Still plenty of lessons to learn…

You won’t believe who’s back. Ol’ Mrs. Snappy was right were I first found her yesterday morning, and that’s the curb at the edge of the parkway right under her chin. It appears that I misjudged how much she would prefer to lay her eggs in exactly that spot. It did not appear, however, that she was having any better luck digging a hole in the turf than yesterday, but let’s just say I’ve learned my lesson, and I left her to her own devices today. “Best of luck, Ma’am!”

So, I took a seat on the bench, began surveying the birds, and soon saw the wood duck hen and four ducklings, but also spotted the mallard duckling swimming all on its own. Happily, as I searched high and low for Mom and contemplated trying to get a picture, she flew in from somewhere, and the pair were soon reunited. Perhaps she had taken to the air to flee those pesky drakes again. Sheesh!

Anyway, I headed toward the river, and as I entered the clearing at the north end, I was greeted by this happy and more peaceful scene of goslings and their mom grazing under the watchful eye of their dad.

I tried to edge around them to the water without scaring them off, and when I got there, I was thrilled to spot a beaver in the water at the southern tip of the northern island. You can just make out its dark shape in front of the sticks at the water’s edge.

Better yet, as I waited to see what it was up to, it climbed up on the bank behind those sticks and started pushing them around. I wonder what’s up with that. If you’re having trouble spotting it, compare the two pictures and look for the shiny wet fur on its haunches below.

At the far north end, I was counting the cliff swallows and checking on the nesting barn swallows under the Port Washington Road Bridge, when I spotted a cliff swallow swoop up to the bridge under the near span. Holy smokes! They’re also nesting right there, but with a different construction technique. Either that’s a brand new nest, or I’ve failed to notice it all month. “Pay attention, Dressel!” Heck, I thought they had already nested under the eave of the Holiday Inn, but maybe there were just roosting there. I could even see a second nest under the bridge, but it was still a work in progress. Cool!

Back at the pond, the snapping turtle was gone, and I could not tell if she managed to bury her eggs or was forced to give up again. Meanwhile the mallards were up on shore and back in their usual napping spot.

Lastly, as I followed the paved path west of the southern soccer fields, a largish bird with a long tail, like a grackle but brown, flew right in front of me and perched low in the trees on my right. Once I got a good look at it, I could not believe my luck. It’s a black-billed cuckoo, which we only get to see about once a year. Better yet, it perched right in the sun with a nice blue and green background for me. I immediately sat down and crab-walked down the path a bit for a better angle, and thank goodness no runners or cyclists came through for a minute.

Well, that’s gonna be it from Estabrook Park for a while because Anne and I are off to sunny Morocco tomorrow. I’ll bring my camera with, but my good lens is still not yet back from the shop, so I can’t promise much. We’ll just have to see how it goes.