Signs of Life in Estabrook Park

Life in the pond appears to have entered a new phase. The geese and mallards are still there, and a hooded merganser and a kingfisher even popped in for a sec, but the grebe appears to have moved on and I don’t see much of the wood ducks any more. I’ve heard that there are a lot of mergansers to see down on the lake and grebes have been spotted on the river.

The trees and bushes are still full of red-winged blackbirds, cardinals, kinglets, yellow-rumped warblers, goldfinches, nuthatches, and creepers, but I’ve been told a new wave of migrants are waiting for the bugs to come out. Chet appears to have moved on for good.

Meanwhile, I did find this racoon mandible laying in the leaves just off the Oakleaf Trail.