First Snow of the Season

Today was Monday and again I was off of work –trying my hardest to use up my many vacation days still remaining for the year. It was pretty well predicted that today we were going to see our first snow of the season. I had been preparing next year's butterfly garden in my yard the day before but planting oodles of milkweed seeds before the snow fell and I was just in time. By morning it was snowing pretty good and quite windy so I decided to visit the park just because I could. The wind was blowing so hard that I was getting stung in the face by the wet, icy snow and thus I decided not to go around the entire park. I started on the east side, going to the bridge over Shingle Creek on the north side and then back again. The birds were certainly aware of the weather too and I honestly can't say I really saw anything of interest other than a large flock of Canada Geese grounded by the winter storm. They sat together in the baseball field on the east side, most of them with their heads tucked under their wings. We could be in for a long winter it seems.

Nature Blogging for 4 Years!

In early June of 2009 I made my very first post on this Blog. At that time I had no idea where the blog would lead me. About all I knew at the time was that I really enjoyed walking around the park and seeing deer without leaving the city! But what I found out by routinely visiting Palmer Lake Park is that there is an endless amount of things to learn about nature; from birds to mammals, insects, plants –and phenology which is the study of all of these things and how they are influenced by seasons and climate. Had I signed up for class or course in naturalism, I probably would have been overwhelmed by how much there was to learn. Instead I found that because I knew little to nothing about the subject, I wasn't afraid to make mistakes. And through what I call "slow and curious observation," I was realizing that I was learning something new every single time I visited the park! Sometimes these were very small things –something I might now take for granted– but was completely new to me at the time. And each of those small things continued to lead me to newer things still. My tools early on were a fairly inexpensive point-and-shoot camera, one field guide to Birds of Minnesota by Stan Tekela, and a cheap pair of binoculars. Though I've added to and upgraded my tools since then, the one most important tool I have is simply my own curiosity –and I doubt it will ever need to be upgraded or replaced. Even now after a solid 4 years of observing nature, I still feel an endless sense of exploration towards nature. What started out as simple walks around a city park has evolved into a full fledged passion for bird watching. And this year I completed my own "Big Month" in which I went out bird watching for a record 26 days in the month of May alone. Even in my travels now to other parts of the state –or other states, my first thought is "what kind of birds might I see there?" During a trip to Colorado this June I set my sights on finding an American Dipper –a truly unique song bird. I was lucky enough to observe and photograph one on the last day of our trip and it was probably the highlight of my entire year as far as my new hobby goes. Whether I'm observing nature in Minnesota or any other part of the world, I've found a passionate appreciation for wildlife and the natural world. I have Palmer Lake Park –a marsh in the middle of the city– to thank for showing me that. It will always be my favorite park. Finally here are a few photos to share from today; young goslings making their way through the new cattails watched over by their parents, A Hairy Woodpecker feeding preparing to feeds it's young inside a Boxelder tree, and a Great-crested Flycatcher spotted on the north end of the park.

My Big Month - Day 27

Today was Memorial Day and again the weather just plain sucked. We didn't even make it above 60 degrees and it was damp and dreary again. It was kind of a weird day and I ended up "birding" sort of part-time at two different locations. I say part-time because I was out with my wife and our main reason for being out and about was to be outside walking and exploring. Our first stop was Fish Lake Park in Maple Grove, Minnesota. We'd kayaked here a couple times in the past but never really explored the trails too much. We could hear a good variety of birds here but never really saw too many. This area has a lot of mature Maple trees and with the leaves now fully out it was tough to spot many birds here. About the only birds I took photos of here were Barn Swallows and a few Green Herons. Later in the day we decided on another completely new location to explore –Boom Island Park and Nicollet Island right in the heart of Minneapolis. I wasn't even going to bring my camera with but my wife convinced me that I might want to get photos of some of the old railway bridges in the area. So I slung it around my neck and was so happy I did. After exploring all over the place and coming back to Boom Island Park I noticed a little bird hop right out in front of me. It was a Blackpoll Warbler! I'd only ever seen this bird briefly from a long distance but remembered that they can look a bit like a Chickadee. I couldn't believe it was so close, in plain view and at eye level and I took a bunch of shots as quickly as I could. It flew up into some smaller trees and I stalked him for a while but never got to see him so out in the open as I did at first. Later we drove down river a little bit, closer to Nicollet Island and I noticed this odd looking Goose wandering around by himself. At first I thought for sure it was some kind of different morphed Canada Goose but then I noticed he didn't have black legs and feet. So then I started taking more photos and realized it might be something I've never seen before. When I got home I was hard pressed to find anything in any of my field guides that looked similar except maybe a dark morph Snow Goose. But even that doesn't seem quite right as the top and front of him look so much like a Canada. I really have no idea what this might be at the time of writing this and have posted the photo to my flickr page asking for help. I really know less than nothing about domesticated birds such as Geese or Chicken and am wondering if that is the reason I am not finding any similar photos. Maybe it is some form of domesticated, or cross-bred Goose?

Total species seen today: Green Heron, Canada Goose, Common Yellowthroat, American Redstart, Blackpoll Warbler, Mallard, Barn Swallow, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle, American Crow, Brown-headed Cowbird, American Goldfinch, Rock Pigeon, House Finch, Song Sparrow, House Sparrow, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Great Egret and Unidentified Goose pictured above.

Conditions: 58 degrees, overcast and drizzly rain.

Thursday Sunrise Walk

Lately I've felt like I've been in such a slump. My routine has become monotonous and the days are going by way too fast -despite the longer daylight hours. I'd been considering shifting my walks to the morning hours before work versus after but I am soooo not a morning person. Today I gave it a shot though by waking early and arriving at the park by 5:30am. It was kind of weird being there that early but I did have the park mostly to myself -which is near impossible this time of year. Even this early I started seeing birds. First some Tree Swallows, then Goldfinch, then another Flicker again on the north side. There were also a fair amount of Deer visible this morning and as I approached the foot bridge I noticed 2 Deer standing on the bridge! They hurried across as I came closer. I then stopped on the bridge to watch a family of Canada Geese with young ones. The two goslings lowered their heads to drink water from the Creek and it was a great photo opportunity that my camera let me down on. It was just too dark in the area with all the trees overhead. Further down the trail, a couple of Mourning Doves were eagerly awaiting the sunrise. I think I'm noticing these Doves more recently as I'm always on the lookout for another Kestral and the two have a similar shape and size. When I got back to the south side I paused for a while at my favorite place where the Shingle Creek flows back out of the lake. It had been overcast and cloudy all morning and then it suddenly passed. Everything green lit up with brilliant color against a darker sky in the west. It was about this time I realized I needed to get home and get ready for work. What a drag.

Lunchtime walk

This Monday I was working from home as I was having my entire furnace replaced at home. It was way overdue. I figured if I get a lunch break while working at the office I may as well take a lunch break if working from home. I used that time for a very quick walk. The first thing I saw were these Canada Geese that seemed interested in something up in the trees. Only seconds later a Bald Eagle burst out of the trees ahead of me so I guess that must have been what they were watching. It was super warm and sunny today and the temps were in the upper 70's! I feel like it's been quite a few year since we've had this nice of weather eleven days into October. We Minnesotan's sure enjoy it though as every day like this is one less day of snow and cold! These bright red leaves made quite a contrast against a still green background on the south side. Today's visit to the park was the first time I noticed an obvious thinning of underbrush as I could really see into the woods again for the first time since Spring. It made me remember why I spot so many more Deer and Owls in the wintertime as opposed to Summer. On the west side of the park there are a few "planted" Maples along the path that have some nice fall color to them. I really like ones like this where the outer edges have started turning but the inside is still green.

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.

Humid Evening

Our warm August is continuing and so is the humidity. Seems we're in a perpetual state of hot and stormy weather resulting in a deluge of rain with every thunderstorm. The water levels at the park are now the highest I've ever seen them. With this much rain, everywhere is lush and green. There was an ominous overcast to the sky on this Tuesday evening but it was WAY too hot and humid to even consider a rain jacket. I figured it would feel good if I got rained on. It never did rain but the big thunderclouds later converged in the west and parted just enough for the sunset to peek through, creating a strange sky. There was not much wildlife moving around tonight, unless you count the mosquitoes. As I headed back to the parking lot on the south side, I noticed a flock of geese just overhead. I thought it was an odd site to see at this time of year. Maybe they'd had enough of this heat and were heading further north! Shortly later I spotted another Prairie Vole but didn't get any blog-worthy pics before he scampered off into the taller grass.

Turning colder in May

It's steadily gotten more cold and damp in May which is really strange considering the very warm April we've had. It was easy getting used to 70 degrees in April but extra hard adjusting to mid 40's again in May! Tonight was a little better and the sun had finally popped out showing how green everything has become. On the west side I sidetracked into the woods to retrieve some garbage when I noticed this rather large and colorful snake. I'm sure it was just an everyday Garter Snake but it was close to three feet long with bright specks of orange on it. I got in real close for a picture and it got kind of pissed at me and looked like it might lunge at me. Later I spotted a Bald Eagle perched way out across the park in some dead tree tops. I've been seeing him here for the past few visits but never seem to get close to him. I'm also seeing about 9-10 deer almost every visit lately which is really unusual. It's much harder to catch pictures though now with all the tall grass and foliage. I'm also noticing a lot of them with "nubs" lately which is pretty cool. I'm pretty sure that the majority of young ones in the park are actually bucks. On the south side near the very spot I saw the Coyote last week, I watched this family of geese for a bit. The young ones, still yellow and fuzzy kept walking up underneath the female and she would kick them away with one leg. I couldn't figure out what they wanted until she sat down. Then all of them came barreling into her from behind and tucked themselves under her feathers for warmth.

Lots of visits planned

After kind of slacking and visiting the park only once each weekend lately, I've set a new goal for myself to visit every day this week. Tonight was somewhat uneventful though I did see a couple of deer right on the first woodchip trail. They are all looking rather scrawny lately. You can see their ribs and their fur is kind of matted and clumpy -almost like they've been swimming or something. I don't know if it's from just coming off the long winter or what but they definitely all have this appearance since of the beginning of April. Later down the same trail I spotted a large Hawk but didn't get any blog-worthy pictures. Not much else to note until coming back to the south side where there are still Canada Geese at the mouth of Shingle Creek. I assume some of them are nesting in the area based on their back and forth "patrolling" behaviour.

Weekday evening walk

Now that daylight savings time is back, it's actually light enough to sneak in a walk after work again. Temps are still way above normal and it's hard to find any trace of snow left anywhere. Even the woodchip trails are completely soft and quiet again, showing remnants of last summer like this faded snail shell. Somewhere on the south side I noticed this alien-seed-pod laying among some flattened cattails -although I'm pretty sure it has nothing to do with cattails. After circling back to the south side where the creek drains out of the basin, I could hear lots of Canadian Geese honking loudly. Multiple pairs were standing on the frozen water and I sat down to watch them for a while. I could only guess that possibly they were mating because one of each couple were honking loudly while swinging their necks wildly back and forth. It was like they were trying to throw their sound as far as they could in every direction.

Fall migration

Well, the sun was nowhere to be seen today finally making it feel more like a typical, late-November day. Still haven't seen a single deer in about 3 weeks now. Wonder where the heck they are. After coming out of the woods on the east side, a fellow park goer and I both stopped to watch and listen to an extremely loud commotion of Canadian Geese. About 5 separate flocks came from every direction and seemed to meet up directly above us making one giant flock. I'm guessing there must have been about 130 or more total making quite a noise. I tried to get a photo but they trailed out so long that I just couldn't capture them all. Nothing else was moving after that and I barely had any good reasons to pull out my camera save for this cluster of hard tree-mushrooms.