The University of Minnesota has a 200+ acres research area named Cedar Creek just north of the Twin Cities. During the summer one may hike the Fish Lake Nature Trails in East Bethel and see a remarkable diversity of wildlife, even Bison. For the best viewing visit shortly after sunrise. Right now the start of the trail crosses prairie grasses which are abloom with prairie lupine. Most of the ecosystem is oak savanna.
One bird that positively loves oak savannas are red-headed woodpeckers. Although their population has been falling across the United States due to habitat loss, it is hard to not see lots of redheads while hiking the Fish Lake Nature Trails. Although an educated guess, my own birding this morning found several nest holes, and I noticed each of those trees were marked with a double yellow ribbon near the base. Be respectful of the nests, but if you wait near those trees it is very likely woodpeckers will appear. Given the activity I saw, I would expect the young to be sticking their heads out of the nest to be fed (just before fledging) towards the end of June.
While watching one set of woodpeckers I heard splashing behind me. Turning around I found this pair of trumpeter swans taking baths. Given they did not immediately fly away from me, I suspect a nest must have been very close.
A final comment in terms of photography … if you wish to take pictures of birds that are white or have lots of white coloring (both bird species today), it is important to be out either very early or late in the day. Direct sunlight when the yellow orb is overhead will blow out your whites. All of these images were taken with my Canon SX-70 (super zoom bridge camera). The camera is small and light … perfect for hiking. Although it has a small sensor, in good light like this morning (not a cloud in the sky), the performance of the camera is excellent.
Red-Headed Woodpeckers at Cedar Creek
Trumpeter Swans Early Morning Reflections
Two videos (links for email subscribers – one – two): Taking a Bath and Trumpeting
