More of the November new normal…

It was a beautiful morning in Estabrook, warmer than last time, but still cool enough, with the crystal-clear skies overnight, to frost the grass. My outing got off to an exciting start when this buck darted across the parkway and then kindly paused in the brush for me to catch up.

I didn’t see a soul at the pond, so continued straight to the river, where a few mallards were taking advantage of the lack of fishermen at the falls for a change.

In fact, mallards were the only birds I could find on the water today. No geese, mergansers, or other odd ducks. As I searched, however, this hawk, a young Cooper’s hawk I think, looked as though it made a try for one of the mallards. At least they reacted that way, but the hawk had no luck and perched on this branch to consider its next move.

As I made my way back south along the riverbank for a closer look and a better picture, it took off again and ended up chasing a kingfisher down river, but I was not able to see how that turned out.

Instead, I found this little puff-ball of a white-throated sparrow with breakfast still on its beak.

From there, I took one more swing by the pond, and this time the little birds, at least, were up and about. Here’s a female cardinal keeping an eye on me.

Here’s a goldfinch feasting on what look like seeds from a speckled alder (Alnus incana).

Here’s a young-looking robin striking a dramatic pose.

Finally, here’s a cedar waxwing taking a break from picking berries on the island. We’re in their year-round range, so maybe we’ll get to see more of them over the winter.

The forecast for tomorrow morning is just as nice as today and even a bit warmer, so let’s all hope we see some fun sights before I have to start getting up an hour earlier.