A late start…

I had to go to campus this morning and so didn’t get to Estabrook till after 10. The day was pretty enough, but it seemed that just about everyone was already sleeping off their breakfast. For example, here’s our hooded merganser hen dozing beside a pair of mallards.

Happily, one creature still up was our long-lost gadwall drake. We haven’t seen him in a week, but here he was late this morning looking hale, hearty, and still at the buffet.

Above him, the red-bellied woodpecker was out and about, but I didn’t see any sign of his lady friend.

At the edge of the ice that marks the northern end of the open water, a lone herring gull was keeping watch.

North of the falls, I found my first squirrel of the morning out over the ice and on the prowl for more chow.

At the far north end, I thought I’d see a lot of little birds, as in the past, but there was a chainsaw running on the opposite shore and a pair of jackhammers are demolishing the old highway bridge over the river just beyond Port Washington Road, so maybe they all fled to get a break from the racket. Instead, here’s a mourning dove just hanging out on the ground in the sun.

I swung by the pond but only saw house finches, and on my way out of the park, I spotted another gray squirrel feasting on maple tree seeds.

I see snow showers in the forecast for overnight, so let’s hope the park as a nice fresh layer in the morning, even if it’s a thin one. A change of scenery would do us good.