Cool and Overcast Sunday

Well I think our late summer warmth has finally gone away. The temperature this morning was a surprising 37 degrees! And it was the first time I found myself wearing not only blue jeans, but a long-sleeved sweatshirt as well. It was kind of a nice change actually. Though the only Warbler I saw was a Common Yellowthroat, I saw a fair amount of other birds. In fact I saw 90% of all my birds today in one small area. Just off of the woodchip trail on the south end of the park is an area full of tall weeds and shrubs that give birds lots of hiding places as well as food sources I'm assuming. I stayed here for a good 20 minutes and in that time saw: Rose-breasted Grosbeak, American Goldfinch, Mourning Dove, Blue Jay, Northern Cardinal, Brown Thrasher, Black-capped Chickadee and Gray Catbird. A few of the Blue Jays I saw seemed to be carrying Acorns in their beaks. The Catbird I got the best photo of however was nearer the east end of the park as I was heading back to my vehicle. They rarely sit so still for me and I was happy to get this and a few other decent shots. Around the park I also noticed a few small snails slowly crossing the paved trail like they always do. I often pick them up and help them across so that they don't get crushed by bikers or joggers. Like Monarchs, they have been few and far between this year for some reason. In other years I've had to really watch my step to avoid stepping on them just while walking on the paved trail.

Friends of Palmer Lake Park Nature Hike

This Saturday, the Friends of Palmer Lake Park held our first ever "Nature Hike." It was a free event, open to the public and guided by the 4 founding members of the FPLP group. In total I think we had somewhere around 17 or 18 people participate and the weather turned out to be just fantastic -a perfect day for a hike around the park. While the 4 core-members of the FPLP are very familiar with the park and it's familiar sights, we were lucky enough to be joined by some residents of the area whom had lived around the park for many many years and watched it changed over time. We had quite a fun time as many of the participants were avid birders and naturalists who share a passion for being outdoors and spotting just about everything there is to see. I myself kept a running "bird count" of all the species spotted on our hike. Our list totaled 26 different bird species which I want to list here just for the sake of record keeping. They are also listed in the order that we saw them: Cooper's Hawk, Crow, Cedar Waxwing, Barn Swallow, Chimney Swift, Robin, Goldfinch, Catbird, Green Heron, Black & White Warbler, Pewee or Flycatcher?, Osprey, Great Egret, Common Yellowthroat, Song Sparrow, Chickadee, Downy Woodpecker, Tree Swallow, Great Blue Heron, Phoebe, Cardinal, Mourning Dove, Mallard, Pileated Woodpecker, Chipping Sparrow and Flicker! In addition to seeing all these birds, a few members of our group were taking an interest in many different plant species found in the park, including but not limited to: Blue Vervain, Elderberries, Spotted Jo-py weed, Nightshade and Jewelweed. We also had a fun impromptu demonstration of Jewelweed's famous exploding seed pods which made a few people jump - ha ha. Paul from the FPLP group was a fantastic guide and was enjoying sharing his knowledge of just about everything nature related, from how Osprey eat, to how to identify Dragonflies and Damselflies. Ron, a friend and respectable photographer and birder captured some fantastic photos of the day including many of the bird species we saw but also some of the small stuff like Japanese Beetles and Dragonflies. But my favorite photo he took that day was of this snail that Paul had found and picked up to show the group. There is just so much detail and real-ness in the photo that I just had to post it here. It had so much fun hanging out with friends and enjoying the nature around us. I hope that our FPLP group can again hold another Nature Hike event next year and I hope we have twice as many people attend!

Slowly it is Surely Summer

With a healthy amount of rain and warm temps, the park is life. At the start of my walk today I saw a young Buck with velvety spiked antlers, a female Redstart, Eastern Phoebe and a Green Heron among other things. As with many summer days it started out hazy but gradually "burned off" as I made my way around. For all of the birds above me there are equally interesting things below me and one of them that caught my eye was this tiny little snail making his way across a leaf. I just love snails and how slow they move. It reminds me that nature develops slowly but surely and perfectly. Sometimes I wish I were a snail and able to experience life at that pace versus my often too-hectic life. The next thing of interest I decided to post today is this pair of Mushrooms. I can't say for sure if I've seen this type before but if I have it's not been to often. A lot of mushrooms I see at the park have a skinnier shaft and wider "umbrella" top versus these kind. I obviously have no idea what they are but at the moment I'm sticking to learning more birds before overwhelming myself with a whole new challenge. I took the picture simply because to me it looks as though the one is leaning in to tell the other one a secret. Later on I did catch a quick glimpse of an interesting bird, and one that I don't have many closeups of. This female Rose-breasted Grosbeak was hopping about the lower portions of the young Willow trees probably looking for insects. She looked a bit on the scraggly side, maybe ruffling her feathers as she went through the willows. Or possibly it was a juvenile as well. They are definitely not a pretty as the males but it's good to spot any Grosbeaks in the park!

Last Sunday of the Summer

It hadn't dawned on me until afterward but my visit today would be my last this "summer" with Autumn less than a week away. This September has seemed unusually colder than in previous years. We've had the crisp, cool temperatures of Fall while everything is still mostly green. It even froze -hard already, dipping below 32º long enough to shrivel up people's gardens. The deer have been pretty scarce lately but today I spotted 5 or 6 of them. Two were definitely fawns with a Doe, but I couldn't tell the age of the others. This last one gave me some close photo opps as I watched it voraciously eating all sorts of greenery. I don't want to think about the fact that a lot of this green could be covered by snow in just over a month. On the north side I saw something that made me kind of laugh. Two snails were heading in the exact same direction across the path, side by side -only one was trailing behind about 12 inches or so. It looked like a race that would take a few hours. I tried getting a photo with both of them in it, but the one that was 12 inches behind looked like he was a full mile behind and just showed up as a blurry spot. It also won't be too much longer before these little Gastropods disappear too. The one sure sign I did see of things to come was an overturned Maple leaf with some nice dewdrops on it. There aren't really that many Maples in the park -only on the outskirts of the trail. Many of them have prematurely started to turn colors already due to the colder than usual temperatures.

Here comes the sun

Well, we made it one whole week without rain so I guess it was time again. We received about 3/4 of an inch overnight and this morning was all wet again. I actually took my rain jacket with me this time just in case it wasn't done yet -but of course I didn't need it. The sky was mostly overcast but changing quickly with a mixture of grey and darker areas. It seemed like nothing was quite ready to come out just yet except for this snail who I met on the trail. You can't tell from this photo but it was one of the largest ones I've ever seen at the park. I saw a Cardinal and just a handful of Song Sparrows and Goldfinches until I was more than half way around the park and the sun popped out. Shortly after I noticed a single Osprey over the lake and I figured I'd try to get a better photo of one today. I hiked a lot closer first, up to the water overlook by the railroad ties. There I waited over and over for him to circle closer to me. With my camera zoomed as far as it would go, it was tough to follow a flying bird but I did manage to catch a photo with just a bit more clarity. Then I cropped it even more on the computer and I almost think that I can see a band around his leg. This was the only Osprey I saw today though I've seen up to 3 at once before. I stayed on the wood chip trail on the way back to the parking lot and noticed a big, Black Swallowtail Butterfly among the wildflowers. I stood there just along the edge of the field as my camera focused and I could just feel the mosquitoes swarming my legs below. I held steady to snap just two photos before I could feel the bites coming on. As soon as I was satisfied I quickly went to swat away the mosquitoes but there must have been 10 to 15 of them already buried up to their head on each of my legs. I couldn't believe how bad they were. I think I have mosquito bites on top of mosquito bites!

Lots of good sights

It is now now officially summer according to the calendar and this Saturday's visit to the park was a great kickoff to the season. The impact of our wet spring weather is now obvious when walking through the park. Cattails are booming where large areas were crushed by the winter snows and foliage in general is overgrown everywhere. All along the trail the field grass is over 6 feet tall, making it quite hard to spot a Deer from a distance now. When I got to the north side, it was a bird bonanza. Within about 10 minutes time I spotted a Baltimore Oriole, Yellow Warbler, Goldfinch, Cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird, Song Sparrow and finally a Rose-breasted Grosbeak. I first noticed him right off the trail and it would've made for a beautiful shot but I blew it and had to track him down later from a distance. On the paved trail were lots of slugs and as I was watching my step not to crush them, I noticed some other very small creatures. They were so small that I had to pick one up to investigate before I realized they were snails! I've never noticed them at this stage and it was pretty obvious that they had just started growing their shells. They were smaller than the tip of my finger. A short time later I spotted a Common Yellowthroat in a tree above me. He was stayed put for a while and I got to see him singing which was a first. I realized quickly that I'd heard that same call numerous times before and incorrectly associated it with a Yellow Warbler. I believe the 2 are quite similar sounding so hopefully I can hear more of both this summer and learn to distinguish them. As I was heading towards the baseball fields on the east side I noticed lots of dark little bugs on the trail -only they didn't seem to move like bugs. Upon closer inspection I realized they were tiny little frogs. They were about the same size as the snails I'd seen earlier and they pretty hard to photograph. There must have been hundreds of them and you could almost see the grass moving with their activity.

Fall Flooding

Earlier in the week, we got half an inch of rain. Then mid-week almost the entire lower part of Minnesota was hit with huge amounts of rainfall. Amounts near ten inches were recorded in lower portions of the state but here in the Twin Cities metro area we received about two inches. I didn't think it was possible but water levels at the park have continued to rise. Since the path pretty much circles the outer edge of the lower-lying swamp, water is creeping outwardly towards the path in all directions. Though it's not a common sight on the trees yet, a few brightly colored signs of fall can be found here and there laying on the rich green grass. Even as it continued to rain this morning, birds were out in full force. I saw a Hawk, Cardinals, Catbirds, Robins, Chickadees, Coots, Downy Woodpeckers and even a Pileated Woodpecker in flight. But probably the most interesting bird I saw today were more Yellow Warblers. I don't know why I've never noticed them before but they are just everywhere now. Pretty sure I've only been seeing females as they are this odd colored dirty yellow, almost greenish-yellow on the belly. Interestingly I've noticed them more often near foliage of the very same color -which is especially prevalent now with many of the leaves in that "in-between" green and yellow stage. I watched this one for a while perform areal acrobatics usually reserved for Hummingbirds. It would leap upwards, hover mid-air and pick at these wispy leaves. I thought it was attracted to the plant itself but my field guide says it's diet is strictly insects. So maybe it was picking small bugs off the leaves. The wet weather has brought out the snails again. This one was half buried in water even on the path.

Bad paddle, good walk

So ever since I went Kayaking up the creek in May, I've been itching to do it again. With June being such a wet month and water levels surpassing that of May, I figured I'd go again this morning. I arrived early again just before 7am and put in at the water overlook just down the trail. Apparently I waited too long as I think the recent hot-spell has evaporated much of the water. I also didn't account for all the weed/scum growth in these warm summer months and I was struggling to find water deep enough to paddle in. The further I went, the more my ass end was dragging through murky mud and my paddles were not accomplishing much at all. I didn't actually paddle through anything this thick but this is a photo of pond scum that I took later on in the southern end of the creek. I did get to paddle right up to within inches of a big snapping turtle but I had to just call the trip soon afterward. If I got seriously stuck in this muck, there was no way I was gonna get out to get myself un-stuck. I headed back to the landing a proceeded on an unusually early walk instead. I know I take a lot of pics of snails but this one was kind of cool as the sun was showing right through his body and shell. As I was coming down the east side I just barely noticed a doe quietly eating leaves. As I took out my camera I spotted a small fawn behind her and I got really excited. Then I spotted a second fawn a bit further in the woods! I started taking tons of pics but the three were quite hidden in the thick and dark woods and my pics were just not turning out. This doe was surprisingly way less apprehensive and protective of her fawns than the one I saw last year. She would sometimes be way ahead or way behind of her fawns but at one point she caught up to stop and groom both of them. Then for a while the fawns even groomed each other! After a following them for long enough, I got to a turn in the path where I figured they might actually pop out of the woods. Sure enough, mom came out first then the two fawns. They followed her across the paved trail and along the edge of the woods until coming to an open clearing where they grazed along side her on the short grass. This is where I finally got some decent pics of them in clear view. A guy walking his dog on a leash came around the corner and the dog started growling and barking at the deer. Surprisingly the whole group stayed put as the growling dog passed. The fawns seemingly intrigued even ran wildly towards the dog to take a look before abruptly spinning the other way and bouncing off into the woods. Even as more and more people came by I watched the fawns act completely crazy for a while running crazily into the open space and then hightailing it back to the safe woods. It was like they were testing the waters to see what they could get away with. I like this last shot as it shows how their white spots almost look like racing stripes down their shoulders and across their backs.

Walk after kayak excursion

After a couple hours of kayaking it was still early in the day so I decided to walk around the park. Upon coming to the pine tree where I'd found the bird's egg last Wednesday I decided to peek my head in. There sitting on the nest was a female Cardinal whom I scared out quickly. I couldn't see any babies but now I know what kind of bird the egg belongs to. Later on the paved path I noticed this snail poking his head high up out of his shell. I always thought they had just one set of tentacles but it was easier to see from this guy that there are two. I finally did run across a few deer on the southwest side. This is an unusual place to see them but I have been seeing more of them here over the past couple of weeks. There were two who walked right out in front of me on the wood chip trail. When I went for my camera they got spooked and darted into the thick woods. A short while later one more jumped out and ran across the field where they plow the snow into in the winter. I don't get many "action" shots with my low-end camera but this one sort of worked. Right before the mouth of the creek, I noticed a couple of big mushrooms down in a low spot off the left side of the trail. I'm pretty sure they are Morel Mushrooms and there were just three of them -two growing together and one on it's own. The looked so top-heavy that they were about to tip over.

Trumpeter Swans

Funny how just a few days ago I spotted the first Swan I've ever seen at Palmer Lake and mistook it for a Trumpeter Swan. Now I'm positive it was a Mute Swan as this morning I saw two Trumpeter Swans and the Mute Swan together -sort of. The pair of black-billed Trumpeter Swans had claimed a tall mound of grass and were busy grooming while the other swan with an orange bill swam behind them. I tried to get a photo of all three together but it didn't turn out. The mound of grass they were on looked like it could have been a nest but I don't know. In the same place I'd photographed the pussy willows last weekend I noticed they've now morphed into green prickly looking things. About this time I was thinking I should have worn my winter hat as the strong wind and 40º temps were actually making my ears cold. It was amazing to think that we hit 80º just two days ago on Thursday! On this blustery morning the last thing I expected to see was a snail crossing the path -especially this early in the year. I get the feeling even nature is confused from our mild March.

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.

Much needed rain

On Friday afternoon we received 9/10ths of an inch of rain. Then another 9/10ths more on Friday night and Saturday morning. When I started my walk Saturday morning, it was still raining. I started noticing little slugs crossing the path as I've often seen in the spring. They look exactly like the snails I see but without the shell. Upon crossing Shingle Creek on the North side, you could tell that the water was a good foot higher than just a few days ago. Back on the South side I watched this Green Heron fishing in the now much higher water. Having been about 8 inches below normal rainfall, all the rain was much needed. Wildlife in the park almost seemed to be celebrating. Carp were jumping out of the water so frequently that I was able to capture one with my camera.

Nature in small packages

Humid morning today. Seems like the carp in Shingle Creek are getting bigger every day. On the east side of the park I noticed a green heron in a little slough. He was stalking something so I stopped to watch. Right after I took this picture he darted his head into the water and came up with something in his beak. Could have been a frog but I was too far away to tell. Coming back to the south side I started to notice the small snails again that I'd seen after first setting out. Seems like they're always trying to cross the foot path for some reason. Or maybe that's the only place you'd notice such a small, slow moving creature.





Lastly, per suggestion, I wanted to post a photo of something I see everyday...garbage. I sure wish people would be more careful with their plastic bottles and aluminum cans. Eventually, all this stuff ends up in the lowest places in the park -the very same areas that collect water essential to the wildlife here. I try to pick up items here and there before they end up in the water, but geez is there a lot of it. Considering a Palmer Lake clean-up day sometime soon...