Warm Saturday in February

I started my normal Saturday walk much later than normal today at about 3:45pm and it made for some nice lighting. The sky was clear blue and the sun was slowly descending for the day. I stayed on the longer, paved trail and could hear the ducks quacking as I got closer to them. Though Mallard Ducks can be an everyday sight, the setting sun made the Drake's heads all the more iridescent and picture-worthy. On the north side I ran into about five or six Deer at the bird feeding stations in the backyard of a house near the edge of the park. This is about the third or fourth time now I've seen large groups of Deer here and it makes me think it's getting pretty tough for them to find food under the 12+ inches of snow still on the ground. I caught just one pic of a Doe leaving the site behind the others. On the south side the setting sun started casting it's glow on the deep snow, bringing out the blue color of the snow.

Snow Day!

I certainly didn't expect to get a walk in today but as it turned out, my workplace closed early afternoon due to the heavy snowfall coming down all day. It was still snowing like mad by the time I hit trails which were now covered in about 5-6 inches of fluffy powder. Though the walking was tough, the park was beautifully white and silent. I had high hopes of spotting an Owl but even they must have been hunkered down for the weather. On the east side I just barely two Does walking through the tall cattails. Though they were really very close to me, I couldn't get decent pics due to the thick cattails they hid behind. It was kind of like watching a silent film, as they made absolutely no noise, despite the heavy snow and close vicinity.

Superbowl Sunday

A change in plans for the day resulted in a late afternoon walk versus my normal morning routine. The sun was barely a bright spot in the thick wintery sky and everything was nice and quiet. Today was SuperBowl Sunday so I even had the park to myself! Lately I've been on kind of a bird kick cause I'm realizing now just how hard it is to photograph them. I got some practice in today though with a bunch of Chickadees feeding in some thick trees. I bet I took ten shots before I even managed to capture one in the frame. The bounced around from twig to twig and eventually one or two landed in my view. Though a little out of focus, one of my shots captured him cracking open a shell and pulling out the seed -something they do can do in just a split second as I didn't even really notice it while I was there. On the southeast side I noticed again just how dim the sun was so I was curious to see what it might look like in a photo...

Fresh February snow

My last few walks have been very loud due to crunchy ice on the trails. With recent snow flurries, today was first quiet walk in a long time and it allowed me to get close to this deer. It was smaller in size with a face similar to that of the fawns I've seen with their mother. Though today it was completely on it's own, foraging in the deep snow. Following the very same trail it walked into the woods on, I crept along slowly, pausing behind large trees until it would forget about me again in favor of food. Gradually I got a little closer but it kept it's distance and gradually hopped right across the paved trail from which I originally spotted it. After completing my loop on the south side, I heard a siren coming closer and closer to the park so I paused to see if it was police or fire. As the ambulance flew by the park on 69th Avenue, I distinctly heard two separate high pitched howls coming from behind me. The older couple I run into frequently told me once that they've heard Coyotes howl when sirens go by. I kind of didn't believe them but I sure do now. It was plain as day and sure didn't sound anything like a dog. The sound also came from the same general area where I spotted a Coyote a couple years back. Sure would like to catch a picture of one!