Plenty of black, white, and blue

It was cloudy but much warmer than yesterday, and my morning in Estabrook got off to an interesting start when I spotted this herring gull with a fish in the river near the south end. We haven’t gotten to see much of that.

Things were quiet again until I approached the abandoned bridge abutment below the dog park. There was a blue heron fishing from a log on the east side, and it was much less shy than they usually are. Here’s the view straight west from the path.

And here it is again but straight south from the riverbank upstream.

Above the falls, I finally found one of the nuthatches nice and close to the ground that I’ve been hearing for the last few weeks but have not managed to photograph.

The main event, however, came at the north end, as I approached the boat ramp, when a birder walking south mentioned that they had just seen a bufflehead. Be still my heart! I hustled up to a gap in the brush, and sure enough, there it was. There was just one, so far, and here she is, showing off her namesake head.

She was diving regularly for “aquatic invertebrates, crustaceans, and mollusks,” and eating her fill, we hope.

We were lucky enough to have a pair on the river for most of last winter and into the spring, and I’m thrilled to see at least one back again. Let’s hope she sticks around, and another shows up to join her, eh?

Finally, as amazing luck would have it, my morning wrapped up just as it started, with another herring gull catching a fish. What are the odds of that?!?