Nobody new on the pond this morning. The canada geese pair, bachelor mallards, wood duck pairs, red-breasted merganser, and little pied-billed grebe were all there. The hooded merganser and pair of blue-winged teals were nowhere to be seen. There were plenty of birds in the branches and bushes, but it was far too cold for me to sit still long enough to catch one.
After checking in on Chet’s empty duplex, I headed down to the river to try to get out of the wind. I got really close to a belted kingfisher who didn’t notice me until I tried to pull out my camera. Luckily, a mature herring gull and the juvenile he bullied away were too interested in the fish on the opposite bank to pay any attention to me.
But, meh. You’ve seen pictures of seagulls before, so here’s one from yesterday afternoon when both geese were off the nest again and having an extended and animated conversation about something. At least I saw the operation from the start and there was no obvious instigating event. It just seemed that the one on the nest decided it was a good time to take a break. I still couldn’t see eggs in the nest, but I have a hope they are really there and just too low for me to see.
As always, I try to curate the best of my pictures on flickr at
https://www.flickr.com/photos/andrewdressel/albums/72157713703616688
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 