Estabrook continues to surprise…

I was happy to see that we still have wood ducks on the pond, and I counted six of them today. Here is a drake, on the left, and a hen, on the right, acting like an old couple on the outs.

On the river, I was also happy to see that the green herons have not yet flown south, either.

The great blue herons do stick around for the winter, and this one looks like it’s soaking up sun while it can.

We even still have a great egret, taking a break from fishing to scratch an itch.

Back on shore, the warblers are still coming through, and here’s a non-breeding female or immature bay-breasted.

And here’s a female American redstart flashing her bright yellow tail patches.

As another enthusiast and I were watching the black chestnut trees for warblers, we were both quite sure we saw a pair of ketrels chasing each other as they soared overhead. Then, when I returned my attention to the river, I was excited to see that one had landed on a tree on the island. Upon closer inspection, however, it is clearly a juvenile peregrine falcon, and not one of the kestrels we were sure we saw. Plus, it’s sporting some nice jewelry.

Then, to complicate things further, there was a second raptor in the tree, and it looked much smaller. Maybe it was one of the kestrels, or maybe it was just a male falcon, which are “considerably” smaller than the females.

Well, hold onto your hats, because the second raptor is neither a falcon or a kestrel, but a merlin, instead. Ach du lieber! I surely have not seen a falcon and a merlin in the same tree before.

After all that excitement, I returned my attention to shore, and look who stopped by to fill up on some of the goldenrod that is in blossom everywhere now, a monarch butterfly.

Now that was a fine welcome back to Estabrook Park, eh?