Monthly Archives: February 2022

Sorry this is arriving so late, but I had to go to school this morning, then stuff came up, and I didn’t get to Estabrook until late this afternoon. I guess the big news is that there were a slew of mallards, I counted at least 45, back on the river, but none of ourContinue reading “A quite Tuesday afternoon.”

I see the sun trying to poke through the clouds now, from the comfort of my kitchen table, but there was no sign of the sun earlier this morning. That, plus a stiff breeze, made 21°F feel like 7°F, and I failed to check on that second number when I dressed to go out thisContinue reading “Winter drags on…”

It was easily 20°F warmer this morning than yesterday, and plenty of critters were taking advantage of the relative warmth in Estabrook. The river is still mostly empty of birds, but the ones still there were in surprisingly posy moods this morning. Here’s the bufflehead hen all by herself near the southern edge of theContinue reading “Winter loosens its grip”

It was colder than forecast, just 5°F, but the air was still, and the sun did come out for a bit, so nice enough. The critters in Estabrook, however, were a lot quieter than I would have expected. They were certainly quieter than yesterday. Perhaps there’s a tipping point between the 10°F of yesterday morningContinue reading “Winter tightens its grip…”

It was quite a pleasant morning in Estabrook. Sure, it was only 10°F, but the air was still, and the sun came out for a while, so the sky was nice and blue. The biggest surprise for me was finding not a single mallard on the river. That might be a first. Perhaps an eagleContinue reading “A Friday of Surprises.”

I haven’t made it to the park yet today because I had to come to campus this morning, but on my way, I checked on the screech owl we first saw last week, and it is my absolute pleasure to report that there are in fact two screech owls sharing that same hole in aContinue reading “Seeing Red!”

Our February thaw was quite short lived, and temps were back in the teens again this morning with overcast skies and a nice stiff breeze out of the north, but we didn’t get any of the snow that this system is dumping to the south of us. Oh well. Just as the warmth seems toContinue reading “Winter Returns!”

Wow! What a change in the weather. It was 45°F and sunny by the time I got to the park late this morning, and most the regulars were on the river, but the big difference was the number of mallards. I counted close to 100 birds! The nice pictures, however, are of the bufflehead drakeContinue reading “February Thaw!”