For my birthday outing this year I wanted to go to my favorite park near Spirit Lake, IA. Gull Point state park is always a gold mine when it comes to seeing birds and with the beautiful 50 degree temperature, it was such an amazing day. It honestly started out slow and I was feeling a little disappointed because all I could seem to find was White-breasted Nuthatch. They are amazing birds no doubt, but I was so badly wanting to find some new bird species to add to my 150 bird challenge.
White-breasted Nuthatch
After walking and driving through the park and getting ready to leave, I saw something big soar through the trees and land nearby. To my delight, a beautiful adult Bald Eagle had landed on a branch, perfectly posed out in the open and in the sun. I absolutely love the photos I was able to get.
Bald Eagle
Right before leaving the park entirely, we had pulled over across the street to a different trail, and there were birds everywhere! Black-capped Chickadees, Blue Jays, different types of woodpeckers. It was so much fun, and of course I got some really great shots.
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Black-capped Chickadee
My last mission for the day was to find the flock of swans that had been utilizing the open water on Spirit Lake. The park we went to is called Mini-Wakan State Park, and there was a lot of other bird activity here as well. We saw a few swans right near where the parking is, but there is also a trail that leads further down to a point near where the rest of the swans were swimming. There were some Common Mergansers resting there alongside some Canada Geese as well. They were a little too far for me to get any really good shots but it was awesome to see them. I definitely want to return to this park later on in the spring and see what else I can find and photograph.
Trumpeter Swan
