An Extra Friday

Today is Friday the 28th of November and the day after Thanksgiving. I had an additional day off of work today so of course I went to the park. It was a dreary, overcast day and every photo I was taking was turning out dark. I didn't even know until later when I got home that the first bird I spotted today was a White-throated Sparrow, a bird which I've not seen for quite a long time and I'd assumed they had left for the season. There were hundreds of Mallards congregating in the Duck Pond on the southwest corner but no unusual ducks among them. Finally I had a great photo opportunity at a Blue Jay that perched right in front of me. And I completely blew it and this is the least-blurry shot I got. For whatever reason Blue Jays are very difficult to photograph. One would think because they're such a common species that it would not be hard, but just try getting close to one in the wild! Shortly after I spotted a Great Horned Owl perched high up on the trees but he was too far away for a good photo. I took some non-the-less but nothing worth sharing here. Probably the busiest area for birds today included House Finches, Tree Sparrows, Chickadees, Cardinals, Mourning Doves, and a Red-bellied Woodpecker. I'm still trying for better photos of House Finch as they can be a very pretty bird. But with the light being what it is lately I'm lucky if any of the male's violet-red color shows up at all. I was happy though to get photos of both the male and female House Finch today.

A Good Walk After Work

I knew I wasn't going to get to the park this coming weekend as I had a trip coming up so I figured I would go Thursday after work. It was a beautiful and warm day with clear skies and a just a bit breezy. I was with a friend tonight and prepared not to shoot as many photos as when I'm with myself. By the end though I was surprised at how many pics I'd taken and at all the great birds we saw -many of which were pointed out by my eagle-eyed friend. The first was a male Common Yellowthroat at which we both peeked at through binoculars but did not manage to catch a good photo of. The next was a Rose-breasted Grosbeak that we watched and listened to for quite some time. He was on the north side perched way high up in tall Willow tree but we could really see his bright red patch in the evening sun. He was singing away loudly and this was the longest I've ever been able to listen one. At times it was so similar to a Robin and then other times not at all. Later on we ran into a pair of Blue Jays and since I'm still pining for a better Blue Jay photo, I just had to follow them from tree to tree. I ended up catching this one but unfortunately it shows only a dull and mostly grey bird, not the beautiful blue color that I normally think of. At least they are easy to identify by their louder-than-normal call and I should have more chances in the future. Coming back to the east side we got a chance to spot a brighter bird -a bright orange Baltimore Oriole. As I've seen them doing so often, this one was also high up in a tall Cottonwood tree, nearly hanging upside-down from the very ends of the branches. As with many Oriole sightings, the angle is that I'm underneath them looking up at their belly. To me it seems like this is the only way you'll see them in the Spring, but as the season progresses into Summer, you'll start to see them lower to the ground. I will see if this holds true this year as well.

One More In September

After a successful day of cleaning up the park, I was eager for another visit this weekend. I did a quick check on the collected trash bags and thankfully nobody had messed with them overnight. Like yesterday the evening temps were only in the 30's but by noon time it was warming up into the 60's or higher. I don't know how certain things survive such cold evening temps and then seem to wake up and be as active as any mid-summer day. Blue Jays have been extremely active this month it seems like there's more around than last year. By the time I got to the bridge on the north side, I'd seen Painted Turtles, a Great Blue Heron, Dragonflies, a female Red-breasted Grosbeak and an unlikely Brown Thrasher. It was such a nice sunny day that I decided to walk along the creek starting from the bridge. I found a nice log to just sit and watch the creek, hoping to see some Wood Ducks or something. I was a ways from the water but I could see large Carp and an occasional Turtle float by. A short time later I saw this Green Heron and realized how few of them I'd seen at the park this year. At the rate I've been seeing them, this could be the last one I see for a while. The last thing I stopped to take a photo of today was actually the sky. It was like a post card with perfectly placed billowy white clouds against a rich blue sky. I thought about how many more days like this we might have this season and to really appreciate them.

Calm Sunday Morning

It was cool and calm out this Sunday morning. The park was not busy in the least with a lot of people headed out of town for Memorial Day weekend. With the soggy condition of the wood chip trails, I stayed on the outer paved trails entirely. Around the southwest corner I spotted a large Red-tailed Hawk in a dead tree above me. I only got a few crummy shots before another smaller bird flew in and chased him off. When I got to the foot bridge over Shingle Creek on the north side, I decided to walk up the other trail a bit, following the creek. On the opposite side I spotted a Deer who'd obviously seen me first and stopped in it's tracks. It was another young Buck with new antlers. I scanned around and within a few seconds spotted what I thought was a Doe, but upon closer inspection with my binoculars, was another Buck with just 2 small nubs. The two caught up to each other and went bouncing off through the tall grass. The whole walk I could hear lots of Yellow Warblers and Orioles but never caught a glimpse of either one. Near the end of my route I heard a bird call I've not heard in a while and looked up to see a Blue Jay. I feel like there was still snow on the ground last time I saw one at the park.

Series of Strange Events

On my way to the park today, only blocks from my house I stopped to pull a car out of the snowbank. The brand new hybrid car was completely cemented into the deep and hard packed snowbank and I couldn't begin to comprehend how in the heck the driver managed this feat with the roads as clear as they are. Regardless, my tow strap did the trick and delayed my arrival to the park by only about 20 minutes. I'd brought my snowshoes today and was excited to go off my normal path. Shortly after crossing the creek tributary on the west side I headed out towards the middle of the park, planning to cut all the way across. To my surprise my snowshoes became more and more useless the further out I got. They worked OK while in the cover of the woods, but out in the open I was sinking abruptly into 3 foot snowdrifts. The snow was just too light and fluffy to support any weight. As an added bonus to my struggling, the deep snow easily concealed all kinds of logs and branches underneath that I was tripping on left and right. More than once, I fell full-bodied, limbs flailing wildly into the deep snow. I didn't know whether to laugh or swear but I eventually opted for the latter. There was no way in hell I was gonna make it across the entire park this way so I headed back to the paved trail, frustrated and sweaty. As I'm sure I scared away every living thing in the park, I figured I'd better settle for a photo of this Nuthatch near the northwest side. Despite seeing a good variation of birds, including an Owl, Hawks, Cardinals and Blue Jays, I was always too far away and too late for any photos. My mood became increasingly more grumpy as my cell phone was chiming in with both emails and phone calls the whole way. Eventually I was summoned back home by a work related circumstance. Fortunately I'd stowed my laptop in my back seat this morning -something I only do when my backup person is not available. Just as I was setting up and logging in, I noticed a man standing right behind my truck, looking out over the middle of the park. I figured maybe he was looking at a Deer or something and turned my attention back to my laptop. From my rear view mirror I saw him shift closer and thought I'd better see what was going on. As I opened my door, the man said "you see that Fox out there?" Out loud I screamed "Shit!" and scrambled back in my truck for my camera. I knew even before he got the words out of his mouth that a Coyote was out there somewhere and I caught a quick glance of him through my windshield about the same time I'd finally located my camera. I bolted out of my truck and in a fervor uttered just one word "Coyote!" back to the man behind me. I snapped a first photo much too quickly before the camera had even focused as I thought I'd never get the chance again. Luckily the Coyote was going the full distance across the frozen water, giving me multiple chances for a photo. He was a long ways out but I didn't care in the least as he was clearly visible and was going to be for at least another 30 seconds. As far out as he was, he was keenly aware of myself and the other guy watching stupidly from the parking lot. He paused only a couple of times before coming all the way over to the southeast side and back into the woods on the southeast side. The same area I've spotted them in -only twice in 5 years. Later, I'd realized that if I hadn't hurried back to the truck and decided to flip open my stupid laptop, I would have missed him by just minutes! For me, it was an early Christmas present!

Fourth Day in a row in December

This Tuesday morning was my 4th visit to the park in as many day. It's a great start to December considering I visited only 4-6 times in previous months with a lot nicer weather. The cloud cover from the last few days had dissipated, making it even colder today. Today was December 7th (Pearl Harbor Day) and oddly enough I took only 7 photos my entire walk. I'm guessing the temps were just too low yet for much wildlife to be active. I saw no deer and barely even any birds. Interestingly one of the birds I did see was a Blue Jay, who have been eluding a good closeup from my camera lens for a long time. I settled on a long distance shot as there was no way I was going to wait around for him to get closer in these cold temps. The creek was serene today with a blue sky and blue shadows on the snow. I did stop here briefly to watch for wildlife, but again nothing was moving. It was just quiet and cold everywhere. With 4 visits now this December, maybe I can beat my 7 visits from last December. Still have not seen any Owls yet this winter but it shouldn't be long.

Green and Blue

Since it's stopped raining the weather has really been fantastic. Though most days are now starting out in the mid 40's, it can still top out in the mid 70's. Today was another nice morning though I nearly turned back as my stupid camera was running on low batteries. I tried different combinations of batteries and finally got the damn thing to stay on right before I noticed this Male Wood Duck. Later I spotted only a few mushrooms and a Red-bellied Woodpecker. On the east side though I noticed a large Blue Jay just off the trail. I was excited to get my first decent photo of one but sadly even these pics turned out crummy. It's kind of funny that such a common bird can be so elusive. This might be the first and only Blue Jay photo I've put on the blog but hopefully I'll catch a better one soon. On the south side, small flocks of Canada Geese were passing just shortly over my head. The first time I was warned by loud honking but the second time I heard only the whoosh of whistling feathers heading my way. I pointed my camera up and managed to catch the whole group. I like how they're wings are in different positions.