The morning started out cold and dark, but soon the clouds drifted away and it become one of the sunny mornings so beautiful that the temperature hardly matters. Plus, it was nice and still and the sun sure warms things up quickly this late in the spring.
Anyway, the biggest news probably is that a Canada goose family with eight goslings has hiked up from the river to the pond, just like on a similarly cold morning almost exactly one year ago. I guess it’s “a thing they do”.
Meanwhile the family with six is still there, so if you want to see goslings, there may never be a better time than now. Even better, the goose on the southern tip of the island is still incubating. It’s like a Hallmark Mother’s Day card right now.
The pond sure was busy this morning, and here’s pair of wood ducks nuzzling each other, which I find pretty endearing. I’ve glimpsed it before, I think at the river from afar, but I’v never had an opportunity like this to show you.
Here’s a female red-wing blackbird in her nest on the island, for which I watched her collecting material yesterday. Hopefully, we’ll get to see her raising her chicks soon.
Here’s a female belted kingfisher hunting for breakfast. I watched her dive once and come up empty, so I wish her better luck next time.
But wait, there’s more. Here’s a striking magnolia warbler (Setophaga magnolia)…
…and a stunning chestnut-sided warbler (Setophaga pensylvanica).
Okay, on last picture from the pond. Here are the six goslings and their mom getting ready for a nap on the lawn.
On to the river to check on the robbins, where I finally caught Dad helping with the feeding.
It looks like Mom is gonna keep them warm whether they like it or not.
Finally, here’s a a pretty yellow-rumped warbler (Setophaga coronata), like the one we saw back in April, our first warbler of this season, in the warm morning sun and against that beautiful blue sky I told you about.
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 