Yesterday’s forecast did hold, and it was a beautiful morning in Estabrook Park. At the pond, I was able to find all three hens with their ducklings: the two mallards, …
and the seven wood ducks, which I believe were eight the last time we saw them. Boy, it’s been a tough spring for wood duck ducklings.
Also at the pond, a green heron was back and making a croak that sounded more like a frog than a bird. I know they have an unusual call, at all, but I don’t believe I’ve ever heard this sound before.
The pair of bluebirds were also back on their favorite perch, and here’s the male, looking as resplendent as ever.
At the river, dozens of cliff swallows, which appear to have nested under the eave on the south side of the Holiday Inn on Port Washington Road and have now fledged, were flying in and out from under the bridge, perhaps because the breeze was keeping the flies low, and I took at stab at getting a picture of one. Well, here is our very first image of a cliff swallow (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota), such as it is. That’s our fourth species of swallow in Estabrook, after the rough-winged, barn, and tree. Who knew, right?
On my walk back to the river after my second visit to the pond, I was stunned to watch this little beauty flutter across the trail right in front of me and perch not three feet away. I could not believe my luck, and this turns out to be our very first white-striped black moth (Trichodezia albovittata). Outstanding!
When I finally reached the river, this little cutie swam by, and at first, I thought it was a muskrat, based on its small size, but once I saw those ears, I knew it was a beaver.
On my way home I stopped by the pollinator garden, but nobody was home. Instead, a colleague pointed out our very first mourning cloak butterfly of the season, on the railing along the paved path just south of the garden. These have often been the first butterfly I see of the season, but not this year. Better late than never, right?
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 