More mid-day surprises!

As I mentioned yesterday, I’ve got a meeting this morning, so I won’t be able to visit Estabrook, but my mid-day visit yesterday was so fruitful, I have some pictures for you today anyway.

I had initially thought that being later in the day might afford me some butterfly pictures, and I did see a nice red admiral and probably an eastern comma, but they evaded my camera. Instead, our first ebony jewelwing was far more accommodating.

This contented-looking family of mallards was taking advantage of the sun that did burn through the haze on the lower river. Mom gave me a stern look at first, but soon resumed her own preening.

Meanwhile, the second batch of wood duck ducklings on the pond was down for their nap on the mat of last year’s reeds along the west shore. When I first walked up from the west, I could see a few drakes, in various stages of eclipse, and the hen with two ducklings, all on the fall shore, and I only noticed these cuties, nearly at my feet, as I began to head north in search of them.

The recent usual crowds of Canada geese and mallards, plus a few killdeer and a couple sandpipers, were all on the river at the north end, but I didn’t see any pictures worth taking until I began to head back south and I spotted this infrequent visitor nibbling on the seeds in the tall grass across the gravel road. “Welcome back, Honey!”

It’s always a treat to see a great blue heron, and when they are fishing at the falls its just icing on the cake.

I was very pleasantly surprised to spot this little darling hiding in a crevice in the steep side of the bluff behind the abandoned bridge abutment. “Way to keep cool, my little dude or dudette!”

Finally, as I circled a little stand of milkweed at the far south end, in one final and fruitless push for a butterfly picture, I noticed something big and moving fast out of the corner of my eye. By the time I was able to turn my full attention that way, mom was already deep in the woods, but I was in time to watch her fawn dash after her, and I figured they were gone for good. It must have really been my lucky day, however, because as I crossed the bridge over the ravine on my way back to the soccer fields and home, look who I could just make out through the foliage down below. “Peek-a-boo, little Sweetie!”