in the past to get shots like this and this year I've managed to get more than one. When you see them in this light they really are gorgeous looking birds. On the south side near the duck pond I spent a lot of time watching a Ruby-crowned Kinglet who was near the ground inside a thicket. Catching an unobstructed view however was quite another story. I decided to sit right on the wood chip trail and just watch and hope to get lucky. After quite some time and a lot of attempts I was able to catch a couple of good ones. I like this one as is shows a hint of the "Ruby crown" for which they are named. A little further along the wood chip trail now on the south side of the park I was rewarded with the most close views I've ever had of a Northern Cardinal. This female sat quietly about 4 feet off the ground to my left and must have thought she was hidden. For whatever reason she barely moved even as I inched closer. It was quite thrilling to be this close and for a minute I wondered if she was injured or stunned or something. I snapped hundreds of pics at a close proximity and after finally exhausting different angles and even different camera settings, I slowly walked away as she stood fast in the exact same spot. I've never encountered one that seemed so tolerant. The close photo here is barely cropped at all!

In Search of Teal

I was off of work this Monday, April 13th and I spent a lot of time –more than expected– at the park searching for birds. As I embarked I had one specific bird in mind that I wanted to photograph and that was a Green-winged Teal. I'd seen them at the park in previous years, as well as in other places and learned they can be camera shy. I hiked quickly to the duck pond on the southwest corner of the park and sure enough spotted both Blue-winged and Green-winged Teal there. As expected they were on the opposite side of the pond from me and would quickly move to the other side whenever I walked around towards them. After much back and forth I decided to slowly "lurk" closer over time, stopping here and there for 15-20 minutes before moving quietly closer. It was muddy along the shore and more than once my foot sunk completely underwater with foul smelling swamp muck. I stuck to stepping on visible tree roots after a while and eventually made my way to narrower section of the pond where the ducks would have no choice to be closer to me as long as they remained on the water. Even though I had a longer lens than this time last year it was still a struggle to get within range as Teal are just as "wild" and unapproachable as Wood Ducks –or maybe even more so. I find Blue-winged Teal are the slightly more approachable of the two which isn't saying much. But a male finally came within range. Though a little more plain looking, the male's head will show just a hint of iridescence in the right light. You can see just a little blend to violet on his head in this photo. While I sat and waited and waited and waited for the Green-winged, I heard then spotted a Ruby-crowned Kinglet bouncing around in the trees above me. Sometimes it is really nice to just sit in one place in the woods and watch things around you versus continually moving yourself. I was also rewarded with a nice view of a Cooper's Hawk that glided right over me, swooped upwards and then landed in a tree not far away. I spied his perch through my binoculars and he continued to stay there at least another 30 minutes. Finally some action from the Green-winged Teals came as not just one but two made their way along the shoreline closer to me. They are "dabbling" ducks not divers, meaning they often have their head poking under water looking for food. So even if you do see them they don't always present their best side to you. After waaaay more time and waaaay more photos than anticipated, I finally gleaned these two images of a male, though I wanted desperately to get even closer. These are unfortunately still cropped quite a bit but you can see why they are such a beautiful bird. In the right light, their rusty brown head is split with an emerald green swath of feathers from their eye and dipping down the neckline. Such a strikingly beautiful bird! Last spring I also learned their call which is a quiet little inconspicuous "peep" that repeats about 3 to 5 times. I heard this sound again today while watching them. After at least a couple of hours invested, I decided I just wasn't going to get any closer today so I finally gave in and decided to hike the rest of the way around the park. I eventually saw a few more Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Common Grackle, Red-winged Blackbird, Brown-headed Cowbird, Ring-billed Gull, and one Great Horned Owlet still in the nest on the north side. The only good image I got was this little Song Sparrow who posed nicely for me in the light at the base of a large tree. Oh, and I also saw a Mourning Cloak Butterfly!

On the Wing

This Saturday evening I didn't make it to the park until after 5:30pm. I decided to hike out along Shingle Creek and sit in my favorite spot with a view downstream. The light was very nice when I arrived but it was already late in the day. Aside from a Mallard or two, all other birds were flying overhead, not stopping anywhere near me. The first thing I heard was a pair of Wood Ducks flying over. Then later an unmistakeable noise that kept growing closer, a pair of Sandhill Cranes! These were the first I've actually seen this year but I've been hearing them fly over periodically. Sometime later a Great Blue Heron also came flying over. By now the light was getting poor and I was getting dark, grainy photos. Such a quiet evening despite the nice weather today.

Easter Sunday and some Firsts for the Season!

I'll have to double check my records but it seems like every year for the past few years it is just days before Easter that I see my first Yellow-rumped Warblers return. After not seeing any the previous week and even yesterday, I was beginning to think they passed by the park this year. But then this evening I spotted my first one of the season. It was on the north side in the scraggly tree overhanging the trail. I saw just one single bird and I couldn't manage a decent photo –but at least I saw one finally! There were quite a few waterfowl out on the lakes this evening and one that I spotted was something I've not previously documented at the park –a Ruddy Duck! These are one of my very favorite ducks and I was lucky enough to see them close up a the Coon Rapids Dam area last spring. This one (a male too) was pretty far out there with a group of Northern Shovelers, but I took a photo anyway just to confirm my sighting. He is on the far left in the photo. On the south side of the park in the little tiny pond near the parking lot I noticed a pair of Blue-winged Teals and managed to catch a half-way decent photo of the male. Like many of the more wild ducks, they are easily spook-able and tough to get close to. I guess I ought to mention that the weather was incredible today at 75º and sunny. The park was just teeming with people who were out enjoying the weather. The park just emanated Spring today, from the smells to the constant calling of birds, to the Pussy Willows who's fuzzy white catkins are now morphing into bright yellow-green color. I walked the entire 3 mile circumference of the park tonight and boy was I really seeing a lot of birds. I was taking photos of even common birds so that it would help me remember them all when I got home. I will list all the birds I spotted tonight at the end, but one that I managed a pretty good photo of was a Ruby-crowned Kinglet. This is one of the smallest birds we see here in Minnesota, and they are known for not sitting still for very long. I've been seeing them fairly regularly in the past week but it seems that I am seeing more females than males. Like many birds, the species is so named after the male who exhibits a tiny, bright red patch on his head that can raise up like a crest. The females look exactly the same but without the red crown. So this one here is obviously a female. Coming back to the east side parking lot I spotted an unusual looking bird perched in the setting sun. Upon looking closer with my binoculars I realized it was a female Red-winged Blackbird! This is somewhat exciting simply because it's the first female I've seen this year and shows that the females tend to show up weeks after the males do. I have yet to ever come across a RWB nest which seems odd simply because of how many there are in the park. I had one more surprise for the evening as I sat on the granite bench overlooking the eastern most body of water. I could see a few Common Mergansers way out there and this is a species I've only documented one other time before at the park. There were actually two pair –two males and two females but I didn't get them all in this shot. I am always surprised at the variety of waterfowl that pass through the park each spring! It always makes me wonder –if the water was less polluted, would they stay longer? And might there be even more species that would visit Palmer Lake Park?

My total list for the day (32 species):
1. Red-winged Blackbird (and first female of season!)
2. Brown-headed Cowbird
3. Common Grackle
4. Song Sparrow
5. Fox Sparrow
6. American Tree Sparrow
7. Northern Cardinal
8. Blue Jay
9. Cedar Waxwing
10. American Coot
11. Mallard
12. Ruddy Duck
13. Canada Goose
14. Blue-winged Teal
15. Common Merganser
16. Lesser Scaup
17. Wood Duck
18. American Robin
19. Great Blue Heron
20. Pied-billed Grebe
21. Hairy Woodpecker
22. Red-bellied Woodpecker
23. Pileated Woodpecker (heard)
24. Ring-necked Pheasant (heard)
25. Great Horned Owl
26. Tree Swallow
27. Mourning Dove
28. Yellow-rumped Warbler
29. Black-capped Chickadee
30. Ruby-crowned Kinglet
31. American Goldfinch
32. Northern Shoveler

Quintessential April Birds

This Saturday's visit to the park showed me just about all of the most common birds one would expect to see in the month of April. When I arrived I spotted a mature Bald Eagle soaring overhead but he zoomed past quickly and I never got another look at him. Then almost immediately after I spotted a Ruby-crowned Kinglet. It was yet another female as were the majority of others I've seen so far this year. Next came a Common Grackle, a bird I've seen already but not gotten a photo of yet this year –so this is the first. Much like Red-winged Blackbirds, I am excited to see them returning each spring and then later get completely sick of them by the end of the season! After this I spotted a pair of Wood Ducks and then what looked to be a Cooper's Hawk. But I was to capture one more first of the season photo next when I spotted a Hermit Thrush hopping around near the ground. It is really quite interesting to note that almost every time I've ever seen a Hermit Thrush, there is still snow on the ground. It's almost like they prefer it and seem to travel just far enough north to keep themselves in line with areas that maintain just an inch or so on the ground. So if you ever see a bird that looks similar to this, taking note of the conditions may help you identify and differentiate it from other "Thrushes" that will arrive later in the season. Next I headed out across the big field on the north side, walking out along Shingle Creek to see what I might find. Indeed I found the Bluebirds again but didn't manage any good photos of them. There was however a Song Sparrow perched nearby who was singing out loudly. It seemed to be so engrossed in singing that it let me creep up closer for a couple of decent photos. This is also another bird who's song heralds the arrival of Spring in Minnesota. On the creek I scared up a Pied-billed Grebe who actually took to the air. It was actually the first time I've ever seen one flying and I got to see it up close which was pretty neat. After this I came upon a large group of Cedar Waxwings feeding on dried up Buckthorn berries. Many times I've found that I can get extremely close to this species, especially when they're in a group and eating. For such a beautiful looking bird, they are one of the most tolerant when it comes to people. This combination makes it a great bird to try and get photos of and I've had more good results than with other birds. Though the time of year makes the lighting not as cooperative as the bird! After this I spotted a Dark-eyed Junco, a flock of Double-crested Cormorants, more Ruby-crowned Kinglets and also a Canada Goose to wrap up my hike.

Same Places, New Faces

Except for one of my photos posted today, you probably wouldn't guess that there is still snow on the ground. All of the paved trails have a few inches and it's getting to be late enough in the season that it will just be left to melt versus taking the time to clear it. I've been wanting badly to see the newly born Owlet on the north end of the park. But I also haven't wanted to disturb them. I figured today I could be a little more quiet walking on top of the snow so I hiked quickly out to the tree and past it by just a little. The mother stayed perched only inches from the nest and indeed when I looked up I could see a little face peering over the leaves at me! This was my first good look at the Owlet. A friend of mine has told me that there are two of them but I could not see any signs of another one. Again time will tell. I only stood here long enough for 2 to 3 pics and then hiked back out another direction. On the north side of the park I could see many flocks of birds going over the park. One or two of those flocks looked different enough to have a look through my binoculars. This one was a group of Double-crested Cormorants –which is a fairly common bird around here but one I have not posted on the blog before. Probably the reason being is that I rarely see any on the ground or on the water here. I'm not sure why I've never seen any stop before. Maybe they are but not staying for very long. My guess is that they were heading for the river instead. If you look closely at the photo (click on it for a larger image) you will see their bright orange bills. There is already signs of new growth and greening up at the park, but I thought this photo about tells it all. Plants and grass here in Minnesota are hearty enough to poke right out through the snow in search of sunlight. On April 6th, I saw my first Blue-winged Teal of the season and I'm guessing that I will see much more of them. As the sun was setting this evening I spotted this male quite close to me on the drainage ditch on the north side. I read somewhere recently that the Blue-winged Teal is the waterfowl with the second highest population in our state –behind only the Mallard. But I've never seen any with ducklings before so I'm guessing that they move further north before nesting. I was really pushing the daylight near the end of my walk but I spotted one more bird I wanted a photo of. The Fox Sparrow is also one of those birds that straddle winter and spring here in Minnesota. They are much larger than your average Sparrow, though they have somewhat similar plumage. It is hard to tell from this particular photo, but they have a lot of grey coloring at the top of their head and neck, which besides their size, is the next best way to identify them. They also have a unique song that I think I mis-identify nearly every year. I think it sounds a little bit like a Goldfinch, and so I assume that is what I am hearing.

Day of the Ducks!

I hadn't intended to visit the park today. I spent the morning preparing my taxes only days before the deadline. But only minutes after I finished filing them, I got a call from my good birder friend Ron. He was heading to the east side of Palmer Lake Park as another friend of ours (Larry) was there and seeing a variety of Waterfowl including Northern Shovelers, Green-winged Teal and Redhead to name a few! Since I've never positively seen a Redhead before, I quickly changed and hopped in the car to head over. Wouldn't you know it, the Redheads took off before I got there! From the granite bench overlooking the water on the east side we could see a few other Ducks, though they were quite a ways away. Ron was getting some decent photos as his lens can reach the moon. I snapped this photo of some Northern Shovelers that flew over us, but for the most part I wasn't getting any good photos with my mere 300mm lens and I knew I would need to get closer. So after walking a bit and eventually parting ways, I decided to drive over the west side and hike over to what I call the "Duck Pond" on the southwest corner of the park. Right off the bat I spotted a pair of male Buffleheads and this is a species I've only seen one other time at PLP! I decided I would hike in on the woodchip trail as it would be quieter, and then find a place along the water to sit and wait for them to come closer. And boy did they ever! It took quite a while but eventually the pair came close enough for me to catch some fantastic photos. Buffleheads are small diving ducks and when they would come back up to the surface they would have beads of water clinging to their backs. Though I've seen Buffleheads before in other places, this may have been the closest I'd ever been to them. I had not before fully appreciated what beautiful birds they are! Their head reminds me of a "pie-chart" with 1/4th of the pie colored pure white. But amazingly the other 3/4ths have an iridescent quality and can appear blue, purple and green in the right light. I had a lot of fun watching these two guys. Then, to my surprise another small pair of ducks caught my eye along the shoreline. I couldn't believe it but they were Green-winged Teal. Though I'd seen one through my binoculars earlier with Ron and Larry, this pair were most definitely in range of a photo! This is a species I've not previously witnessed at Palmer Lake so it was quite special to see them up closely. I spent nearly 2 hours watching the pair and hiking back and forth to opposite ends of the Duck Pond attempting to get better photos. Finally after a long time I had secured a spot only feet from the water's edge while the pair were behind some tall weeds off to my right. They came right out in front of me a few different times and I will tell you the male is one beautiful bird! Numerous times I also got to hear the male vocalize which was a series of "peeps" that alternated between a lower and higher tone. I thought it sounded much more like a songbird than any kind of duck. When making this sound his head generally appeared more puffed up or "tufted" than his usual "slick-backed" look. Once or twice I could see his head feathers appear to sort of drape off the back of his head. As for the female, she was drastically different and drab in comparison. I really only identified her by her behavior of hanging out with the male the entire time. And if not for her much smaller size, she would have appeared pretty similar to a hen Mallard. The only other things I noticed was that she appeared to have a wide neck at the base, and possibly a darker bill. Teal are "Dabbling Ducks" which mean they don't dive for their food and spend a lot of time with their heads lowered and bills in the water. It was hard to catch a photo of them when not in this position! Oh I forgot, but earlier with Ron and Larry, I also saw Blue-winged Teals. I caught only this one photo but at least I saw them. It was quite a good day and here is a total list of birds we saw (including a few other "firsts of the season!"): Redhead, Northern Shoveler, Green-winged Teal, Blue-winged Teal, Canada Goose, Mallard, Ring-billed Gull, American Coot, Ring-necked Duck, Bufflehead, Wood Duck, Tree Swallow (first of season), Northern Flicker (first of season), Hairy Woodpecker, Dark-eyed Junco, Bald Eagle, American Crow, Red-winged Blackbird, Song Sparrow, Osprey (first of season), American Robin, Cedar Waxwing, Pied-billed Grebe and Great Blue Heron.

Spring is in Swing on Shingle Creek!

I had the day off work today and it was gorgeous outside. But despite the awesome weather I purposely waited until about 5pm to visit the park in hopes to capture some waterfowl bathed in some nice orangy-sunset tones. Yesterday I had hiked downstream and sat for a while too but quickly realized I was on the wrong side and facing directly into the sun instead of away from it. So this evening I did the same but on the opposite (west) side of Shingle Creek. It was warm and sunny out without a single cloud in the sky and before I knew it, a pair of Bluebirds were perching very nearby. The male perched almost right above my head for a minute, very closely and I grabbed this shot. A great way to start off my photo expedition! Soon I had my eyes on various pairs of Northern Shovelers swimming along the creek. The male and female were both busy poking their long bills into the shoreline and I waited patiently behind a natural blind of fallen trees for them to come closer. They never did get all that close to me so I had to crop in tight on my photos. Here is my favorite one of the Shovelers, cast in a nice glow from the setting sun. My luck continued on as a pair of Wood Ducks later flew in from the north and hit the water just to my left and out of sight of me in my blind. I readied my camera and waited for them to swim right out in front of me. This resulting photo is probably one of my favorite shots of the whole year. I just love the colors on wood ducks and the reflections of the tan colored weeds and blue sky in the water compliment him nicely. Where ever there is any waterfowl there are bound to be some Mallards in the mix. I certainly don't go out of my way to photograph them but this male that swam slowly past me was just so pretty in the sunset that I couldn't resist. His green iridescent head just seemed to almost glow in the sunset and again the reflections on the water made for a nice photo I think. Much further down the creek, I could see some other interesting waterfowl with my binoculars including Ring-necked Ducks and a lot of Canada Geese. The Ring-necked stayed far away never coming any closer which was a bummer since they are also quite beautiful. But I was able to catch a few photos of one other interesting bird that would dive repeatedly before popping up very near me at least a few different times. Pied-billed Grebes –and other species of Grebes– are somewhat similar to Loons in that they are much more adapted to water and diving than they are to land. They behave similar in that they can stays submerged for quite some time before returning to the surface. Now that I think of it, I have never even seen a Grebe in flight before, only on the water.