No snow, yet…

It was a soggy morning in Estabrook, but the winds were light, the snow didn’t materialize, and there was a lot more activity than I expected. I went straight to the river again, and didn’t see the osprey this morning, but there was a blue heron just off the near shore where the river gets wide and slow at the base of stairway 8.

As I continued north, I could hear a kingfisher, and didn’t pay it much attention because they are always too shy for me to get close, but then this one took a break right across from the base of stairway 7, so here we are.

There were plenty of mallards at the north end, but no geese, mergansers, or any other odd ducks that I could see. There was also no sign of the owl pair from yesterday. Instead, I finally caught a chickadee, who’ve been around all fall, of course, but have been too fast for me lately.

Speaking of fast, I was surprised to spot a golden-crowned kinglet but failed to get a picture. Instead, on my way back south, I finally caught a junco and its striking black and white tail, for the first time, I think.

And speaking of white tails, look who I saw almost at the south end: a young buck with an awkward, asymmetrical, teenagery-looking set of antlers. I was quite surprised when it opted to wade across the river instead of just strolling down the riverbank, but I later saw a fisherman further south, and the two of us might have been more than the buck wanted to deal with.

It made it across just fine, I am happy to report, and shook itself dry just as dogs do.

After that, it seemed in no rush, checked out the grass, gave us a look, and ambled up the bank ahead of it.

The forecast is for more light winds tomorrow morning and a chance for some sun, so I have a hope there will be more pretty sights for us to see. Keep your fingers crossed!