On March 26th I headed back to Louisville Swamp for a sunset hike. I had been there towards the end of last summer and it had the most overgrown "trails" I've ever hiked on but I did see some cool birds because of that including my closest ever look at Turkey Vultures. Anyway obviously it's not overgrown anymore, but there is some serious flooding on some parts of the trail. One of the trails is basically just a stream right now and even the trail I managed to hike had one point that was 3-4 inches deep and about 10-15 feet across.
I wasn't expecting a lot of birds to be there yet and my expectations were correct but it was a cool nature hike and I did see my first non-flying Sandhill Cranes of the season across a little lake/pond from me. I even got a short video of one of them doing their famous mating dance! I also saw more bugs than I've seen anywhere in the twin cities so far this year which is good for birds :)
https://photos.app.goo.gl/M2geNaNYEajnH7BYA pics
https://youtu.be/guPISLv_OxY Sandhill Crane Mating Dance video
https://ebird.org/checklist/S84163173 bird nerd stuff
On my birthday I went down to Bass Ponds in the rain to watch waterfowl. Although the rain is bad for photography it was actually pretty good for birding because it meant no one else was there other than a few fisher peoples and one other bird nerd.
There were some Northern Shovelers only a few hundred feet away as well as some Scaups (at least a couple of them looked to be Greater Scaups not sure of the others) that I managed to get some pictures and video of and also some Blue-winged Teals sneakily feeding in the reeds. There were some Canvasbacks off in the distance too but they never came close enough for even half decent rainy day photos.
Jillian came over that night for a boring birthday with really good brownies my mom made but I was glad she could be there. :)
https://photos.app.goo.gl/vAvVfgJGdgg1nFLf8 pics
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-E6rCCErIIko0I_AdSVMxJoX4e-yk7rF videos
https://ebird.org/checklist/S84203070 bird nerd stuff
On March 29th I went to Murphy-hanrehan for the first time since last fall but it was a very windy day and as I got out of my car to put sunscreen on the wind blew my car door shut locking my bag and camera and keys inside! Luckily my parents were able to bring me a backup (THANKS!) set but that meant I had 90mins or so to just lay by the lake where I saw my first Tree Swallows of the season but couldn't get pictures since my camera was locked in my car :p
Eventually I was saved and managed to take a hike around the Lake and see some birds. There were a couple Hooded Mergansers and a bunch of other common birds
https://photos.app.goo.gl/fk6hqnU5fakdS58J6 pics
https://ebird.org/checklist/S84898636 bird
https://ebird.org/checklist/S84362452 nerd
On March 30th I went out early in the morning before I had to be home for therapy to Memorial park in Shakopee but this time parked at a different nearby park and walked to the other side of Memorial park across the little pond and stream from the main park. I didn't get close enough for a ton of good photos but I did see my first ever Green-winged Teals which I got a short video of and also some Mallard takeoff slow-mos. It was mostly Mallards and Gadwalls with a few Ring-necked ducks and those 4 Green-winged Teals, but seeing even more new birds was definately a cool way to start the day!
On April 2nd I went to Sandhill Crane Nature Viewing Area in East Bethel which I've never been to before and may not go back since there didn't really seem to be many birds there. It was a cool hike through the woods but not really any trails or birds so it's not the greatest place I've ever been. Oh well
https://photos.app.goo.gl/pvSH3LvLQjXQxZzd6 pics
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-E6rCCErIInR96ei2we91jDWHYHaF05c videos
https://ebird.org/checklist/S84998737 bird nerd
https://ebird.org/checklist/S85371851 bird nerd 2
On April 3rd I went back to Trempealeau National Wildlife Refuge. Once again they were a bit further into spring than us. :) There were lots of turtles sunbathing again. I saw my first Cedar Waxwings of the year hanging out around the turtles! Their eyeliner is still impeccable.
I saw at least 3-4 snakes and there were probably a lot more. A couple times one of them slithered right on top of a log I was sitting right by and I actually had to quick back off to get some photos/video. There was a little girl with her mom who asked her mom if I was going to be okay (because of the snakes) which was pretty cute.
I saw a Bufflehead leading a couple younger Buffleheads which was cool since I've never seen a young Bufflehead before! I also saw my first Eastern Bluebirds and Mourning Doves of the year and finally managed to get some sunlight shots of Common Grackles and their cool colorful feathers. :) Just lots and lots of birds that place is amazing!
https://photos.app.goo.gl/t1ePPdFQGsPw15Pt5 pics
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-E6rCCErIIklaTYW38hVcX_CgXFbRdWm videos
https://ebird.org/checklist/S84671965 bird nerd stuffs
https://ebird.org/checklist/S84682737 nerrddd
On April 4th I went to Carver Park Reserve to some random trailhead I've never started from before having only started from Lowry Nature Center before. I saw a few birds but identified more by sound than by sight let alone actually getting any photos of them. I did see a cool American Goldfinch who didn't have a finished spring paintjob yet.
I got some nice Toad videos and a few photos though one of a Toad catching a bug and also a big Toad sex party. A few photos too and also some spider web super slow mo stuff cuz I know how much people love spiders!
https://photos.app.goo.gl/3s5Qjkxq2Z1rMhsb6 pics
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-E6rCCErIIl4P_q_uDyPT9VwppZEnxwA videos
https://ebird.org/checklist/S84810916 bird nerd stuff
On the evening of April 7th Jillian Louise and I went on a spontaneous trip to Sherburne Wildlife Drive. It's the first time I've been up there this year and it was kinda more dead/grey than I was expected, probably not helped by the overcast/drizzly weather. The cool sighting of the day was a Short-eared Owl! I wasn't sure if it was some kind of Hawk or what at the time but when I looked at my photos I realized what we had seen. I've never seen one of those before and I got some low contrast grainy photos of it flying and perched on tree.
I also got some much better video of Sandhill Cranes than I've ever gotten before since there was a group of 6 of them who seemed very curious about this weird Wildlife Drive thing with humans and cars on it and kind of approached us at one point. :)
I also saw a few Double-crested Cormorants which I have been eagerly awaiting their return. I love the Snooty way they swim and how they constantly steal each other's fish. Also some very wet beavers were swimming and getting rained on.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/8AEC79X9y75CB7RX7 pics
https://youtu.be/PreHAd8GPdM Sandhill Cranes Video
https://ebird.org/checklist/S85770648 bird nerd stuff
So I got another new (used) lens! It's a Canon f5.6 400mm prime lense which has been highly recommended by a lot of people as a great budget wildlife/birding lense. The day it arrived I couldn't wait to go out and try it despite the overcast conditions so I headed to Elm Creek Park and hiked a bit around Eastman Nature Center.
I saw a Brown Creeper for only the 2nd time in my life and this time got some slightly better pictures of them. They are so hard to photograph since they are exactly the same color as the trees they creep in! I also saw my first Yellow-rumped Warblers of the year surely a sign that life is returning again :)
On my way home I decided to check out Rum River Regional Park which I've never been to before. There were a couple Great Blue Herons there which I got my best flying photos of but still not great because of the grey skies. I saw yet another Yellow-rumped Warbler there too as well as a group of Hooded Mergansers.
It was a good day and I'm pretty happy with the results considering the poor conditions :)
https://photos.app.goo.gl/Ps2mJNmrJqAehdd89 pics
On April 16th I went out with my new lense for the 2nd time this time with much nicer weather to Murphy Hanrehan, which has only started becoming active with birds again in the past few weeks. I saw lots of cool birds including a few Turkey Vultures, a Great Egret, Blue-winged Teals, Ring-Necked Ducks, and American Coots. There were also TURTLES of the Painted variety doing their usual sunbathing stuff. I also got a good photo of a Common Green Darner Dragonfly! :)
There were few Tree Swallows which are super common during the summer in wetlands but they have only just started showing up again. They are super hard to get photos of because they are small and fly in fast erratic patterns but I love watching them skim the top of the water for bugs :)
After I got home I did some birding from my back yard. A Squirrel had figured out our neighbors bird feeder and emptied like half the feeder the day after they put out new food :) One of the new visitors to our yard recently has been some Brown-headed Cowbirds and I got a photo of the female as well as all the usual backyard birbs!
https://photos.app.goo.gl/JqXoFgc2pp6gm5kh8 pics
https://youtu.be/9b_njxTQ2SE Turtle Sunbathing Vid
On April 17th I went to Murphy-Hanrehan again but this time I barely even got out of my car and mostly ended up watching some Osprey in their nests. Murphy-Hanrehan has multiple nest spots up for them. Anyway I managed to get some cool Super slowmo video of an Osprey landing on it's mate in the nest then briefly taking off and landing in a different spot again! It takes so much effort for them to take off because of how big they are that's why those nests are up high so they can just just "catch some air" under their wings normally. I also got my first butterfly photos of the year I saw a Mourning Cloak which has a pretty purple and black pattern on it's wings!
When I got home I took some more photos too and a Robin came to take a bath and splashed around in the water :) I also got pictures of both the Male and Female Brown-headed Cowbirds who have only recently been at our feeders again
https://photos.app.goo.gl/GZjTZa3yzSRNm7Ym9 pics
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-E6rCCErIIl0VXZ5chogig9E5hZqGvVt Osprey Super slowmo vid
