Monday, January 14, 2008

The first weekend in January

Here are some miscellaneous pictures that I took on the first week end of January.
This is one of many white tailed dear that I saw on a quick trip through Fort Snelling State Park on the 7th. I am hoping to get some good fawn pics at Fort Snelling this spring.The sharp-shinned hawk that has been hanging around the feeders at the Minnesota valley NWR visitors center was back again for a while on the 7th.I have begun to see starlings again. They have been mysteriously absent this winter until lately.The female northern cardinals are much more interesting then the male cardinals are. Fortunately there are usually some of each hanging around the Minnesota Valley NWR visitors center.This little opossum came up to eat some of the seeds on the ground under the feeders at the Mn Valley NWR on the 5th.I love the little pink toes. They are really cute but you think that they would get cold.A lot of woodpeckers hang around the Mn Valley NWR visitors center. Most are downy or hairy but there are usually a couple of red-bellied woodpeckers around too.I shot this red-tailed hawk on the side of the freeway while I was on my way home from the Mn River Valley NWR on the 7th. It is a bit blurry because the truck was still moving a bit.

2 comments:

Nancy Z said...

Hi, I just found your blog and I love it. I have a critter diner set up on my deck out back in St. Paul. I have a question though...I have a red-tailed hawk that visits every now and then and an little opossum I've named Homer but I'm shocked that the hawk will come so close to my house. He will perch on my deck chairs which are less than 2 feet from my french doors. Is that normal?

Ecobirder said...

nzupfer, I am glad that you enjoy the blog. Red-tailed hawks have proved to be very adaptable to living in areas occupied by people. You can commonly see them on streetlights and power poles on the side of roads looking for the rodents, which populate the sides of our roads. So while your visiting red-tail may be a bit bolder then normal it is not all that unusual to see red-tails come close to buildings in search of food. Hopefully he will find plenty of mice and rabbits in the neighborhood so that little Homer will be safe.