I arrived at the park just after 8:30am this Saturday and started hiking on the south side. While making my way around the duck pond along the wood chip trail I could see a bird or two near the water's edge among the Willow and other low shrubs. The first one to my surprise was a Great Crested Flycatcher. I'd never seen one this low to the ground before as they tend to stay up in the treetops. Unfortunately the lighting was too dark but at least I saw one. But then a second bird in the same area caught my eye and lo and behold it was a Warbler. Not just any Warbler but a Northern Waterthrush!
I've not seen one of these since early spring and seeing as it's August now, I'm thinking that possibly this one is already on it's return trip back south. So this bird is officially my first "fall Warbler." There are lots of great plants and flowers and Butterflies out now as well and I spotted this beautiful patch of Blue Vervain just starting to flower. Though tiny, these little flowers are a vibrant violet and bloom from the top down along their flower stalks.
This is one of the very first native Wildflowers that I learned and thus they are my favorite Minnesota Wildflower. Blue Vervain tends to prefer moist areas so it it prevalent in Palmer Lake Park. And speaking of Butterflies, I found more than one today. The first one shown here is called a "Cabbage White" Butterfly and they are quite common.
I've tried countless times to photograph one in good light and detail and I think I finally succeeded with this shot. I don't know what kind of plant it was on but I do recognize the fuzzy leaves. Then not to much later I found this Red Admiral Butterfly hanging around a plot of Touch-me-Not plant. Maybe it's early enough in the season but this Red Admiral's wings were in pristine shape making me wonder if it wasn't that old yet.
Sometimes Butterflies can get pretty beat-up. And such was the case with the next one I found –a Viceroy Butterfly! This was probably my most exciting find so far as I can't even remember the last time I've seen this species. A Viceroy is a "mimic" of the much loved Monarch Butterfly. The reason is that since Monarch catterpillers eat Milkweed plants, they are toxic to birds and are avoided as a food source. The Viceroy, looking so similar to a Monarch in color and pattern, are also avoided.
Looking closely at the lower wing of a Viceroy, one can see an extra black line that runs perpendicular to and crosses the other lines. A Monarch would not show this pattern. And just when I thought I'd found the most interesting piece of nature for the day, something darted out ahead of me on the paved trail while hiking along the north side. It was a Pheasant, which isn't all that odd except for the fact that it stopped dead in it's tracks in the middle of the trail and craned it's head to look back. I knew something was up with this and got my camera ready. Sure enough, tiny Pheasant chicks came running out of the tall grass to catch up with mom! It was the first time for me seeing Pheasant chicks. I believe there were four in all and they were already grown enough to fly for short distances as evident by this photo showing the last one in flight.
I tried to quickly run up ahead as I could see the group still on the edge of the grass on the opposite side of the trail. By the time I got up far enough, all but one chick had darted into the grass and I didn't get a good photo of the one. Quite an interesting sighting I think! Wonder if they had nested in the park?
