The park was crowded yesterday morning, I suppose with folks trying to get their visit in before the forecast precipitation came, so I wasn’t able to find much to show you. My best shots are of this raft of female common mergansers and one male common goldeneye on the lower river. I was bummed not see a female goldeneye with them.
Today, the situation was markedly different, and maybe 10°F and 20 mph has something to do with that.
A pair of mallards were taking a break.
A pair of common mergansers were on the hunt for something good to eat.
A young herring gull was chowing down on a fish, while its elder chilled nearby.
A little further north, the missing female goldeneye situation from yesterday seems to have resolved itself, and today there were three! They all appeared be spending as much time under water as they physically could. Perhaps they were just really hungry, or perhaps the 32°F water feels a lot better than the 10°F air.
By the mudflats below the falls a red-bellied woodpecker appears to be sampling the snow.
On the upper river, there was a good group of mallards and one female goldeneye, but I didn’t see the buffleheads today. Let’s hope they found someplace warm to ride out this deep freeze.
Finally, as I was walking around the pond, I was super lucky to spot a Cooper’s hawk, perhaps the one we’ve seen at the pond last month, lurking in the bushes just over the water at my eye level. I managed to get off this one shot before it noticed me and bugged out.
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 