Some normalcy returns…

It was another beautiful morning in Estabrook Park, and signs of the recent storms are beginning to fade.

There are still about a dozen wood ducks on the pond along with the lone young hooded merganser, and it appears they have gotten quite comfortable with each other.

I just couldn’t get these two to look my way at the same time.

At the river, I found this great blue heron taking advantage of the sun to dry out its pits and/or burn off some parasites.

At the north end, some of the sandbars and rocks are emerging from the receding river water, but the exciting sight for me was this odd-looking bird soaring high over Glendale. Our best guess (mine and Dr Google’s) is that this is a parasitic jaeger (Stercorarius parasiticus), a ” fast-flying relative of gulls with a piratical lifestyle.” At first, I thought it was a raptor, based on the way it was flying, but when I looked closer, it looked more like a gull. I’ve never even heard of them, let alone seen one, until today, but we’ll have to wait to see what the fine folks at ebird think of my identification to be sure.

Meanwhile, back on the river, the Canada geese are on the move a bit, but I can’t tell if it is simply in response to the high water, they’re finally done with their summer molt, or they’re heading north in preparation for their summer molt.

At the pollinator garden, there were a few of these bumble bees, which were much smaller and with more yellow on their backs than the common eastern we saw Friday, and which I believe makes them half-black bumble bees (Bombus vagans).

At the thistle patch beside the soccer fields, I spotted our first Peck’s skipper of the season on the newly opened burdock blossoms.

There were a few cedar waxwings in the birch tree in the middle of the patch, and here’s one against that beautiful blue sky.

The goldfinches continue to eat up the musk thistle seeds, and here’s a male, ….

and a female.

Finally, just as I was about to continue on home, I spotted our first eastern tiger swallowtail (Papilio glaucus) of the season., and the “conspicuous band of blue spots along the hindwing” indicates that this is a female of the yellow morph. Woo Hoo! Ain’t she a beauty?