Monthly Archives: October 2021

You may have heard that there was a chance that the aurora borealis would be visible in Milwaukee last evening, and the skies were crystal clear, so Anne and I took a stroll through Estabrook to look for them. We didn’t see the northern lights, I am sorry to say, but we did see aContinue reading “Happy Halloween!”

It still looked dark as midnight out at 7am this morning, but the sun did eventually rise and poke through the clouds a bit, so I headed over to Estabrook to see if there was anyone around. I am happy to report that there sure was! It seemed that all the little birds forced toContinue reading “Pleasant surprises big and small.”

I didn’t make it to Estabrook before the rain started this morning, but I do have one more nice image from Wednesday. After capturing all I could of the osprey, I looked around on shore a bit and spotted a few golden-crowned kinglets foraging closer to the ground than usual. They were still just asContinue reading “Some kinglets are still here.”

Sorry that I’ve been away. My time and attention have been needed elsewhere. It seems that quite a few birds made like trees and leaved since the last time I’ve been in Estabrook. I saw a blue heron glide overhead as I approached the pond, but if it had stopped in, it would have beenContinue reading “There’s a new raptor in town!”

I had a hope of a little sliver of sun light this morning, so I hit the park nice and early to take advantage of it, if and when it came. When I got to the pond, I was pleasantly surprised to find a blue heron and a quartet of mallards, but no sun yet.Continue reading “Trying to make the most of what sunlight we have…”

I can see dawn trying to peak through the clouds, and the forecast is for partly cloudy skies for about an hour before the showers begin, but I’ve gotta go to campus, so we’re stuck with some more pictures from yesterday. Here’s another instance of a yellow-rumped warbler by the pond sitting still for aContinue reading “Wednesday, part 2”

After all the recent sogginess, it was a very nice morning in Estabrook. The crowd of wood ducks on the pond has subsided a bit, but the surprise sighting was this giant snapping turtle appearing to try to climb up onto shore. I wasn’t able to get close enough, sadly, to tell if it isContinue reading “A break from the rain and a bit of sun”

Once again, the day lit up pretty quickly, I suspect as the sun finally rose over a cloud bank on Lake Michigan, and I tried my best to take advantage of it. The pond is still full of wood ducks, and here are three handsome drakes in a row. Well, the one in front looksContinue reading “Another sliver of sunlight”

It was dark until 7am, and then, as if someone flipped a switch, it became light out, so here we go. It’s a short one, though, because the front edge of a thunderstorm started dripping on us by 9am already. The pond was chock full of wood ducks, I counted 18, and they were allContinue reading “Soggy Sunday”

It was still quite dark at sunrise under thick cloud cover. Then the fog rolled in, and I’m surprised any of my pictures came out at all. Here are the ones that seem presentable. There was no sign of the huge snapping turtle at the pond, but a handful of wood ducks are still around,Continue reading “Soft-Focus Saturday!”