The fine weather has returned to Estabrook Park, at least for this morning, and it was a great time to visit, but let’s cut right to the main event, which I only saw on my second visit to the pond: seven brand-new and vigorous wood duck ducklings. Woo Hoo!
The mallard hen with her duckling was still there, and even up on the west lawn again, but we’ve seen a lot of them lately, so let’s skip to the bigger sight, also at the pond: our first female belted kingfisher of the year. Hurray!
On my way to the river, the bluebirds were out hunting over the lawn again, and here’s the male showing off his grip.
At the river, there were two great blue herons: one up on the remaining big dead tree over the northern island, and the other a lot closer to our shore and in the effective range of my current lens.
Back on shore, here’s our second dragonfly of the season, after the one being devoured by the blue-headed vireo last month, and this one appears to be our very first midland clubtail (Gomphurus fraternus).
A lot farther south, down the bluff from the southern playground, the Canada goose family with three goslings was up in their usual spot.
Finally, I saw two monarchs and a tiger swallowtail this morning, but all three were too busy for pictures. I also saw at least four of these little ones, summer azures (Celastrina neglecta), and this one was willing to sit still for 1/125 of a second. They are a lot bluer on the inside/topside of their wings, but good luck getting that picture.
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 