Photos and videos
Photos
Click here to see an album with full sized photos. March 2025
The lake was beautiful with the crescent moon reflected in the early morning light. (Tana Tesdall, 3/26/25)
Northern Flickers are our only woodpecker species that tends to feed on the ground. This male's bill has been muddied from probing in the damp ground. There are two forms: yellow-shafted & red-shafted. In our area, the yellow-shafted is the predominant form. Red-shafteds are a western form.
Wolf. Oesterreich (03/24/25)
A male Purple Martin has returned to the nesting box. (Paul Domoto, 3/25/25)
For a brief moment an opening in the clouds allowed the sun to illuminate the peninsula and bluff areas. Looking northward, across the south lake and towards the bridge.
Wolf. Oesterreich (03/25/25)
Boreal Chorus Frogs have been singing in the wetlands since the 13th (or even earlier by a day or so by others at Park present in the warmer afternoons). This Northern Leopard Frog, apparently warming itself from the "heat" being reflected from the trail surface, is my first of the year.
Wolf. Oesterreich (03/25/25)
Paul Domoto alerted me to the presence of a mantid egg case. Unfortunately, this ootheca appears to be of an introduced species, the Chinese Mantis. There are thoughts that this should be destroyed.
Wolf. Oesterreich
A opossum walks on the side of the hill near pond P. (Tana Tesdall, 3/27/25)
A composite view of today's burn along the west side of the Harrison Rd spur.
Wolf. Oesterreich (003/27/25)
A Brown Snake (Storeria decaying) sunning itself on the Upland Trail. A relatively common snake at the Park that only gets 9 to 13 inches long, this one appears to be a mature adult. (Paul Domoto, 3/28/25)
A male American Kestrel perched in a tree along the Upland Trail. (Paul Domoto, 3/28/25)
A male Eastern Bluebird sits on a twig near the north end of the upland trail (Tana Tesdall, 3/29/25)
Boreal Chorus Frogs are the first frog species to sing at the Park every Spring. Although only about 30mm in length, these tiny frogs broadcast their trills quite loudly. They are more likely to be heard than seen. Their trill has been described as sounding similar to running your thumbnail along the edge of a fine-toothed comb.
Wolf. Oesterreich (03/28/25)
After not seeing a Common Loon for 3 days, one was on the south lake this morning.
Wolf. Oesterreich (03/26/25)
A Common Loon on the south lake. It preened itself, then shook its leg at me. (Tana Tesdall, 3/27/25)
A Common Loon on the south lake. It preened itself, then shook its leg at me. (Tana Tesdall, 3/27/25)
Videos
Video of the week: A beaver has a midnight snack. Sound on!
Bonus video: A small herd of deer runs across a wetland pond.