The river trail was nice and firm this morning, after the cold temps last night, but that might be the last time for a while, with low temps forecast to be above freezing for the rest of the week, so I did my best to take advantage of it.
The lower river has pretty much emptied out, with just a handful of mallards scattered about, one common merganser, and one goldeneye, that I could see. There are still plenty of signs of beaver, but not a hide nor hair since February.
There was still a pretty good crowd above the falls with a couple dozen goldeneyes and mallards, a bunch of Canada geese, a common merganser pair, the bufflehead pair, and even one female redhead.
A male redhead was probably around, but I didn’t spot him before a couple of guys showed up in a boat, and every single bird took off.
Not much new in the trees either. The red-winged blackbird was singing at the pond again, but the grackle had moved down to the river, perhaps to sing in the morning sun without having to compete with that boisterous red-winged blackbird.
A junco posed uncharacteristically against a nice blue sky, if only for a moment, and a male cardinal scratched an itch between verses.
The pond ice is down to maybe 95% coverage, and the 5% open water grew a fresh, thin skin of ice overnight, but that won’t last long in the warmth of today. Here’s what some old footprints that were in the snow on top of the pond ice look like now.
Finally, here’s a look at how hoary the frost got this morning on the lawn above the falls.
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 