I can see clearly now, the haze is gone…

Ah, that’s more like it! The smoke and humidity have moved on, and we had blue skies this morning like I haven’t seen in weeks. I was able to take advantage of it right away at the south end when a ruckus amongst the crows distracted this one enough from evading me for a moment.

The pond was as busy as ever this morning, and here’s a muskrat making a grocery run, …

and a great blue heron working to regain its balance.

But the wood duck hen and her young ducklings were tired enough to sleep through it all.

As I headed back towards the river, I heard an unfamiliar call from the tree right behind home plate, so I checked with merlin, who claimed it was from an orchard oriole, but we’ve only seen one once before in Estabrook, so I wanted visual confirmation to be sure. Well, the little stinker made me follow it through three additional trees before it finally settled down, but then it really put on a show.

At the crest of the bluff, by the beer garden, I was finally able to capture one of the many young grackles that have been foraging with their folks in the big outfield.

Back at the river, the Canada geese have returned from their brief absence, but I was more interested in this shot of a kingfisher perched over mallard ducklings and couldn’t believe my luck when a grackle photobombed the shot.

Back on land, I was looking for butterflies again, but this indigo bunting stole the show.

Finally, back at the far south end, I was looking for butterflies yet again, but house wrens were making a racket, and I was thrilled to get to see this scene. Here’s a fledgling waiting for its breakfast.

Here’s mom or dad delivering.

And then here they are telling me to get lost.

So, no new butterflies today, but here’s a glimpse of the top side of the wings of the first mystery butterfly from yesterday, and those white spots plus that red stripe make this a red admiral.

And here’s a glimpse of the top side of the wings of the second mystery butterfly from yesterday, and those black splotches on a red background, plus the bright white “c” in yesterday’s image, make this an eastern comma.

Lastly, here’s one more butterfly from yesterday, a dun skipper (Euphyes vestris), feeding on milkweed blossoms, along with an ant, and I believe this is the first one I’ve ever seen. Anyway, if you have ever noticed that milkweed tends to have ants on it and would like a short but fascinating read on the topic, try this one.

Oh! I almost forgot to mention that I heard my first cicadas singing this morning.