thenamesjonas's Journal

Lots of activity at the park.
Still failed to ID the two conifers at the entrance- the one I know, White Pine, has at least two lichen and some mass on it, not sure if dried sap or a growth, or it's a weird fungi.
After I was done checking out the Pine I saw a red mass and thought it was meat and it turns out to be the severed head of a Bullhead fish, just laying there in the mulch, some organs still attached, intestines leaving its body.
Multiple geese were hanging out by the water, saw some sparrows, more lichen, a spider that hid before I could take a pic.
Went to the "island" part and saw a bunch of violets growing and they smelled nice.
Went back towards the geese, saw a squirrel, a small bullhead near some muck, recorded some Blackbirds, then a male Mallard flew in, scared me a little, I got excited and tried to get a better angle on it and a female Mallard was hiding in the plants in the water and spooked me as well.
Saw thousands of tadpoles, I think they're American toads, as they swarmed the park and my window well last July-August.
Saw a weird fish hanging out by the tadpoles, it's face looked like it was skinned, it drifted around, looked like it was close to tipping over, and was missing a few scales, only reacted with a stick I tossed in bumped it and it nearly got knocked over.
As I was leaving I saw a small head or snout sticking out in the water, first thought was beaver or muskrat, but then I saw a wide back and spiky tail and thought Alligator? Then I realized it was likely a turtle of some sort.
When I walked to the island to find the turtle I found a clump of hair that might have belonged to a rodent or some other small mammal but was killed by a raptor. May have been hunted by whatever killed the bullhead by the tree.

Looked out my back window to see a tan bird sitting on the telephone pole cable and it appears to be puffing up its neck, I assumed it was a Mourning Dove cooing.
Saw a black bird- possibly a Common Grackle, land a couple of feet away from the Dove on the pole itself.
Soon both flew away.
Saw a Red-Winged Black bird fly by a minute or so after the other two left.
Heard a rooster call out in the morning- first time hearing that in a long time.
Saw a fat ass robin hopping around in the neighbors yard.

Saw two birds outside in my backyard, they were all black with red and a light colored strip on the tops of the wings (when folded up). At the time I thought it was the Tricolored blackbird but those only live in the west, but it was likely the Red-Winged Blackbird.
I did not have my phone on me so I went to my room to get it and when I came back one left and the other saw me. The sliding glass door and screen door where in the way so it was hard for my camera to focus so I slowly opened the door to get a better picture but the bird flew away.
They had a squawking like sound.

Very uneventful night, not a lot of sounds, maybe due to the storm coming in in the next hour or so.
Took a few minutes for the Spring Peepers to chirp but they were quieter than usual and less frequent.
Heard another frog call across from me, but my mic could not pick it up, as it was too quiet and infrequent.
Heard a "whooing" that also sounded like a cackle that I heard the night before, but only twice.
Heard a few other birds chirping but not often.
Windy and warmer than the night before.

Out at night to listen to the calls of nocturnal animals.
Heard Spring Peepers chirping along with possible Grey Tree Frogs.
Across the street from me I heard something rustling in the short grass, probably a rabbit or raccoon, could not see it but it moved slowly in the grass, my cat inside was closely watching it and I accidentally spooked her when I brushed her head when I went inside to throw away my apple core.
Came back out and still heard some rustling but it grew fainter.
Heard a "coo-ing" like sound that may have come from an owl or some other bird, Canada Goose out in the wooded area near by were honking as if they were in distress then soon quieted down.
Heard something that sounded like a wood pecker pecking but lower and infrequent, may have been a car or truck drifting on to the sleeper line but unsure.
Heard a bird chirp or song that I've heard before, usually at night or early in the morning, heard it as the bird flew in the sky and flew back into some trees- recorded it at May 17, 2022 at 12:32 AM CDT
Heard another possible bird song but it may have came from the same animal but unsure.