Ahhhhh. The wind takes a breather.

It was cold, just below freezing, but the sun was out, and the winds were almost back to normal, so it was a picture-perfect morning in Estabrook Park.

I found another robin by the dog park still working on her nest.

I saw blue-winged teals on the river and on the pond, but the lighting was much better at the pond.

Here’s an eastern phoebe in that same light.

Meanwhile, on the grass, the ruby-crowned kinglets were so thick this morning, I tried to be careful where I stepped. Plus, they were finally showing off their ruby crowns.

Finally, at the pond I saw my first brown thrasher for the season, and it was singing up a storm.

It looks a bit like a hermit thrush but with a longer tail, a longer beak, and bright yellow eyes.

At the river, the robin we saw yesterday was still on her nest,

A squadron of cormorants flew over on their way to Lake Michigan to compete with the fishing industry,

And a pair of chickadees were preparing a nesting cavity.

Lastly, as I was almost home another yellow-bellied sapsucker did an even better job of showing off her yellow “belly”, which looks more like a collar or label than a belly.

and even demonstrated some sap sucking from the trunk of what appears to be a black birch, aka river birch or water birch (Betula nigra).

So, it turns out that I should have saved at least one of the flower pictures from yesterday for today, but oh well. Live and learn, we can only hope. Right?