June continues to delight.

I’ll keep this short, and it will probably still be riddled with typos because I don’t have access to my usual proofreader today. Oh well. Meanwhile, our streak of gorgeous weather continues in Estabrook Park, and the sun rises at 5:15 now, so that’s when I hit the trails because the early bird waits for no man.

The trio of wood ducklings were still on the pond, but my picture from later in the morning, when the sun had come up over the trees in the east, is a lot better, so here is a sextet with their mom on the river instead. Let’s all hope that three of these are the same three we saw back on Tuesday.

Great blue herons were back, and here are two in the tree over the northern island.

Killdeer and sandpipers continue to enjoy all the exposed riverbottom around the islands, and here’s a sandpiper probably giving me some over-the-shoulder side-eye, but I can’t tell because I can’t see its sclera, so there.

As I searched northward over the river with my binoculars, I thought I saw an odd duck, but after I hiked north for a better look, there was no sign of it. Instead, I found it amongst nearly a dozen mallard drakes on my way south, just off the downstream tip of the southern island.

Seeing all the ducks clumped together like that made me wonder if there wasn’t a raptor nearby, and sure enough, look who I found parked in a tree over the far shore. That is one hot-looking eagle It’s panting like a Pekingese.

Back at the pond, I found a bullfrog sunning itself amidst the floating algae.

There was also a green heron fishing off the island.

And here are the wood ducklings with their mom in the nice warm sun.

Finally, the yellow flag iris are in bloom along the northeastern edge of the of the pond.

Lastly, the indigo bunting in the trees on the west edge of the soccer fields is starting to get used to me, and I think our portraits are getting better.