It was a goofy morning. I don’t remember rain in the forecast when I checked last evening, but I could hear it on my windowsills before dawn today, so I had a nice relaxing breakfast over the newspaper with Anne. Then, by 7am, the rain had moved out, and things began to dry up, so I headed into Estabrook to see if anyone else was up.
At the pond, a great blue heron gave me a look, …
checked the sky for threats, …
and then went looking for a breakfast of its own.
I walked around to the west lawn for a good vantage point to count the wood ducks, and I was surprised when this young male paddle my way. Usually it has been the hen with four younger ducklings that come up onto the lawn for a visit, but this was different. This male had caught a tadpole, and I suspect he wanted to use the shoreline to help him gulp it down without losing it.
He sure seemed, however, like he was showing it off to me, by the way he swam around with it. The few times before that I’ve seen a wood duck with a catch from the animal kingdom, I’ve struggled to capture an image as quick as I can before the morsel is gobbled up, but not today.
And then he finally got it lined up just right, and down the hatch it went. Doesn’t that look like a self-satisfied expression on his face?
I didn’t see anything worth the film at the north end, and the butterflies must have all been drying out somewhere, so the only other picture I got was of this huge bumble bee. Sure, they’re all bigger than your average bee, but this thing was nearly twice the size of the other bumble bees around. It appears to be a common eastern bumble bee (Bombus impatiens), but maybe it was a queen out to get herself something to drink on her own this morning.
And that’s it, all I got. I told you it was a goofy morning.
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 