The dark and gloomy skies of April continue into May, I am sorry to report, but at least it wasn’t raining this morning, and the thunder and lightning we had overnight was done for now, so I went to Estabrook to see who the winds might have blown in.
Most of the regular crowd was up and hard at work already, and here’s a rare, at least for me, glimpse of both robins at the nest for a moment. Mom’s been keeping a pretty tight lid on the thing, which isn’t surprising given the weather we’ve been having, but I have no idea how many eggs she might have in there now.
At the pond, a couple of goslings were out and about when I arrived, …
but they quickly retired to the warmth of Mom’s embrace.
They weren’t the only ones sleeping in this morning, either. Here’s at least one raccoon we’ve seen a few times before, …
and here’s another in a cavity that I have not seen occupied until now.
Not everyone was a sleepy-head, however, and here’s a wood duck hen perched over the river, perhaps looking for a nesting cavity that has room for just one more egg.
This mourning dove, also perched by the river, has been snoozing so long that it needed a stretch when I went by.
Lastly, as I neared the south end on my way back home, I caught a glimpse of a black-and-white bird as it tucked into a cedar tree, and I was just able to make out a little bit of its back with my binoculars, so I took the picture I could, and started inching closer in hopes of a better view.
I could not believe my luck when it let me approach, although very slowly, and even came back out of the cedar tree a bit to help me out. Thanks, Buddy. Best of all, it turned out to be a gorgeous rose-breasted grosbeak, our first for the season. Woo Hoo!
That there were two of them, was dark chocolate frosting on the cake with whipped cream and a cherry on top!
May is sure starting off better than it first looked, eh?
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 