No sense in sugar coating it. This morning started out cold and dreary, and then it began to rain. The good news, however, is that I spotted another new arrival in Estabrook, this little cutie beside the river, whom I believe is an eastern wood-pewee, just in from South America!
At first, I thought it was an eastern phoebe, but its feathers make quite the little peak at the back of its head, it’s beak has a tiny hook at the end, and it “looks like it’s wearing a gray or dusky vest.” All these features better match the wood-pewee than the phoebe. We’ll see soon enough if the experts let my identification stand.
I saw neither the beaver nor the muskrat, but here’s another muskrat picture from yesterday, in which it appears to be sniffing an old beaver-gnawed log.
The great horned owl was in its regular spot again, but the lighting this morning really helps to make it visible through the brush.
The golden-crowned kinglets were as plentiful as yesterday, but the low light this morning made my pictures much worse, so here’s one more from yesterday.
I heard the killdeer, but couldn’t spot them, and the kingfisher was silent this morning, so here are a couple more pictures from Sunday when the light was nice on the pond.
The blur is caused by the sticks I was shooting through.
It appears that the last of our winter water fowl have finally flown north, and even the solo goldeneye drake and the solo, red-breasted merganser drake from yesterday were gone this morning. Meanwhile, I’ve only spotted wood ducks twice so far this year.
Tune in tomorrow to find out if our newest arrival really is an eastern wood-pewee, if any wood ducks finally arrive to stick around, and if the rain really does continue for another day.
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 