First Northern Shrike of the season

I was tipped off yesterday by a fellow birder that there was a Northern Shrike in the area. Now that I've seen them a few times and know what to look for, I'm excited to try and get a better photo of one this year. I spotted one today on the northwest side just where I expected but as I went for a photo it took off and unfortunately I wasn't able to follow it against the drab, dreary sky. It was a "soupy" kind of overcast today with periodic drizzle but the temperature was a warm 39º. This weather is pretty nice for mid-December, especially considering that almost one year ago to the day, we received 17 inches of snow! As I came around the southeast side of the park, I had a second opportunity when I spotted a Shrike in the narrow stand of trees overlooking the baseball fields. It definitely wasn't the better shot I'd been hoping for but at least I got to see him again and have something to show for it. My fellow birder friend told me that he'd seen the Shrike with a captured Chickadee. Now that would be a good photo! In this last photo you can get the idea of how dreary it was today. The warm temps are quickly doing away with the only inch of snow that was still on the ground. I wouldn't be surprised if the lake starts to open up again.

A Winter Jog

I admit that the original reason I started coming to Palmer Lake Park in the first place was actually to get some exercise. I'm not big at all on jogging or running but I started jogging randomly one day at the park and finally worked up to making it all the way around. It's been much too long since I've jogged and today seemed like a good day to do so. I forget the temperature but it was somewhere near or above freezing and it was sunny. There is still about one inch of snow on the ground but the paved paths are mostly clear and dry. I found that I can actually run with my camera in my hand, stopping only periodically if I see a good photo opportunity. Yes, I probably miss out on some stuff but I've got all winter ahead of me to find it. I stopped for this Nuthatch as it was pretty close to the trail and I don't have a lot of photos of them. They're one of those birds that bounces around much too quickly and I usually lose patience with such a common bird.

Sunny and Cold Saturday

It was a particularly cold day this Saturday morning -possibly the coldest it has been so far at just 11 degrees Fahrenheit. On the other hand it was bright and sunny which always helps to make it feel warmer in my opinion. One of the first sights I saw on my walk today were lots of Robins near the small creek that runs on the southeast side. This particular one seemed to be missing an eye on his left side. I've heard recently that it's somewhat common for birds to damage or lose their eyes while flying through trees. Think about just walking through the woods without a hand to put up in front of your face. When I popped out of the woodchip trail I spotted the largest group of Deer I'd seen in quite a while -about 6 or 7 of them. At first they were all the way over by the playground equipment which was the last place I would have expected to see them. The Deer Hunt that started in October would be ending in just 4 days from now so at least these ones were lucky enough to have made it this far. There were definitely young ones in the group and I imagine they were more likely to be spared. Later on I spotted an unusual image that would probably escaped me only minutes earlier or later. The low sun was brightly illuminating these half-dried-up leaves, making them glow almost like a green light bulb. I'm always intrigued upon seeing any "green" during winter and especially with snow on the ground it can create quite a drastic contrast. The sun is so low at this time of year as evident by this photo taken only minutes before noon. Two other very interesting sights today without photographic evidence were; 1) a group of 3 Trumpeter Swans that flew over the park and 2) I heard and saw a Grey Catbird just off the trail on the east side. I told my fellow nature buff friends about this sighting and they agreed that it was simply amazing to see a Catbird around this late in the season. Eventually one of them also spotted it but neither of us came up with a photo to prove it.

Cedar Waxwings Playing

This Saturday Palmer Lake park was covered in just a fine dusting of snow, the kind that doesn't really even cover the ground, settling only between the blades of grass. It was overcast and gray and late enough in the year to get my hopes up of seeing an Owl soon. My first sighting however was of a single Doe on the north side about 10 minutes before the bridge over Shingle Creek. She wasn't too interested in me and kept moving along. On the northeast corner of the park is a thick stand of trees, shrubs and vines that always attract a good variety of birds. Today it was a small flock of Cedar Waxwings and I ventured in to woods finding myself right underneath them. They were everywhere I turned my camera, but shooting upwards into the sky was giving me very poor results. The Waxwings were active as heck, plucking and downing berries like crazy from the Buckthorn trees. At one point, I spotted two of them interacting closely above me. One picked a berry and passed it to the other, making my wonder at first if it was feeding a younger one. But to my surprise, the bird passed it back again. They continued passing it back and forth a few more times before the one gulped it down. I can only guess that they were playing, or maybe it was some sort of sign of affection. A pretty interesting sight!