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 looks like he has just a little more maturing to do, but you get the idea.
They seemed to avoid the water with pretty reflections this morning, but here’s another shot from yesterday, when they were more obliging.
The river had the usual contingent of mallards, geese, and a couple of herons, but nothing that I could make look photogenic today. Instead, here’s one more picture of that amazing red-tailed hawk from yesterday morning.
I did manage to capture an image of this sweet little ruby-crowned kinglet hard at work foraging for the calories it needs to fly to Kentucky.
Finally, that purple coneflower still had a bumblebee on it, but I’ve already used it twice, so here’s one on a common sneezeweed (Helenium autumnale) blossom,
and another one on a yellow coneflower.
I read that they could be females caught out by the cold and waiting for things to warm up or males hoping to mate with a new queen. Based on the warm temperatures lately, the latter sounds more likely. Best of luck, guys!
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 