The weather was what one might call suboptimal for taking pictures this morning, with temps around 20°F, winds around 20 mph, heavy gray skies, and light snow, but these pictures aren’t going to take themselves, so off to the park I went to see if anyone was up and about. Holy Smokes! I’m sure glad I did.
Right off the bat, I got to say hello to our newest arrivals, a quartet of male common mergansers, and here’s three of them hovering around a lone hen.
Some of the males would jostle for position, periodically.
And one just opted out of that whole scene, preferring to snooze on the ice instead.
Farther north, but well below the falls, I spotted one of our beaver on the far shore still up having its version of a midnight snack before heading off to bed.
Then it came across to the east side and slowly made its way home.
As soon as I turned around after that last beaver shot, and before I could even take another step north, look who I found foraging at the water’s edge: our favorite little winter wren.
After that, I was finally able to continue north, and I didn’t see a thing until I got above the falls, where a slew of mallards were hunkering down for the storm.
And that’s it. At the far north end, I only saw one gull and one Canada goose, but by then it was snowing hard enough that I had no hope of taking a picture, so I turned around and hustled on home. I didn’t see our gadwall drake nor the pair of buffleheads today. Maybe tomorrow, eh?
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 
LOVE the pictures and the reports
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