A Cold Day At Veteren's Park

Snow-covered juvenile beech trees, still holding onto their leaves

For the past five weeks I have been held prisoner inside my house due to a fractured foot. Not being able to go out to the parks has been eating at me the whole time. So, today while sitting at home I decided that I have been away from the beauties of nature for far too long and went forth with strapping on my winter boots and bundled up for the bitter weather. I decided that I did not want to go out to a park that would contain rough terrain, so I figured that Veteren's Park would be the best option for me. It's close to home and offers a lot of great wildlife and scenery. I was hoping that when I arrived I would see a thawed out pond (it's pretty big) since we have had temperatures a bit more mild the past couple days, but it still was at least 80% frozen. Normally this is a pretty good spot this time of year as migrating waterfowl stop for a rest before they cross the largest pond around...Lake Erie. It may be just a bit early yet, but it's not uncommon to see Red-Breasted Mergansers, Canvas Backs, Coots, Buffleheads, and more. As for today, all I was able to see were the resident Mallards and Canada Geese. The mallards will allow for pictures to be taken of them, even with my point-and-shoot style camera, which tells you how close they will get. The geese are more fiesty and get upset if you come near - I keep my distance. Today they were honking at each other and defending their areas from other geese who may be migratory geese and not year-round residents of the pond.

Two males and one female mallard

After scouting the pond for migratory waterfowl and coming up empty-handed, I decided to walk the path along the pond to see if I could spot any good birds or other wildlife. As I walked I heard a Blue Jay mimicking the sound of a Red-Shouldered Hawk (which got me excited to see a RSH...Buteo lineatus), American Crows and their familiar "caw", Red-bellied woodpeckers and White-Breasted Nuthatches laughing, Cardinals and Tufted Titmice making their call, and song sparrows singing their beautiful, fluent song. All of which I was able to spot and observe through my binoculars. The song sparrows hopped around through thickets of brush while singing along the pond, cardinals perched in trees, standing out with their bright red feathers on a white, winter backdrop calling for their mates, Woodpeckers (red-bellied and downy) drilled holes in trees looking for a meal, and the mimicking Blue Jay flew from tree to tree. It was nice because I was the only one in the park basically, being quiet and letting the birds do what they do uninterrupted. After walking the perimeter if the pond I decided to enter the path that goes through the woods to see what was going on within...

Snow-covered bridge that leads into the woods

I have often found that if one stands on this bridge as still and quiet as possible, birds will put on a show for you. This is a great time of year for snowbirds who migrate from the North at this park. You can see the brush on the left of the picture...this is a perfect habitat for them. The thickets offer coverage and protection from hawks and other predators looking for a meal. So, I sat for a few minutes and sure enough, the birds came. Black-Capped Chickadees, Dark-Eyed Juncos, and Tufted Titmice. All of them, in flocks, buzz around this area feeding and chirping. I enjoyed watching and listening to them - it may be one of my last chances of the year to see them before they migrate North back to the cold tundra in Canada. I pushed forward through the woods and came across a few things that I was not expecting at all. First, I was stopped by the sight of a Brown Creeper, a small, brown tree-climber. I don't know how I even spotted it, as it was perfectly camouflaged with the bark of the tree it was climbing. I stood back and watched its behavior through my binoculars. It would start at the base of the tree and climb upward in a spiral pattern around the tree while picking out bugs from the cracks in the bark. It would make it about fifteen feet up the tree and drop down to the base of another tree and continue its feeding pattern. I watched it go back and forth for about ten minutes or so, switching back and forth from my binoculars to plain sight. I moved along because the temperature was in the twenties and my fingers were starting to throb from the combination of cold temperatures and bone-chilling wind (I forgot my gloves). It was not much further when I noticed a massive, freshly bored hole in a tree that had to be the work of the Pileated Woodpecker. I could easily fit my entire fist all the way into the hallowed out cavity. It amazes me the size of hole a Pileated can make. It was roughly 4"w x 6"h x 6" d.

Hole bored from a Pileated Woodpecker

After looking at this and realizing how lucky I am to not have to work like that for food I continued on through the woods. I made it about 100 yards away from the Pileated hole and noticed a huge nest in the crotch of a pretty tall Beech Tree. This was definitely the work of a hawk, however I saw no residents occupying it. I looked to my right and saw another hawk nest in a different beech tree! There is a potential for some good hawk sighting in that area which I will be sure to check back at. If nothing else, maybe an owl has taken over a nest and it was just roosting. I will go back one day closer to dusk and listen for a Great-Horned Owl. I continued on with my trek and came across a herd of White-Tailed Deer that were bedding down about fifty yards off the path and pretty close to someone's backyard. I have seen a lot of deer in that park, usually in pretty large packs, but never this many at once. I counted twelve! I tried to get closer to get a picture of them, however, when I got close enough they all stood up. The adults started to hiss at me and stomp its foot, telling me to get away. So, I snapped a quick picture and did just that.

There were more deer to the right of the picture totaling 12 

I pushed forward and continued to see beautiful things. The freshly snow-covered earth just amazed me with each step that I took. Perhaps it was the feeling of euphoria, finally back out into nature and not couped up in a house with a broken foot. On my way back to my car I saw a Pileated Woodpecker. I was not able to get my binoculars on it to tell if it was a male or female though- unfortunately. I hadn't seen it until it flew from the tree it was in. Once it started flying I never saw it stop. It vanished from my sight voicing its repetitive call the whole way. I also saw a Cooper's Hawk speed by me on its hunt. It was a good exiting walk out of the park, seeing two amazing birds - I can't wait until the next time that I get to go "out and about..."