Morning Walks at Prairie Oaks

Continuing My Morning Adventures

Inspired by my sunrise experience at Darby Creek Metro Park, I decided to wake up early again a couple weeks later, on February 5th. I briefly stopped over at the wetlands, but warmer weather meant there was no frost on the plants, nor did I see any wildlife on this occasion. Remembering that Prairie Oaks Metro Park is only a short drive away, I chose to leave the wetlands and try my luck there instead.

The images shared in this post are actually from two separate walks, as I didn’t get a ton of photos from my first morning walk around Prairie Oaks. However, that first trip did yield plenty of exciting wildlife sightings- including two “lifers” (the first time a birdwatcher sees a new species) for me. The first was a Belted Kingfisher, which I viewed from a bridge as the bird rattled off its unique call and then swooped over the water to catch some fish. While I actually got a really clear view of him, I didn’t have my camera out at the time (oops!) and thus did not get any photos. The second lifer was a Tundra Swan, which I later saw as it flew in for a landing on one of the lakes. Other notable sightings from this walk were an adorable little Eastern Red Squirrel, Redhead ducks, White-Throated Sparrows, and a very red Northern Cardinal.

Back to Prairie Oaks

A week later, on February 12th, I returned to Prairie Oaks a little earlier in the morning. On my way, I happened to see several deer grazing in a field near the road. Fortunately for me, this field was actually the Savannah Oaks section of Priarie Oaks Metro Park. I pulled into the entrance road, where there was no traffic, and stopped for a few moments. With my camera propped up on the open window, I managed to get a few photos of the deer as they watched me, and eventually crossed the street. At that point, I continued on to the Darby Bend Lakes area for my walk.

This particular trip was colder, which meant that there was a beautiful layer of frost on everything. I especially loved the look of various Milkweed pods that I found around the trails. While there were fewer birds on the lake this time, I did spot a few Ruddy Ducks swimming through the cold and foggy waters. By the time I had walked all the way around the lake and was returning to my car, the sky was bright and sunny and all of the frost had melted away. The parking lot was within view, when I noticed several birds flitting around between nearby thistle plants. Much to my delight, I realized they were Eastern Bluebirds! These colorful blue and orange birds are one of my favorites, and I had always wanted (and failed) to get a good photo of them. On this occasion, I was finally able to get several amazing images of them among the thistles; making for a wonderful ending to the morning’s walk.