Daytime Bat

I caught a glimpse of a bat out of the corner of my eye the other day, but it disappeared as it flew past a tree. So I went to investigate...

Little Brown Bat (?)

Sandpipers Redux

The sandpipers returned after May Day. Today there were 3 Solitary Sandpipers and a single Spotted Sandpiper. The Solitaries were considerably more obliging with the photo opportunities.

Coming in for a landing

Foraging along the north end of the lake

If it's the day before May Day, it must be Sandpiper Day

For the second year in a row, I found a small flock of sandpipers along the shores of Powderhorn lake on the day before May Day. Last year it was a pair of Solitary Sandpipers; this year a small flock of 5 Spotted Sandpipers. I'm not entirely sure what the significance of this is, but it seems a good omen in any case.

The rainstorm overnight and this morning must have brought a lot of new migrants into the area, because the park was hopping with activity this afternoon when I walked around. Yellow-rumped Warblers have been around for a few weeks already, but this morning brought a few others to join their ranks. Palm and Pine warblers have made an appearance, and White-throated Sparrows showed up in force today, with at least 20 hopping around up near the tennis courts and singing their ode to Canada.

The pair of bluebirds has returned to their territory on the upper part of the park along 14th Ave. I'm keeping my eyes open for signs of nest-building, but haven't spotted anything yet. Last year they fledged 3 young, so I wouldn't be surprised if they nested in the park again this year. Speaking of nests, the Cooper's hawks appear to be incubating eggs in a nest in one of the large Cottonwood trees along the lakeshore.

My most unexpected sighting of the day came when I accidentally flushed a Sora (a small bird in the Rail family) from some tall vegatation on the hill along the north side of the lake. Admittedly, this picture is pretty awful, but come on, it's a Rail. They don't just let anyone take their picture.

The first Sora I've ever seen in Powderhorn Park

Return of the Goose

Spring is officially on the horizon. A small contingent of very vocal Canada Geese have taken up residency on the lake ice down at Powderhorn Park.

I was out of town on business for a couple of weeks, so I was eager to get back and see how the transition to spring was coming along. Fortunately, I didn't miss the transition to spring, but it's definitely getting close to breaking out. On my first trip around the lake since getting back, I had my first double-digit species tally of the year (12!), including Ring-billed Gulls, Canada Geese, and Mallards. I also accidentally flushed a Cooper's Hawk from its perch, and watched as it flew off with some prey in its talons.

The Ring-billed Gulls have joined the Crows in trying to extract many of the small fish from the lake ice. There should be plenty to keep them busy for a while. During the last thaw, literally thousands of dead fish floated up to the lake surface and were re-frozen into the ice. I hope there are still some fish that survived the winter...

I'm eagerly awaiting the first Eastern Phoebe of the year. When he arrives, I guess spring will be here for good.

Winter Distractions

As we enter the longest part of winter, I'm struck by how much expectations change at this time of year. Living in a northern border state means that the birds get pretty scarce during the winter months. A walk around the park at this time of year nets about 3 to 5 different species on a good day, a total that would have been counted a pretty lousy outing mere months ago. Some days I see nothing but American Crows. But any time I see more than 2 or 3 species on my lunchtime walks this time of year feels like a pretty good day. Bonus points when a chickadee sings and sings its cheerful song while flitting around my head:



Some people may deal with the depths of winter by simply staying inside and waiting for spring to come. I admit there's an appeal to that, but ever since reading "A Sand County Almanac", I've really appreciated Aldo Leopold's approach to January:

The months of the year, from January up to June, are a geometric progression in the abundance of distractions. In January one may follow a skunk track, or search for bands on the chickadees, or see what young pines the deer have browsed, or what muskrat houses the mink have dug, with only an occasional and mild digression into other doings. January observation can be almost as simple and peaceful as snow, and almost as continuous as cold. There is time not only to see who has done what, but to speculate why.

In my case, I get to sit and enjoy a sweet chickadee's song under a snow-covered pine tree without being distracted by all of the other things I could be seeing. In many ways, that's a pretty rare treat.

Bookend Birds

The last bird I saw in 2010 was an adult Bald Eagle soaring high over Powderhorn Park on the afternoon of December 31. The first bird I saw out my back window on the first of the year was an American Crow. Both sort of fitting in their own way, I think.

So, in honor of the crows, here are a few that I recorded on my walk around the park over lunch hour today (check out the nice croak around 0:18):


The was a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker in the park for a while in early December, but I've not seen it since December 19. But there's another bird that's been showing up since the new year to spice things up a little bit. I've twice seen a Brown Creeper in the past few days. Hopefully it sticks around for the rest of the winter.

Ice cover and summer recap

With the lake now completely covered in ice (and park staff starting to clear the snow off the ice in preparation for the winter skating rink), most of the common migratory breeding birds from the park have now departed. So I figured now is a good time for a recap on the summer. There were a couple of things that struck me about this summer in comparison to last summer (since I've only been paying attention to birds at the park for two years, that's the only reference point I have):

• Great Egrets seemed to be significantly less common this year than last. The last one I saw was in July.
• Green Herons were relatively plentiful at the park last year, but I didn't see a single one this year. I did see them at other places around Minneapolis, so they were around, just not at Powderhorn Park. Very curious.
• The robins were pretty scarce over the summer, but they're quite abundant so far this fall and into the start of winter.
• Pied-billed Grebe was relatively common last fall, with multiple sightings in both September and October. This year I didnt' see a single Pied-billed Grebe in the park after April.

At the end of the yar, my park list stands at 106 species