A Wet and Humid Sunday

This Sunday morning it had been raining just enough to get everything wet and also deter me from taking out my new camera. The new one is just too big (with the lens) to easily cover it up under my clothing to keep it dry if need be. So the only way I was going to get around the park today was with my much smaller and older point and shoot. When I arrived at the park the sky was still overcast and drizzling so I wrapped my raincoat around my waist in case the rain got heavy. The first thing I ran into was a Doe on the south side that other park goers were pointing out. She was right alongside the trail and I got some OK pics but it made me realize once again just how tricky my old camera really was. Unless using a tripod or leaning against something solid it's just very hard to get crisp and sharp details. I noticed that all the foliage had nice drops of moisture on them and figured I might try to focus more on that and other closeup shots -the one thing my old camera does very well! This first one is of raindrops on a Spotted Jewelweed (touch-me-not) plant. I really like the how the drops were glistening in the sun. Oh I forgot to mention that not even 1/4 of the way around, the sky cleared up completely and it began to warm up quickly, making my raincoat pretty pointless to have brought with. On the north side, in the same area I always look for them, I finally caught my first closeup glimpse of a Hummingbird this year. I've seen them already from distances, but not feeding low to the ground like this one. He was also feeding on the Jewelweed flowers and I snapped a few photos while he took just a quick break. It's neat to see Hummingbirds in action but I think it's also neat to see them perched. You really get an idea of just how small they are! Later I spotted another Doe and this time with two young fawns. They were back aways from the trail and I really couldn't get any decent photos. They fawns were quite young and still short enough hide well under the tall weeds. The wet and humid weather had brought out the Dragonflies, Turtles and even Toads. I caught this one on the edge of the paved trail.

Another few soakings

This Saturday it had already rained hard in the morning from about 8 to 9am. I waited this out before heading to the park thinking I'd be dry for at least the next hour -but I was wrong. Not too far into my walk I spotted a dark shape on the path that I thought was a piece of wood or something. Upon closer inspection it was Toad who probably came out to enjoy the wet weather. I tried to move him off the trail but he wouldn't budge even when I grabbed him so I let him be. About 20 minutes later I'd just crossed the straight part of the path on the north side when it began to down-pour yet again. I stood in a place under some trees and tried to wait it out, but the rain picked up in intensity and I found myself moving around looking for a drier spot. In a matter of minutes I was soaked from head to toe and still had 3/4 of the way to go. What a bummer. Amazingly the rain stopped almost as abruptly as it had started, the sky cleared completely and the sun came out full blast in just a matter of minutes. I noticed a Flickr bouncing around right on the paved path -probably looking for insects after the rain. As I was trying to get some shots, I could see movement behind me but paid little attention thinking it was just another park-goer. When the person that I thought was coming still hadn't passed me I turned around to realize it was a Doe. It looked like a young one but did not have any white fawn-spots. Later near the south side I spotted this Cardinal against the clear blue sky. I'm guessing it was a young female by it's rather grey-ish appearance, and it's only real recognizable feature being the large orange bill. The bird was clearly drying itself out in the bright sun -just as I was trying to do at the same time. Later in the day it rained yet a 3rd time in just one day!

Two visits in one day

Yep, I finally did it -I visited the park twice in one day. The first was just before 8:00am as I had taken a "mental health day" off from work. Over the weekend, the temperature itself had cooled down considerably, but surprisingly the humidity has stayed. As I was making my way to the north end of the park I stopped to spy on a couple of Grey Catbirds when I suddenly noticed a Humming bird buzzing around the same bushes. He stayed perched just long enough for one pic. Though it's not a great one, I was extremely pleased to finally capture their bright green-blue feathers. Shortly after, a second one came hovering by and they flew off together. Besides a couple Green Herons, there weren't many photo opps other than this small toad who'd hopped out onto the path. You gotta be careful lately to watch where you walk as there's no shortage of them with the recent wet weather. Later in the day I decided I'd up my daily mileage (I'm a big pedometer fan) and go for a jog. I figured I'd run with camera in hand JUST in case I spotted something like a big buck. As it turned out, I saw just that. Two of them in fact, were drinking water from a drainage ditch near the north side. Both had nice big velvety antlers but my camera was not cooperating due to the dim light. This is the best pic I caught -which I even lightened up slightly to show more detail.

Slugs and Bugs and Such

After going through a couple weeks without any significant rainfall, we are starting to get some here and there, mostly overnights. Seems like the wet weather brings the slugs out onto the trail and it's getting harder to avoid stepping on them. There are also tons of these small brown butterflies with orange stripes. Butterflies in my opinion are as equally hard to photograph as birds as they also never sit still. These are common butterflies I see all the time but have yet to learn their name. I'm also still seeing a fair amount of Garter Snakes and it's surprising how big they are already. This one was over three feet long but less colorful than the one I'd photographed earlier with orange speckles. On the south side I spotted this Frog right up by the railroad ties that make up the overlook onto the lake. He didn't seem to move much even when I almost stepped on him. I've also yet to learn much about frogs versus toads so I'm just guessing it was a frog as it was rather large. I will have to pick up another Field guide from Stan Tekiela!

Tiny Turtle

Last week I stopped to talk to a couple whom I see walking around Palmer Lake almost every time I'm there. As they were telling me about how there used to be more deer, another guy they knew came by and started telling a story about how he's seeing baby snapping turtles in the next park system north. I thought wow, would that be cool to see. Well just a week later I almost stepped on one sitting right on the trail. This was by far the smallest turtle I've ever seen. I wonder if it had hatched that same day so I looked around for more but didn't see any. From head to tail this guy was about he size of a silver dollar. It's amazing to think they get so big. After a few photos I realized I should put my finger or hand in the photo for size reference.







In the end I decided on picking him up and moving him closer to the creek as I didn't want a jogger or biker running him over. On the other side of the park I spotted this small toad and then a Great Egret who was roosted in the same dead tree where I often spot them. He was shaking his feathers and was all puffed out which made him look like a totally different bird from their normally skinny, streamlined look.

Growing fast

Cool and slightly humid tonight. Upon entering the first wood chip trail I noticed a little black bug jumping here and there. I thought it seemed weird and when I looked closer I realized it was a tiny toad about the size of my thumbnail. He held still just long enough for this closeup. Lots of other good stuff tonight including some pretty cool thunder clouds and every sort of bird. While stopping to watch a Green Heron fishing in a slough on the East side, I heard a loud rustle in the cattails behind me. When I turned around, I couldn't believe what I saw. There was the doe with her 2 fawns again RIGHT in front of me! I stared snapping pics as quickly as possible and my first photo caught just the one fawn by itself. I decided to post it because it shows just how long their legs are. Surprisingly all three came out and just kinda stood there and let me take photos. I could tell they were trying to figure out where to go next as they actually walked even closer to me. It was fascinating to watch the group as the fawns were clearly paying close attention to mom and would not even move without her moving first. Definitely one of the neatest thing I've ever seen on my walks at Palmer Lake!