Someone Left The Cake Out In The Rain

It's okay, though, I've still got the recipe. Raining today in Minneapolis, as it has been doing at some point every day since what feels like the beginning of time. I went out to the Sculpture Garden in it to see what I could see; here are a few of those things.

What: A green heron. I am told - by this blog, actually - that such tried unsuccessfully to nest in the Garden last year; I don't know whether they're giving it another shot this year, but Abbie and I saw one last week, and I got an even better look today. Really handsome birds, the green herons.
Where: Northeast section of the park; just standing in the field at first, but then flew into the trees.
When: Sunday, June 9th, 2013, ~2:00 PM
Observer: Matt
Conditions: Raining! Lightly.

What: A broken, half-eaten egg, in the pond. My suspicion is that it was a mallard egg - there is a brooding female on the island under the spoonbridge itself. She was still brooding today, so presumably the nest is not entirely compromised, but in another part of the pond there was this egg. The fault of a raccoon, perhaps? Or even a rat? A crow? I suppose a number of animals might raid a duck's nest. It is also possible that this was a storebought chicken egg that ended up in the pond for some reason or other; mallard eggs and chicken eggs look fairly similar, and though it does not seem reasonable that someone would put an egg in the pond, less reasonable things happen in public parks pretty much constantly.
Where: Under water just off the shore, northwest section of the Spoonbridge pond
When: Sunday, June 9th, 2013, ~2:00 PM
Observer: Matt
Conditions: Still raining.

Other notes: Robins galore out in the rain; a number of adults looking for flushed-out worms - I saw one female with one in her mouth, still writhing and wriggling - and a lot of juveniles of various ages, looking generally put out. The tadpoles are getting bigger, and there seem to be a thousand of them. And the ground squirrel hole I saw getting dug the other day has been filled in! I do not know by what or whom.

Digging a Hole

Hi, everybody, I'm Matt, and I'm a gallery assistant at the Walker Art Center, and I'd like to thank Abbie for letting me take part in this wonderful thing of hers. I have a lifelong love of animals and nature that has, in my adulthood, regrettably become very armchair; this opportunity to go out and explore and observe has been simultaneously exciting and remarkably relaxing.

Please note that - well, elsewhere on this site Abbie has made mention of her amateur status, and that goes a hundredfold for me. Under ideal viewing conditions I am likely to be able to distinguish a house sparrow from, say, a dog, or a car. More should not be expected of me just yet, though I've been doing this for a little under two weeks now and it has been a speedy and remarkable learning experience.

My first report is about thirteen-lined ground squirrels, the 'gophers' (in a misidentification) of Minnesota mascot fame!

What: A thirteen-lined ground squirrel digging a new hole, or perhaps expanding an old one. Almost every day I go out to the sculpture garden I find new ground squirrel holes, which I'd been taking as a lack of prior attentiveness on my part - but perhaps the numbers are in fact growing, as today I saw a hole with dirt flying out of it, adding to a field of freshly-dug soil right outside of it.
Where: One of the raised areas with the trees on top of them, in the southeast section of the park; the ground squirrels seem to favor these areas when considering their real estate options.
When: Tuesday, June 4th, 2013, noon
Observer: Matt
Conditions: Overcast and rainy, though not actually raining at this time

(Note that, in the picture, the ground squirrel is a little darker than the usual, filthy from its excavations.)

Barn Swallow Sport

Photo courtesy Stephen Peterson, via Flickr
For additional information from the photographer, click the image then scroll down

What: If I hadn't seen it, I might not believe it. A softly drifting down feather, ~40 feet in the air, was an object of sport for five Barn Swallows. First, one individual caught the feather in its bill, then spontaneously released it midair. Within a second, another individual swooped in to catch and shortly release the feather. The swallows transferred the feather ~5 times before flying away.
Where: At the pond near the Spoonbridge and Cherry sculpture
When: Saturday, June 1, 9 am
Observer: Abbie
Conditions: Sunny morning before the Walker's busy family day.

First Monarch Butterfly

What: The first Monarch Butterfly I've seen this year
Where: In the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, in the courtyard with Arikidea
When: 4:45 pm on Friday, May 31
Observer: Abbie
Conditions: Partly sunny and perfectly delightful (now that the flash hail storm is past)

First Fledgling

What: A dark bird with downy fuzz, especially above the eyes. I infer its age by its proportions (large eye and beak), behavior (chirping and not flying), and under-developed plumage. Probably a Common Grackle.
Where: Appropriately, on the pedestal of Henry Moore's Reclining Mother and Child
When: 8:45 am on Thursday, May 30
Observer: Abbie
Conditions: Warm and muggy, having rained the preceding night.

Still Trilling

What: I went out to video the tadpoles when I heard more trilling.
Where: The pond at Spoonbridge and Cherry
When: About 3 pm on Wednesday, May 29
Observer: Abbie
Conditions: Lightly raining and warm.

Other notes: I heard a small flock of Cedar Waxwings and after much efforts to locate them, I saw about 5 up high in the pines along the Garden's west edge. I quickly scouted the Garden again, at about 5:30, and again heard waxwings, this time at the east edge. As before, eventually their sound and movement disclosed their location to me.

Tadpole Hatch at Spoonbridge

What: The tadpoles have hatched! Just like we noticed last year, when they first hatch they remain in a cluster and stay mostly still. We think there are considerably fewer toad offspring this year compared to last, but it'd be difficult to make a quantitative comparison. My extremely rough guess is that we're seeing about 30% of what we saw last year.
Where: in the pond near Spoonbridge and Cherry
When: 4:30 pm on Tuesday, May 28
Observers: Christina and Abbie
Conditions: Overcast