May 24, 2020 - Scenic State Park

About a week ago, Diana and I visited Scenic State Park, which is 30 miles north of our lake home. Less than a mile before we got to the park entrance, we saw this Trumpeter Swan sitting on its nest. A trumpeter Swan is a huge bird with a seven-foot wingspan. As you can see, a bird this big needs a gigantic nest.

SwanTrumpeternestHwynearSceenicStateParkItascaCounty20200515

Warblers are migrating north to their nesting grounds and one of them seen at the park was this Black and White Warbler.

WarblerBlackandWhiteScenicStateParkItascaCounty20200515

We had forgotten that Scenic State Park has a healthy population of Franklin’s Ground Squirrels. They are larger than Red Squirrels and smaller than Gray Squirrels. The unique combination of brown and gray fur plus the bold white eye ring are good identifying features for this animal.

SquirrelFranklin'sGroundScenicStateParkItascaCounty20200515

Here's a cute photo of a Ground Squirrel eating a leaf. They also feed on insects, mice and other small mammals, eggs, and baby birds. Seeing these Ground Squirrels reminded us of the time we transported four of them from St. Paul to an area near Grand Rapids for the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center. Here’s a link to those photos. https://www.earlorfphotos.com/Pictures-of-the-Week/2018-Pictures-of-the-Week/Sept-2-2018-Franklins-Ground-Squirrels/

SquirrelFranklin'sGroundScenicStateParkItascaCounty20200515

There were lots of Northern Parulas in the park. They are part of the warbler family even though they don’t have “warbler” in their name.

ParulaNorthernScenicStateParkItascaCounty20200515

After we left the park, we drove farther north and saw this singing Savannah Sparrow on a rural road.

SparrowSavannahsingingPriemRoadItascaCounty20200515