Monthly Archives: April 2020

Nothing really new to show. Everyone is waiting for the goose eggs to hatch. It’s been nearly a month since my first picture of a goose on the nest, and their incubation period is supposed to be 32 days. I’ve heard reports of blue birds in the park, but they are hiding from me so far.Continue reading “Slow day 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 areContinue reading “Signs of Life in Estabrook Park”

I think it’s going to be busy like the Fourth of July. The pond was very quite this morning with just the canada geese, a couple of mallards, and a few wood ducks. No mergansers, grebes, or teals. The red-winged blackbirds and common grackles were plentiful, however, and making quite a bit of noise. Here’sContinue reading “Saturday, in The Park”

The turtles were out sunning themselves again yesterday afternoon and posed themselves better for me. Here’s a red-eared slider and here’s a painted turtle So there are at least three species: Red-eared sliders, Painted turtles, and the snappers that I have been warned about. On flickr at https://www.flickr.com/photos/andrewdressel/albums/72157713703616688

There was ice on the pond this morning, near the edges, thick enough to hold my keys! I took a picture for proof, of course, but it’s not much to look at. I can’t believe I’ve already seen frogs and tadpoles this “spring” swimming under the surface. Happily the sun was nice and bright, theContinue reading “Estabrook Park icing over!”

28°F and snow on the grass! Luckily, even if spring seems to be in retreat, the wildlife is charging full speed ahead. At least the wind has let up and the sun was shining.This morning, the canada geese pair, the pied-billed grebe, some wood ducks, and a slew of mallards were all on the pond,Continue reading “Estabrook Park, just when I thought it couldn’t get colder…”

Puddles were frozen over and even the moisture in the top 1/2 inch or so of soil was crystalized and crunchy to walk on, but birds gotta eat, find mates, and stake out their territory, so things were about as busy as usual. No major shake-ups on the pond. The canada geese pair, a few mallards,Continue reading “Crazy cold but sunny morning at Estabrook Park”

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 toContinue reading “Cold and blustery morning at Estabrook Park, but no snow!”

Oh yeah! I completely forgot to mention that I spotted the amazing activity pictured below on the lawn sloping down to the pond this morning … At first, I thought it was just a weird version of those gummy-worm-type fishing lures (pictured below) because I was already bending down to pick up a couple of fish hooks, whichContinue reading “Easter at Estabrook Park, part two (NSFW)”

No snow, yet, so just a cool, damp, and quiet morning in the park. The usual suspects were on the pond: the pair of canada geese, the little pied-billed grebe, the red-breasted merganser was back but the hooded merganser was gone. The pair of blue-winged teals and a few wood ducks were still there. TheContinue reading “Easter at Estabrook Park”