Still Some Color

This Sunday morning I got a later start than usual and did not arrive at the park until after 10:30am. It was a mostly sunny day with just wispy, thin clouds floating by. There's barely a trace of snow left from our first snow on Wednesday and with a lot of vegetation still remaining green, it was hard to imagine that it even happened. One plant in particular I was noticing as very green is Garlic Mustard. The leaves look exactly the same as the do in the spring, maybe only a little larger. In an earlier post I mentioned that I hadn't paid particular attention to when Song Sparrows leave for the season. I believe this was a Song Sparrow I saw today. I detect a bit of yellow coloring around the neck area which isn't something I associate with a Song Sparrow, but that could also just be the lighting. Everything else fits with a Song Sparrow so it is interesting to note still seeing one this late in the season. They are definitely hearty enough to come back in the spring while snow is still on the ground so November certainly wouldn't be out of the question. Looking at all that green in the background, you might not guess November. On the southwest side I walked along the wood chip trail that follows the edge of the Duck Pond hoping to see anything out of the normal. But all I saw were Mallards. A couple pairs of them were sleeping so still along the shore that I almost stepped on them before noticing them. Like a lot of animals I don't think Ducks ever really sleep deeply or for long periods as it would be too risky. I got the feeling from this female that maybe they sleep with one eye open –figuratively and literally. Besides these two birds today, I spotted Northern Cardinal, Red-tailed Hawk, Dark-eyed Junco and Black-capped Chickadee. Oh, and I even spotted a Wooly-bear Caterpillar today out trying to cross the paved trail. Another hearty creature indeed. This last photo here is of the only two remaining crab apples still clinging to a tree somewhere on the north side, just off the trail. At the height they were at (above the small and still green Buckthorn), the red color really stood out and caught my attention. Though I estimate Buckthorn makes up more than 70% of all the trees at PLP, you'd be surprised at how many other tree species are out there. The problem is that there are so few of them. And in time, if the invasive Buckthorn is not addressed, the other species have a harder and harder time populating. Generally, any fruit-bearing tree is good for wildlife –including birds. Buckthorn does produce berries, and wildlife will eat them, but this particular berry is toxic and will produce diarrhea in birds and other animals –including humans!

After the First Snow and "Bird Bumping"

Three days earlier, on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning we received our first snowfall of the season. It actually accumulated to about an inch of heavy, wet and sticky snow. It was kind of an odd thing because many of the trees have been late to turn color this year. So we had some brilliant looking Maple Trees looking almost out of place against the white covered ground. But as expected it all melted within about a day and a half. The snow was followed by much colder temps and this was like the final blow to the trees that had still been holding their leaves. This photo here shows the same Maple Tree along 69th Avenue on November 3rd on the left, and today November 9th on the right. This same thing happened all over the place and there is no denying now that winter is lurking just around the corner. Only about half way into my walk I ran into a good friend of mine who was also out in search of birds. So we paired up and walked together for the remaining half of the loop. We went off the main trail many times hoping to see better sights and we finally did come upon a Northern Shrike! It was perched in a large shrub out into the cattails a ways. As we've both learned to do, we approached it only 4 to 5 steps at a time, took photos, then repeated the process. It's actually quite a good method for photographing birds or any other wildlife. You never know exactly at what point you're going to "bump" the bird (or other subject) so you take 1 or 2 photos at intervals while you continue to advance closer. But with the Shrike I didn't quite make it as close as I'd hoped. I expect I will have many more opportunities though this winter season. Near the end of our walk we went off-road one more time and flushed up a group of Mourning Doves. I quickly pulled up my lens and snapped this shot before the bird flew off a second time. I was really happy to see how well it turned out. I always joke that I'll take photos of any bird that is very close to me. But the thing is, even with very common birds like Mourning Doves, Robins or Chickadees, we don't often get to see them so closely. A good close proximity photo can really make you appreciate just about any bird. I previously wouldn't have guessed that Mourning Doves have such a beautiful blue, almost turquoise eye-ring.

Warm November Sun

Like so many recent Autumns, our weather has continued to be mild, or even above average temperature-wise. This Sunday was a particularly nice and sunny day to walk around the park. I have noticed a sharp decline in the variety of birds though as the month of October has passed. From here on out, "birding" can be a bit more tedious. However, as in every season there are still things to look forward to. One thing that come to mind is, soon it will simply be much easier to spot birds due to the lack of leaves. Another is raptors. I tend to spot many more raptors such as Eagles, Hawks and Owls in the late Fall and Winter months than in other times of the year. One bird that seems to be more active than normal this time of year are Black-capped Chickadees. Though so common in our area, they are still fun to watch and photograph. This one landed in a tree right above my head as I was making a squeaking whistle call. They are quite curious birds indeed. Aside from Chickadees I really didn't see a lot of other birds today. But it was just warm enough yet to find a live Grasshopper out on the paved path. I was kind of surprised to see this and figured most of them had frozen by now. But I touched him and he hopped away. I imagine this might be the last Grasshopper I see for the year. I think it was somewhere on the south end of the park that I noticed these bright orange mushrooms peeking out of a knot at the base of a tree. I've really not studied mushrooms/fungi so I have no idea what they are called but I do they are fairly common whatever they are. It looked like one had been eaten on just a bit by something. Whatever it was must not have liked them too much as the others were untouched.

Northern Shrike Season

Since last year I've been paying particular attention to the Northern Shrike and even started to document each date that I see one. So being that my first sighting last year was on October 27th, I've been on the lookout recently. Though I did finally spot one today, I've heard from other reliable sources that the Shrike had been seen at the park close to 2 weeks ago already. But today was my first, so I'll probably make a new date tracker that you can view in the green column on the right side of my blog. I didn't get a good photo by any means, but it gives you the idea of what to look for if you are trying to spot a Shrike. Wherever they are they typically choose the highest available perch they can find, even if it's a very skinny twig. And from a very long distance if all you can make out is a "Robin-sized" bird perched high like this, it's likely to be a Northern Shrike. Of course, the time of year is the main factor. Last year my sightings ranged from late October to late the following March. My walk around PLP today was with a friend of mine, and although we did a fair amount of talking, we were able to spot a few more birds besides the Shrike. These were; Northern Cardinal, American Tree Sparrow, Mallard, Downy Woodpecker, Canada Goose, Black-capped Chickadee and Ring-billed Gulls. Not a very long list but that's pretty common when two people end up talking more than observing. The only bird I was able to catch a decent photo of was this female Cardinal who was about to eat whatever she'd just caught. It looks almost like a worm of some kind but that seems unlikely given how late in the season it is. As we hiked around the south side we started hearing and seeing Garter Snakes on the sunny side of the trail. I think we saw 3 of them within just 10 feet or so. They were obviously trying to warm up and probably creeping closer to the dark colored paved path. I tried to get a photo but some of them were so small I lost them quickly in the tall grass. Later near the north end I spotted this Gray Squirrel with a mouth full of maple seeds. At least he stayed still for me while I took his photo.