Cooper's Hawk Nest Update

This morning I caught sight of at least one young Cooper's Hawk in the nest just south of the lake. It was still wearing its downy white plumage, so it'll be a little while before it leaves the nest.

The Bluebirds Emerge

I saw at least four Eastern Bluebird fledglings (accompanied by both parents) on my walk around the park this morning.

Two of the newly-fledged Eastern Bluebirds

A Black-crowned Night-heron was also present.

Random Chipping Sparrow

I nearly stepped on this little guy this morning. Love that rusty crown.

Chipping Sparrow

Heat Wave

Well, it's certainly been feeling a lot like summer all of a sudden. The flashy migrants have moved on and we've been hit with 100-degree temperatures. So things have slowed down significantly, but there's still been a slow trickle of milestones from the resident breeding birds:

• I heard my first House Wren at the park this morning bubbling away near the tennis courts (though I didn't manage to see him).
• Barn Swallows have been regular over the lake and coursing over the soccer fields on the north end of the park. I also saw a small group of Northern Rough-winged Swallows on May 31 -- a first for me at the park.
• Chimney Swifts are a near constant presence over the park, sometimes dipping down to scoop up a drink of water from the lake.
• A flock of Cedar Waxwings has been resident in one of the (hackberry?) trees on the south side of the park for the past week or so.
• I saw my first Wood Duck fledglings of the year on June 6.
• No sign yet of the Eastern Bluebird fledglings, though I did notice the female repeatedly dive-bombing a squirrel that was a bit too close to the nest cavity for comfort.
• I've seen American Robins carrying food in their bills, so there must be active nests in the park, though I haven't managed to locate one.

This morning I observed a male Red-winged Blackbird enthusiastically singing and displaying in the reeds at the north end of the lake. I suspect that this particular spot holds a Song Sparrow nest, as I've seen a pair of them in the same area numerous times recently (once carrying a couple of caterpillars in its bill). This morning, one of the song sparrows was persistently giving its 'chimp' call at the blackbird ("Would you mind? I'm trying to raise a family here"), and the blackbird repeatedly chased the song sparrow away from its scolding perch. I've seen Red-winged Blackbirds quite regularly this spring, but they tend to be calling from high in the treetops. This is the first time I've seen one down in the reeds giving an obvious mating display. I didn't see any audience for his display, however.

Last of the Migrants

Well, it's been a fun few weeks, but it looks like migration is finally drawing to a close up here. A couple new birds have still shown up in the last week (Blackpoll Warblers, Red-eyed Vireos, Yellow-bellied Flycatchers, Eastern Wood-Pewees), but these are mostly a sign of the end of migration. In fact, for the first time in over a month, I actually had a day yesterday where I saw no warblers at all.

The good news is that the Eastern Bluebirds are indeed nesting in the same cavity that they used last year. I've observed both the male and female bringing insects to the hole over the past couple of days, so I suspect that the eggs have already hatched. We should be seeing the young birds venture out of the nest in the next week or so.

Homeless Herons

The last couple of days, I've seen quite a few more Great Blue Herons flying over the park than normal. On Wednesday I saw 8 herons flying over the lake, and one in the lake, by far the most herons I've ever seen at Powderhorn at one time. Presumably these are mostly Herons from the Minneapolis heron rookery that was destroyed by the tornado looking for new places to live.

Bay-breasted Warblers

The warblers have been thinning out recently, but the storms this weekend dropped a fairly large number of them in the park on Sunday afternoon. Going out between rain storms, I found several trees hopping with activity. Several Magnolia and Chestnut-sided warblers were around, but the highlight was at least 3 male Bay-breasted Warblers, a first for the park.