Yet more rain

Surprisingly it was not raining as I set out Saturday morning but that only lasted so long. On the northeast side I spotted a single Doe near the Buckthorn trees. She stayed mostly out of sight, only just peaking at me from behind the leaves. The park was extra still and I think all the wildlife is just trying to wait out the rain -which came once again about 30 minutes into my walk. The water levels in the park are becoming extraordinarily high -noticeably higher even than when I went out kayaking in mid-May. I may just have to go again if it keeps up! The only thing moving after the rain started were Red-winged Blackbirds. I wish I'd had a better camera as this one looked right at me while the rain streaked down.

Palmer Lake Blog turns one year old!

Today, marks exactly one full year since my first post in 2009! I had no idea when I started that I would discover such a passion for nature photography. I'm now seriously considering some better camera equipment but probably won't bite the bullet until this Fall. This will be my 96th post which would mean I've visited the park an average of every 3.8 days! The first thing that caught my eye today was another Wood Duck. This one had seven babies trailing behind and I'm seeing more of the same in other parts of the park. There's sure to be plenty of Wood Ducks at Palmer Lake for a while. On the west side I spotted my first deer in over two weeks. This doe was by herself -also an unusual sight this spring. She posed for a quick pic and stayed there even after I passed. Later as I was heading along the creek towards the lake overlook, I spotted yet another lone doe. This one was standing right along the creek bank on the opposite side. I'd never seen a deer in that area before -and, it was very close to where I'd seen the Coyote about a month ago. The deer are almost orange in color now, especially against the green foliage.

Quiet evening, one new bird

The last couple of days were overcast with slight rain and this evening was the same. I couldn't believe how dead the park was. It was just quiet as heck -even the birds weren't moving. Then bam, like someone turned off the faucet, the sky cleared up in the west and sun bolted through lighting up the horizon. It was pretty late in the day though and for the most part, nature seemed to be still asleep. Upon rounding the northeast corner though, I spotted what I thought was a dead leaf still clinging to the top of a bare tree. When it didn't seem to change direction correctly with the wind, I realized it must be a SMALL bird. Only after zooming in all the way with my camera did I recognize the long skinny beak and realize it was a Hummingbird! This was pretty cool to see way up in the treetops and not anywhere near a feeder. One tends to only see these birds within the vicinity of a nectar feeder where they are easy to spot. It's amazing how small they are when you can place them in the same woods as other birds. Later at the south side I spotted my first Monarch Caterpillar in years. As a kid I used to go out and harvest these by the dozens, feeding them in a small aquarium and watching them cocoon and hatch into butterflies. Seems like there are fewer and fewer of them these days so it was fun to spot this one -less than an inch long yet.

Into June

Just off the wood chip trail on the south side near the parking lot is a little swampy body of water that tends to scum-over quite early in the season. Though it's small it's been home to muskrat, turtles and ducks. This evening there were two male Wood Ducks together on the far end -adding to my already large list of Wood Duck sightings this year! Near the west side there are some high treetops that are a great place to see birds of all kinds. There I spotted my first Cedar Waxwing of the year. They are relatively easy to spot at they have a very smooth, glossy look to them. I've yet to learn any of their calls but will hopefully be seeing more of them. The periodic rain I'd mentioned earlier has become more frequent and the water levels are now rising slowly but steadily. The same mound of earth and grass that was home to Trumpeter Swans this April is now much smaller and claimed by the spring Mallards.