Last Day of February 2015

The original title for this post was going to be "where are all the birds?" as it was an unusually quiet day at the park for wildlife. Though there wasn't a cloud in the sky and the sun is at a much higher angle now, you wouldn't know by the temperatures that March starts tomorrow! Our high for today was around 18 or 19º and it's still windy enough to feel much lower. I heard on the news this evening that we haven't been above 30º in over 3 weeks! I'd barely seen or photographed any birds until I got to the north side. Even the duck pond was nearly empty save for about 10 Mallards huddled up under the eroding bank. My best birds of the day were probably a pair of Red-bellied Woodpeckers calling loudly back and forth. This one is the female with her red crown stopping halfway up her head as opposed to the male who's red crown goes all the way up to his beak. I'd hiked into the woods a little ways to find the Woodpeckers and to my surprise I scared up a Great Horned Owl. This would have been the male who is tending to his nesting mate. I thought I was far enough away from the nest to bump into him but apparently not. I didn't see where he landed again until I'd walked a ways past the nest in the other direction. Then I noticed him again right from the paved trail. His eyes were glowing yellow even though the sun was more or less behind him. Near the end of my walk I finally started seeing a few other birds including Northern Cardinals, Dark-eyed Juncos, American Robins, Black-capped Chickadees and Downy Woodpeckers. The Downy's seemed completely oblivious to my presence today and had I wanted to, I could have reached out and touched more than one of them. They were so close to me that I had to back up in order to get them in my viewfinder. I watched them for quite a while as the hammered away at various twigs and vines looking for a tasty morsel. Being so close I really got a new appreciation for just how small of birds they are. This was my favorite photo of them all mostly because of the blue sky behind the bird.

Saturday After Christmas

As I get older I look forward not to Christmas anymore but to it's passing. So much running around and adding unnecessary stress to our already hectic lives. Boy I sound old. But really I look at it now as something to get past and one step closer to Spring. But Spring seems like a distant memory as I hiked around the snow covered park today. Wet, sticky snow from a recent storm clung to everything it could and built up in even the smallest of twigs. It made for neat views today which was good because there were very few birds to be seen. Probably the best bird I spotted was a Red-bellied Woodpecker but from a long ways away. Other than this I saw a couple of American Robins, Mallards in the duck pond,  a small flock of American Crows, and a couple of American Tree Sparrows. I hadn't started my hike today until almost 3:00pm so there was a short time of light. As I was coming back around on the north side I liked how the setting sun was hitting the twisted Willow Trees. This was about 4:30pm and it would be dark soon so I headed back to my vehicle.

A Short Sunday Stroll

My hike around the park today was on the shorter side, only about 90 minutes. I still spotted some interesting things including a dead Deer laying just inside the paved trail near 69th Avenue. It appeared fairly fresh and looked like it had been hit by a car, breaking one of it's back legs. I did take some photos but have decided not to post them. I then spotted a Red-bellied Woodpecker (a male) working his way up a tree in search of food. People often wonder why they are called "red-bellied" but this photo shows just a bit of the reason. Notice how he's also using his tail feathers as a third point of contact to steady himself against the tree. This is something that I believe all Woodpeckers do. The recent snowfall has melted away from the paved trails but is still clinging to the ground in other places. But on the north sided the snow had receded beyond the pavement enough to provide an alluring edge for other birds, including this American Tree Sparrow. In this photo it appears to be pulling at grass, but it would be more likely that it's looking for some kind of seed, or even possibly an insect to eat. I'm amazed at what birds can find all winter long to keep themselves fed. Sometimes it might not be so obvious to us. The Tree Sparrow wasn't the only bird taking advantage of the area. This Dark-eyed Junco was doing a little foraging of his own. I find this bird a tough species to approach closely, which just makes me try even harder to get in closer for a photo. This one is cropped down a bit but has some good detail still. As the winter season rolls in, the Juncos will be one bird I'll start seeing much more of. Other birds seen today included; Downy Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, Black-capped Chickadee and White-breasted Nuthatch.

15 Birds, 2 Mink and Some Insects!

I can hardly believe it is only late November now as the weather we've had since our first snow on the 10th has felt much more like December or even January. We've already dipped below 0º and had a couple more snowfalls and it's not even December! This Saturday was slightly warmer and I was anxious to hike around the park. I started tallying up the number of bird species that I spotted because it is just so slow this time of year. After watching some Chickadees and Juncos moving back and forth from the cattails, I spied a small group of Cedar Waxwings picking at the Buckthorn berries. The light wasn't so good and especially shooting upwards like this but I like this picture non-the-less. When I got over to the "duck pond" I started to see all sorts of birds including a few House Finches and Goldfinches. I always enjoy seeing or hearing Goldfinches in the wintertime as they remind me very much of Summer. I'm guessing this one might be an adult male in his winter-time plumage since he shows a bit of very bright yellow still on his face. The Mallards have been slowly growing in numbers since the first snow and I always stop to check out the group just in case there's a stray duck of a different species among them. So far now luck. I did try my hand at catching a picture whenever one would bathe or stretch it's wings and this was the best of the bunch. I'm still no good at catching movement and not having it appear blurry. My very best photo of the day however would be taken just minutes later after I spotted a handful of Cardinals –males and females– moving around low in some dogwood. I crept closer very slowly and positioned myself perfectly on this male somehow without spooking him. He had clearly just eaten something as evident by food left on his bill, so he must have been content just to sit there for a while. So I took advantage and popped off numerous shots and got a couple of very sharp ones. For me, a decent photograph of even a common bird can make my whole day of bird watching well worth it. And at this time of year when everything outdoors starts fading into black or white, a bright red Cardinal is very appreciated! In a short while later I spotted another flash of red, this time being on a Red-bellied Woodpecker. It was here in this same area on the wood chip trail bordering the duck pond that I spotted the majority of the birds I saw today. I believe I had roughly 15 total including:
1. Dark-eyed Junco
2. Black-capped Chickadee
3. American Crow
4. Mallard
5. Blue Jay
6. Northern Cardinal
7. Cedar Waxwing
8. Downy Woodpecker
9. Hairy Woodpecker
10. Red-bellied Woodpecker
11. House Finch
12. American Goldfinch
13. American Tree Sparrow
14. American Robin
15. White-breasted Nuthatch
Aside from these birds, I actually spotted not one but two different Mink! One nearly ran into my foot as I hiked along the wood chip trail on the south side of the park. I could hear shrieking in this area and at first I thought a Raptor had caught a rodent of some kind. But I quickly learned it was indeed a Mink moving through the cattails at a hurried pace –possibly with another one chasing it, though I only saw the one. Then on the complete opposite end of the park, I spotted another one. This time bounding up the banks of the drainage ditch under the northern most paved trail that leads out of the park. Neither one stayed put long enough for a photo of any kind. However it was here that I spotted something interesting –flying insects! There were 2 or 3 of them flying through the air and landing on dried Goldenrod plants. I could hardly believe what I was seeing considering how cold it has been. Simply amazing what nature can withstand.

Another Sunny Day

I arrived at the park in the afternoon today sometime after 2:30pm. By now it had warmed up quite a bit and it was yet another gorgeous day to be outside. Now that November is here, every day like this is all the more precious. With all the hiking I've been doing around the park this Spring, Summer and Fall, I need to really start keeping my posts shorter and more manageable. Right now I have over a dozen folders from previous visits that I've not posted yet. Because my goal with this blog is to document every single visit, I sometimes find myself in the situation of having to write about a walk I took months ago. Oh well, usually my photos are pretty good reminders of each and every day. The first good photo I got on today's visit was this Hairy Woodpecker. The light was really nice and I like that the background showed up darker than the bird. It's that time of year now when sadly, I start to get excited about Woodpeckers. The thing is, they really start to be the only interesting birds around on a regular basis. Excluding Owls I mean, which can be way tougher to find. I caught another Woodpecker today –a Red-bellied– in the act of probing a tree for insects. This is a male with the red crown coming at least over the top of the head. My last bird I was really happy to see and photograph today was a Fox Sparrow. I'd been seeing one here and there but struggling to get a shot. This one posed for me along the wood chip trail on the southwest side. He was kind of half in the sun and half in the shade but at least I got close to it. From it's bill, it appeared to have been eating some dark berries. I'm guessing probably Buckthorn berries. Other birds spotted today included; Dark-eyed Junco, American Robin (oodles of them), Blue Jay, Cedar Waxwing (juveniles), Northern Cardinal, Black-capped Chickadees, and the Muscovy Duck was still there too! Oh, I also found a dead, pure white mouse way out in the field while hiking off trail. I thought that kind of odd and don't know what to make of it. I guess it's just an albino.

Memorial Day 2014

Memorial Day is always seen as the "official" kick off to the Summer season and today it surely did feel like summer. It was warm and humid and felt more like a July day than late May. I didn't get to the park today until just after 4:30pm. But once I got there it was so beautiful I spent a long time making my way around the entire loop. I have more pictures than I can possibly post here today so I've picked a handful that represent some of my more fun sightings. The first was an unexpectedly close encounter with a beautiful Cooper's Hawk. It bumped out of a tree merely feet above me over the paved trail on the south side. It didn't go far and perched again in another shorter tree allowing me a very good look. I assumed it was a Cooper's Hawk right off the bat due to the very long, banded tail. But later upon looking at the photo more closely I realized it's breast was not the orangy-banded pattern I am used to seeing. I shared this photo on the Minnesota Birding Facebook page and someone pointed out that it is likely a first-year bird and has not grown it's full adult plumage yet. My second sighting of note was a fun one and I took a LOT of photos. Along the woodchip trail on the southwest corner, I noticed a Red-bellied Woodpecker land at the same spot on the same tree more than once. Upon looking closer I noticed a little hole in the side of the tree and then the Woodpecker disappeared into it! Sure enough it had a nest here and was busy feeding it's young. First the male landed with a mouthful of food and slipped inside the hole. When he came back out, I could plainly hear the loud squealing of little ones inside the tree. Then the female came in only seconds later with another mouthful of bugs and caterpillars. I watched this repeat once more before finally moving on. I ended up seeing a lot of good birds today but I had quite a good photo opportunity on the north side along the straight, paved trail. There hopping around in the small Willow shrubs was a female American Redstart. She was staying mostly near the ground and seemed to be searching for insects. I tried to predict where she might land next and it paid off as she hopped up on this small branch right in front of me! It is probably the single best photo of any Redstart I've ever gotten –not to mention a female too. I read somewhere later that the female American Redstart is somewhat unique among the Warbler family in that she does not vocalize (sing or call). And furthermore if you see what you think is a female Redstart and it it singing, then it is most likely a first-year male –who's plumage can look similar to the female when still young. I never knew that! One more photo I took not too much further down the trail was yet another female bird, this time a female Rose-breasted Grosbeak. She was busy gathering nesting material and in my first few shots she actually had a bill full of fine twigs. But as I watched, she must have decided against them for some reason, or inadvertently dropped them. You've gotta appreciate birds sometimes simply for the fact that they can construct intricate nests without the use of any limbs. I did not see the male anywhere around but I'm glad to know that this species may possibly be nesting in the park! Other notable sights spotted this evening included; American Goldfinch, Least Flycatcher, Great Crested Flycatcher, Question-mark Butterfly chasing a Red Admiral Butterly, Black-capped Chickadee, Yellow Warbler, Tree Swallow, a few Deer, Cedar Waxwing, Baltimore Oriole and Brown Thrasher. Oh, and a couple Morel Mushrooms!

A Few Days Before Christmas

It's only a few days now until Christmas. Our colder-than normal December has continued on as such and it seems like it snows every other day or so. One good thing is that my back has been giving me less pain than usual and I am thankful to have found some treatment that seems to be helping. Though I took multiple breaks where I sat for 10 - 20 minutes, I was able to get all the way around the park today without too much pain. There air today was saturated with snowflakes and I had to blow off my camera every few minutes to keep it from building up. I did some off-the-trail hiking today in hopes of seeing an Owl but no such luck. I did however see a Red-tailed Hawk who was screeching loudly over and over. I wondered if maybe HE saw an Owl somewhere but I couldn't confirm so. Other than the Hawk I spotted only the regulars today; Downy, Hairy and Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Black-capped Chickadees, Juncos, Blue Jays and Cardinals. I've hardly even spotted such other common birds such as a Crow or even European Starlings lately. From the north side I stopped to look over the park and it just looked so wintery and devoid of any life. I thought to myself it's amazing that this place can be appear so dark and desolate now but be teeming with life come spring. I took this photo with just the smallest of intention of seeing if I could make it look even more "dreary" later using Photoshop. This is the end result and I feel like it kind of captured the way I felt about something today. Near the northern most end of the park I came across a bright red Cardinal who was singing up in a tree so I decided to hike in closer. I'm still amazed at how bright they can look on a day like today and seeing one on a dull wintery day is always a plus. I hiked off the trail through some pretty deep snow but had a tough time getting a clear shot through the the trees. He was picking at Buckthorn berries like I see so many other birds doing throughout the winter.

Great Backyard Bird Count - Day 1

I think last year was the first time I'd participated in the "Great Backyard Bird Count" or "GBBC." This is an annual bird count sponsored by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in Ithaca New York. The Cornell Lab is kind of like the "central hub" of all things bird related and they have one of the best online resources for bird identification called All About Birds. Anyway, I really like the GBBC because it's one you can do completely on your own, anywhere you wish. Of course I chose Palmer Lake Park last year and again this year. All you do is keep your own record of how many of each species you see and report it online. Routine bird counts give scientists tremendous amounts of important data in the study of birds, migration and even climate change and it's neat to know that you can participate right in your own backyard if you wish. The only downside of this count is that it's at the peak of winter and can be some of the quietest times for birds in Minnesota. So generally I end up reporting lots of Woodpeckers, Chicakdees, Finches and Nuthatches, none of which are rare by any means. But like on any other walk, you never know what you might see and I was hoping very much that I could add a Northern Shrike to my count this year. I'll share a few photos I took today during my count and this first is just one of four Red-bellied Woodpeckers I spotted. This is actually a female which I don't see all that often. You can tell by the fact that the red crest on her head doesn't go all the way across from the front to the back, but rather has a gap of light grey between. Any bird that has red feathers at all really stands out this time of year when everything else is washed out in white or grey. So though another common bird, it's actually pretty neat to see a bright red male Cardinal on such a sunny winter day. They almost look like they are glowing against the pale landscape of February. After seeing a small group of 5 Deer, I finally spotted my Northern Shrike high atop a tree on the far north side of the park! Though I've seen them a fair amount this season it was nice to be able to "officially" add him to my count. Oh, I also saw a Red-shouldered Hawk which is another not as common bird –for me anyway. But I didn't get a photo of him.

Total bird count for Saturday February 16th, 2013
Black-capped Chickadee – 20
American Crow – 7
Downy Woodpecker – 1
Hairy Woodpecker – 4
Red-bellied Woodpecker – 4
Pileated Woodpecker – 1
White-breasted Nuthatch – 2
Northern Cardinal – 3
Blue Jay – 1
House Finch – 4
Northern Shrike – 1
Red-shouldered Hawk – 1
European Starlings – 2
American Robin – 1

Late November

I had the day off of work today and naturally I started off my day by visiting the park. It was nice and sunny out today and warmer than normal -just as it has been for most of the month. I'd taken the wood chip trail from the parking lot and as I neared where it turns north, I heard a familiar loud sound and spotted a Red-bellied Woodpecker almost at eye-level. This was an unusual occurrence as I hardly ever see them any closer to the ground than about 30 feet. The sun was shining right on him, making his red crown even more bright looking. I was lucky enough to catch just 2 pics of him before he flew off higher up into the trees. Something I learned from this photo, but was not easy to pick up from my field guide is that the also have very "red" eyes! For some reason I rarely see females of this species -who's red crown does not extend across the entire head. As I neared the bridge over the creek on the north side, I spotted a group of three Deer who where staying oddly close to each other. They were easily visible out in an open area and a number of people walking on the trail stopped to watch them. I then noticed what looked to be a person standing up along the banks of Shingle Creek. The figure wasn't moving so I had to look through my binoculars to confirm that it was indeed a person. I started to think "what the heck" when I then noticed another person up in a tree stand even closer to me. It then dawned on me that it was a Tuesday and the special Deer hunt was going on! This might have explained why the Deer were staying close together as I think they aware of all the people around. In a way I think it might be good for the Deer in the park to come to trust people a bit less than they currently do. I am always shocked at how tame they seem. As I kept walking I wondered if one of these 3 ended up claimed by the hunter.

Here comes Spring -oooops just kidding!

After more than a week with temps in the 40's and 50's, I was really getting "Spring-fever." The snow was gone and in places you can see plants and grass actually starting to green up. This trend was short lived however as an early spring snowstorm moved across the upper midwest Tuesday through Wednesday. It started with half and inch of rain, then a fresh coating of 4-5 inches of snow. It was just enough to move this winter up a notch to the 5th snowiest winter in Minnesota history! Like after most snowstorms the temps dipped way back down again -even into the single digits the following day. This Saturday morning the park was barely distinguishable from an average day in January. Melted backwaters that had been attracting ducks last week were now frozen solid again. Since seeing just a handful of Red-winged Blackbirds last Saturday, they're back in huge numbers now and can be seen and heard everywhere. I bet they're thinking they came back too early this year. Despite the chilly temps, the sun was out and birds were plentiful and active. I'm hearing so many birds now it's harder to pick them out but one I did recognize today was that of a Red-bellied Woodpecker. I heard him for a long time before finally spotting him. A short time later I spotted one Hawk and then another. The second was noticeably smaller than the first and had a much longer tail than I'm used to seeing on a Hawk. As far as I can tell from my bird book it is a Sharp-shinned Hawk which would be a first! During this walk I could barely keep track of all the various birds I saw. Here is what I remember: Robin, Cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird, Chickadee, Crow, Blue Jay, House Finch, Hairy Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Mallard, Hooded Merganser, Ring-billed Great Blue Heron, Bald Eagle, Red-tailed Hawk and Sharp-shinned Hawk.

Lots of Deer and Birds

Today's walk was a bit more interesting than yesterday. The sun had disappeared and as usually happens, there was a lot more wildlife to be seen. The first was a group of four Deer back by the drainage ditch. Lately I've been adding this small offshoot of the trail to my normal routine as I can just about count on seeing Deer there. On my way back to my normal route, there were four more Deer heading in the direction I'd came from. One by one they stepped out into a clear spot before heading back toward the thick stuff. On the northwest side there were tons of birds making tons of noise so I decided to venture in closer. I thought the birds making all the noise were Purple Finches, but now think they were House Finches. Among the ruckus I could hear more unique birds and I found myself walking further into the woods. There a third group of 7 more Deer walked past me -making for a total of 15 Deer today! A short time later I caught a glimpse of what I thought I'd recognized by sound, a Red-bellied Woodpecker. I decided to stalk him for a while in hopes of getting a better photo but it was tough given how thick the woods are here. The only thing I could keep my eye on as he bounced around from tree to tree was his bright red crown. Eventually he settled into a real thick area of trees out in front of me with just barely an opening in my view. The photo shows the rosy red belly patch for which the bird is named. I tried many more times for a Finch photo but eventually gave up and headed back. On the way I heard something above me and looked up to find this Gray Squirrel barking at me.

Drizzily November Afternoon

It's a lot easier to spot both birds and deer now with no leaves and white backdrop of snow. Through the winter there will be a lot less variety of birds so anything other than a Chickadee is exciting. This male Red-bellied Woodpecker was right out in the open, though quite far away. I only got a photo from the back before he flew off. I'm still seeing lots of deer and counted ten in this visit. They seem to sticking in larger groups now of four or more, another reason they're easy to spot lately. These three were part of a group of six I think just before the foot bridge on the north side. With just how close I've been able to get to deer lately, I walked towards this group thinking they'd stay put but to the contrary they were a lot more skittish and bolted off into the woods. The large group of Carp I'd seen yesterday were still in the same general spot, only most of the thin ice had melted due to some drizzle in the air. I walked up to the edge of the creek and could periodically see the water churn in places where groups of them would get excited or whatever. When they did this near the edge, it would actually lift up the thin layers of ice making an unusually weird creaking sound.

Sunbirds

After such nice warm temps, the bright sun was deceiving this morning and I felt under-dressed as I set out. I actually went back to my truck for my hooded scarf as the temps were only in the 30's. About two weekends ago I recognized the familiar sound of Red-winged blackbirds returned to the park. Today they were everywhere, soaking up the sun and chirping loudly. Chickadees were doing the same and searching for food in a rotted tree. On the northeast side I decided to walk into the woods a ways in search of an owl. I didn't see any but I did spot two Red-bellied Woodpeckers hammering away at another rotten tree. After the one flew off, the other decided to crawl right into the tree and peak back out. Shortly afterward I heard and spotted two more of them. Since you can usually hear them before spotting them, I am trying to remember their unique "querrr" or "kwirrr" sound. You can hear for yourself at this website: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-bellied_Woodpecker/sounds