My 2014 Nemesis Bird Captured!

This spring, I had the fortune of having some unexpected time off of work. I spent as much of this time as I could at the park searching for springtime migrants and I had done very well for the season, even picking up a couple brand new species. But there was one bird in particular that I never spotted all spring –a Scarlet Tanager. There were visits I made where I specifically went in search of this bird, parking on my stool sitting and waiting and waiting and waiting only to never see one. On May 22nd of last year (2013) I had an amazingly close encounter with a Scarlet Tanager who was on the ground. So of course I expected to have a similar encounter this year! Yeah right. Remembering that day made me appreciate it even more after the entire spring of 2014 had passed without even a glimpse of one. I had given up hopes that I would be able to log this species for 2014, which of course is generally when something tends to happen. On the south side wood chip trail today I noticed some movement in the thick Buckthorn trees above me. I saw some bright yellow, which is always a color that makes me look closer this time of year. But this was too large to be a warbler. It was mostly obscured by the thick foliage and I didn't even have my binoculars with me. But after a few mostly blurry photos through the trees, I noticed the bird had very dark wings. Ah ha, it was a Scarlet Tanager!!! I waited and watched as patiently as I ever have for this bird to come out into the open but it just wasn't happening. A few times I could catch a better glimpse through a small opening in the leaves but every time I did, the bird would move again. I decided to try and lure it out with some bird calls but for the most part it did not seem interested. Finally after tracking faint glimpses of it's movement back and forth, it began working it's way to the edge of the tree. I found a pile of logs to climb up on and precariously tried to put myself in a good position for when it came out fully. Finally after nearly 45 minutes the bird appeared in front of me, unobstructed and with a nice blue sky behind. I quickly snapped as many pics as I could and I'm glad I did because only seconds later the bird flew off again. I tracked it to it's new spot even higher now in a Boxelder tree. To my surprise a second Scarlet Tanager flew in to meet it! Then I got an even bigger surprise when this second bird opened it's gape wide to beg for food! Indeed this was a juvenile who had been following around the parent Tanager. Though nearly impossible to capture a photo of this moment, I felt fortunate to have witnessed such a sight –and with such a special bird for my year. Though not in it's typical bright red "scarlet" coloring, I believe the parent to be a male. I could certainly be wrong but according to my Stokes Field Guide, the male would still possess black wings even in it's "yellow" (fall/winter) phase, while the female would show dark –but not black wings. Oh, I forgot to mention but in the very same place, a male AND female Rose-breasted Grosbeak both landed. They were in a very shaded area and I was not able to get a decent photo. I was so happy after my Tanager sighting that I hardly paid much attention to other birds for the rest of my walk. I did however see other species including Yellow-rumped Warbler, Eastern Phoebe, Wood Duck, Mallard, Black-capped Chickadee, Common Yellowthroat and my first "fall" White-throated Sparrows. Further on the south side I was surprised to catch a Monarch Butterfly again. It has been so cold last week that one would have a hard time imagining that they are still hatching or making their way south to Mexico for the winter. But indeed they are still around. This one grabbed hold of a small yellow flower that I believe to be Tall Hedge Mustard –a non-native if I'm correct. This was my favorite shot with the bright blue as a backdrop. Later I found another butterfly, this time a Cabbage White Butterfly on the only thistle flower in the area. In fact I'd stopped to see what was so bright pink on the edge of the trail first, right before the butterfly landed on it. I've recently read that this species of butterfly which is so common to our area is declining in the state of Florida. I am not sure what the reason is.

Sights of September

Every year that I hike around the park, there seems to be a day or two where the Carp living in Shingle Creek go crazy. They jump wildly from the water, splashing loudly and crashing back down, making quite a sight and sound. In prior years I've attempted to catch one in mid-jump but that was back with my old point-and-shoot camera which had the focus speed of a snail. This Sunday afternoon was apparently the height of "carp jumping" season as I hiked along the creek on the north side near the foot bridge. I was in awe of just how frequently one would jump –roughly 20 seconds or less apart! So I found myself a good spot to sit and watch the show and clicked away repeatedly hoping to catch just one. To my surprise I caught more than one. In fact I had enough to share an album on facebook with! This is just one of the many but I like how you can even see the fishes face in this one. On the north end of the park I wasn't seeing much for birds. But almost at the very second I crossed paths with a pair of other hikers, a bright red Cardinal came in and landed right between us! The couple obviously noticed him and pointed down, nearly touching the bird and saying "ooh look at that!" I was shocked the bird didn't fly away so I snapped a few photos just seconds later. I think this is one of the more interesting photos I've ever gotten of a Cardinal. Later on the same path, I spied a fuzzy (almost hairy) yellow-orange caterpillar. I've seen this one before but never paid much attention to it so I decided to photograph it and look it up later. If you think it looks similar to the orange and black ones known as "Woolly Bear" caterpillars, you are on the right path. This is what is known as a "Yellow Woolly Bear" or even shorter version "Yellow Bear" Caterpillar. It will turn into a nearly all white colored moth known as the "Virginia Tiger Moth."

A New Month and the Start of Fall

If you haven't realized it yet, I came up with a method of splitting up our 4 seasons into specific months for the purpose of this blog. It's not always perfectly in sync with the weather but I think it works pretty well to say what general season I spotted something in. I use December, January and February for Winter. Then March, April and May for Spring. Summer is June, July and August and Fall is September, October and November. Thus today, September 1st is the kick off of the "Fall" bird-watching season for me. And I was lucky enough to spot a Warbler in Fall plumage this evening after work. On the north side of the park I found a couple of Magnolia Warblers hopping around on some fallen branches very low to the ground. I didn't quite get a good shot but enough to positively ID the bird anyway. In fact this was the only bird I photographed tonight in the dwindling light. In the lighter areas I did notice a few different Dragonflies that were interesting. There's only a few species that I can identify but these were ones I do not know. With the day's getting shorter and cooler, they all seemed to be staying rather still and let me get right up close to them. I thought this one had a lot of color to it!

Last Day of August 2014

I can't believe how fast the month of August has gone by. It's actually been a good month for bird watching though I typically think of August as slow and quiet –second only to maybe January. And having a new lens to capture things through has also helped motivate me to be out more too. I was not disappointed again this Sunday morning. The first thing I noticed right after parking was a trio of Hawks who appeared to be playing and practicing their aeronautic skills. I don't often see two together much less three, so I followed them around for a bit. They were young Cooper's Hawks and I'm guessing they were likely a family that were born in or near the park this year. At one point all three perched in the same dead tree but only two were close enough to get in one photo. Not much later I spotted a Green Heron again in the little pond near the south parking lot. I had a good look and photo opportunity but I'm not posting it here today as I saw a variety of other interesting things. When I got to the two dead Tamarack trees on the south wood chip trail, I could see there was a lot of bird activity in the area. One bird that caught my eye right away was this one with a white eye-ring which I believe to be a Nashville Warbler. This is a plentiful warbler in the spring but for some reason I've only spotted them at the park during fall migration. I thought it seemed a bit early but indeed Fall Migration has already begun for many birds near the 3rd week in August. The next Warbler presented itself in much better light in the same area but down near eye level. This Common Yellowthroat is clearly a male due to it's black mask but does not look quite like the others I've seen this summer. My Stokes Field Guide to Warblers indicates it as a "Fall immature male." I really love how this photo turned out except for the one little twig cutting in front of the bird. It otherwise would have been up there in my best photos of the year. And if a "Fall immature male" wasn't enough, I also spotted a Black-and-white Warbler today which very clearly means that birds are heading back south again. I had a tough time catching a photo of this one as it bounced crazily from one place to the next just as they do in the spring searching for caterpillars and insects. This one had quite a bit of white coloring versus black meaning that it could either be a female or possibly another immature male. Black-and-white's are one of my favorite Warblers as they are so distinct in color and behavior from other Warblers. Though they forage at a ferocious pace like others, they are the only Warbler to walk up and down –and often upside down– on a bare tree trunk, much like a Nuthatch does. Oh I almost forgot but on the north side of the park today I spotted a HUGE frog sunning himself right out on the paved trail. I haven't seen a frog this large in quite some time. It was about as big as my hand. Because of this I thought maybe it was a Bullfrog. But later I learned that Bullfrogs are found only in southeastern Minnesota in Winona and Houston counties. It took a fellow flickr user to point out that this was a "Green Frog" which is Minnesota's 2nd largest frog. The main distinguishing factor was that this frog had "lateral folds" of skin along it's back, which a Bullfrog does not have. And I also learned that a Green Frog is not always green in color as it's name implies. While taking photos, a biker came along and I wanted to make sure the frog didn't get run over. The biker stopped to have a look and the frog suddenly hopped right through the spokes in the rear wheel of the bicycle and into the grass. I wanted to share one last photo here of a Wood Duck on the east side. He was perched in a dead branch above the little pond there and I snuck my way into the woods just far enough to get a look without scaring him off. This year I've learned that what may look like a juvenile male could also be a mature male in what is called "eclipse plumage" which is a fancy name for non-breeding plumage. Meaning that after breeding age they start to lose some of their brilliant coloring. I'm no expert but after studying my Stokes Guide I would say that this duck is still a juvenile but quite far along. It still has indications of a light eyebrow or streaking behind the eye which should not be visible on an adult.