It was a day so nice, I had to go out in it twice, and boy, what a difference 20 degrees makes! This morning, I wore two pairs of gloves, and this afternoon, I wore none.
With last night being probably our last deep freeze, I figured it was today or never to walk up river on the ice. What a treat that was.
Not a whole lot to report critter-wise. A few mergansers, a few mallards, a slew of goldeneyes, and just one female bufflehead on the river. Here are a couple of a shots in which I attempt yet again to capture the size of the crowd. It is a sight to behold.
The usual song birds were about, and here are just a few of the robins who were out in force.
One curious sight on the river is this track in the snow. There were other no tracks near it.
In the woods, there were plenty of woodpeckers going about their business, and these two downies put on quite a show.
Our little buddy, the veery or hermit thrush was a bit south of where I usually find it, and perhaps it was think that I, standing on the river ice, was west of where it usually finds me.
And, last, but by no means least, this magnificent creature, I think the Coopers hawk we’ve seen several times before, was waiting for me along side the Oak Leaf Trial. It even allowed me to walk past it, with my eyes averted of course, so that I could shoot with the morning sun at my back as it stretched a leg.
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 
Mystery tracks? my guess is river otters sliding down to the water.
LikeLike
Not a bad guess, and I thought along the same lines. My hesitation was the lack of foot prints pushing it along, either from behind or from the sides. I’ve seen such otter tracks on a hill, but this is on flat river ice with an out and back trajectory so can’t even be just run and slide. Happily, I believe we found the answer today with all the beaver activity and corresponding tracks, with and without footprints. Fun, eh?
LikeLike