Sunfish Lake Park

Finally remembered that locally Sunfish Lake Park is not restricted to just ski use in the winter. This is nice since 90% of trails are off limits at Lake Elmo Park Reserve in the winter. After work I took a nice long hike with my Yak Trax on my winter boots. they worked great as I never slipped once with the soft snow over the icy stuff.

Birding was slow as expected as I moved forward and paused to listen a lot. This strategy yielded just a small group of Chickadee that seemed to be concentrated near a ravine that has homes on the north side. I would assume with feeders that keep them close.

I then sought out trails I knew I had never worked before, half scouting for the future and half birding for a rarity. I did hear some good rapping on a tree at one point on a pause and found a female Pileated Woodpecker working hard on a tree.

This park has a lot of fall and blowdown in the thick woods so with any wind you get a lot of trees rubbing together causing odd noises that draw your attention. At a few points I hoped for some kind of owl, but none of the sounds were avian in origin.

Most of the way through my walk I did find a roving band of American Robin working some berry bushes near a locked in pond. The feisty bunch chased and yelled at each other a fair amount.

Eventually while out in the open on the south edge of the park I found a Bald Eagle soaring overhead. It was a quiet lonely hike, but it was peaceful and fun. I'm looking forward to some summer trips for a much deeper birding survey this spring, summer, and fall. The locked in pond has me curious for what might nest in such an area.