I came back to Milwaukee for some work stuff, and it was a nice morning to be back in Estabrook. Sure, it was a little cloudy, but the air was cool, the breeze was light, and it wasn’t raining. Anyway, I saw only wood ducks on the pond and so continued on to the river.
There I came across this curious sight. It’s a green heron, of course, which we have seen many, many times, but it was oddly tolerant of my approach. It was perched on a rock within a yard of shore, and there was no good cover, so I had to creep up on it over open ground, and I got within about a dozen feet, but it never flinched. Heck, it didn’t even keep its eyes on me. In the very next picture I took, its left eye is clearly rotated to look forward.
Now that I’m home and have access to the interwebs, I can see that the extra bit of marking on its feathers indicates that it is a juvenile, and perhaps it has not yet learned to keep me at a distance. For all I know, it’s newly fledged, has not yet learned how to fish, and is waiting there patiently for a parent to bring breakfast.
Meanwhile, a little farther out on the water, a group of seven killdeer flew in, and here’s one.
Even farther out on the water, one of three female/juvenile hooded mergansers drifted by.
In the same spot, but behind me and high above the river, a little flycatcher was flying sorties from this perch, and I recently learned that the yellow on the bottom side of the beak and prominent wingbars mark this as an eastern wood pewee, whose smooth jazz stylings I’ve been enjoying most of the summer.
While just a bit downstream, a similar-looking flycatcher but with a “dark head and bill along with weak wing bars” is an eastern phoebe.
On my way back south, I swung by the pollinator garden and found a monarch on the cup plant (Silphium perfoliatum) blossoms, but no viceroys today.
I didn’t expect to see and almost missed this snowberry clearwing working what’s left of the bee balm blossoms.
Lastly, at the burdock beside the soccer fields, a trio of fiery skippers were chasing each other around, and here’s one that parked for a moment.
I’m heading back up to Kohler-Andrae this afternoon and hope to get out for a walk again tomorrow morning. Wish me luck!
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 