See ’em while they’re here!

The weather is finally improving, but it was still pretty cloudy in Estabrook Park this morning. At least the clouds weren’t leaking today.

I counted five wood ducks on the pond, but no herons, and the prettiest sight was this female northern cardinal sipping from a puddle on the path.

At the river, my way north was momentarily blocked by a great blue heron standing right on the path at the falls. It appeared to be mesmerized by an angler hauling in a huge salmon. Perhaps the heron was thinking “there’s no way he’s going be to able to swallow that thing!” Anyway, I kept inching closer, and the heron eventually snuck under the railing and then hopped down to the water, so I could get by.

On my way north, I came across a chickadee who had caught itself some kind of bug.

And a downy woodpecker probably looking to do the same.

At the north end, there were the usual dozens of mallards, a couple dozen geese, and a few wood ducks, but the big surprise was spotting these two raptors in the big dead tree over the northern island.

At first glance, I figured they were the two Cooper’s hawks we’ve seen there lately, but upon closer inspection, I was surprised to find that the larger, lower one is a peregrine falcon taking a nap, …

and the smaller, higher one is a merlin. I would have never guessed that I would ever see those two in the same tree at the same time.

On my way back south, things got even crazier when I came across the osprey on the same branch again by the guardrail. Wow! I read that “most Ospreys that breed in North America migrate to Central and South America for the winter,” so we’d better enjoy this spectacle while it lasts. One of these mornings I’m gonna go by there, and it will be gone, with “no goodbye, no ‘see ya later’, no nothin’,” and it won’t be the best part of my day. Same goes for the falcons and the merlins.

Finally, while I was trying to get a glimpse of a Lincoln’s sparrow in the weeds beside the soccer fields, both Cooper’s hawks flew overhead. Ha! They didn’t give me a chance for a pciture this time, but at least they stick around for the winter.