Fun in the sun…

Since I didn’t get into Estabrook yesterday morning, I gave it a shot yesterday afternoon. At the south end, I was greeted by one of the young wrens still perched and calling as though it is gonna get fed. Maybe it is, but neither Mom nor Dad came through with the goods during our photo session this time.

At the river, I was stunned to count six (6!) great blue herons all in sight at once. They were spread out, and here are the two closest I could find. I wonder if fledglings aren’t being shown where all that fish has been coming from over the past few weeks.

By the time I got to the north end, there were more herons, although some or all of them could have been birds I had already seen. In any case, one of them appeared to be in a courting mood, …

but none of the others seemed to reciprocate. I don’t believe I’ve seen this behavior before, by which I mean the great blue heron courtship display, not the subsequent rejection.

Anyway, we had yet another beautiful morning today, and my zoom call wasn’t until 10am, so I had time for another visit. I approached the pond from the east for a change to take advantage of the morning sunlight, and here’s one of the younger wood duck ducklings on the pond starting to look pretty grown up.

Right behind the duckling, I was thrilled to find an immature or female hooded merganser also trying to catch some zzzzs. I had spotted it on the pond yesterday, but the light was so much nicer today.

Up ahead, I saw a blue heron fishing just off the west shore, but as I made my way around in hopes of catching it in nice light as it caught a fish, look who I saw skulking up the dark side of the island. We haven’t seen raccoons on the island since 2021.

Before I could turn my attention back to the heron, a second one arrived, which started a brief but noisy tussle, and then they both flew off. Oh well.

On my hike across the baseball field to the river, I spotted this little cutie by the beer garden chewing on something tasty. At first it was on the pavement, and I figured maybe its cuteness would overcome the bland pavement background, but then it took off and perched on this branch for me instead. Sweet!

At the north end, there were several herons again, but so was the egret, and who knows how long it will stick around, so here’s yet another egret picture. This time it’s having some salad with its fish.

As I was scanning the sand bars for killdeer, sandpipers, and maybe a yellowlegs, I spotted this sandpiper-looking bird, but it was only half the size of the spotted sandpipers we usually see or the solitary sandpipers we sometimes see. I believe that is because it is a least sandpiper (Calidris minutilla), and the first one I’ve ever seen.

Finally, for some color, the musk thistle beside the soccer fields are still in bloom, and the monarchs are still visiting them, so here you go.