More birds and bugs.

The weather is pretty nice today, but the blush was off the rose a bit this morning, and it was a bit breezy and cloudy in Estabrook Park.

The surprise recurring guest star today was this osprey appearing to be drying off after a dip.

By the river at the north end, this splendid and very fresh-looking question mark butterfly was soaking up some sun.

I didn’t get any little-bird pictures today, so here’s a goldfinch feasting on thistle blossoms gone to seed beside the soccer fields on Tuesday.

I did see plenty of bugs, and here are a pair of damselflies, probably stream bluets (Enallagma exsulans) given the blue tip of her abdomen, working hard to make more. When I arrived, he (the mostly blue one) had a good grip on her (the mostly green one), but it took her quite a few tries to close the loop. She kept getting hung up on the edge of the leaf, but she persevered and eventually prevailed. Yay!

I did see a couple of great blue herons today, but none were as photogenically posed as this one from Monday afternoon.

I saw wood ducks on the pond this morning, but there was also a mink about, whom I failed to capture on film, so the wood ducks were all perched out of the water and in the shade against the eastern shore. Instead, here are the ducklings nice and cozy in the warm morning sun yesterday.

I saw a few monarchs flitting about, but none parked for me, let alone on musk thistle, so here’s a red admiral, who was willing to show us both inside and outside, from Tuesday.