Wow, it was dark and warm this morning, and the sky barely started to lighten when the sun supposedly rose. Dawn could not be denied, however, the sky eventually did lighten, and I ventured into Estabrook to see if anyone was up yet. It turns out, they weren’t. Ha!
Despite our amazing luck lately with pretty big fauna; such as osprey, deer, herons, beaver, and owls; I barely saw a squirrel or a mallard this morning. It was eerie. I could hear a few little birds; such as juncos, cardinals, chickadees, goldfinches, and nuthatches; and even glimpsed them once in a while, but nobody wanted to sit for a portrait today.
Instead, here are the unlucky laggards, whom I did manage to catch, and the first one is this shy, but not quite shy enough, song sparrow deep in the brush on the slope down from the beer garden.
Second is this golden-crowned kinglet who appears to have started its leap to better cover two milliseconds too late. Better luck next time, little buddy. We are inside the north edge of their winter range, so here’s hoping there is a next time.
And that’s all of them, if you can believe it. I saved a lot of film today.
The next two mornings are forecast to be sunny and seasonably cold, so let’s hope that helps everyone get out of bed in the morning.
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 