The birds go crazy in Estabrook Park!

Holy Mackerel! What a morning. There were a few clouds messing with my light now and then, but the good weather is mostly holding. The huge news, however, is that Estabrook Park has been swamped by new birds since yesterday morning. Right off the bat, there were dozens of dark-eyed juncos frantically foraging in the grass at the edge of the paved path beside the soccer fields. Here’s one so hungry that it let me take this picture. Until today, I had only glimpsed one so far this fall.

And here’s my best attempt at a shot that might give you a sense for the density of birds.

Juncos weren’t even the only new arrivals. I also counted dozens of yellow-rumped warblers, instead of the usual two or three, and here’s one of them.

I only saw one black-and-white warbler, but I haven’t seen any in quite a while, so this was also a treat.

There were about eight wood ducks on the pond, but this great blue heron put on a better show.

As I headed farther north along the river, I spooked a green heron by accident, and here it is still looking a bit startled.

At the north end, there were many more yellow-rumped warblers, a killdeer, and a couple of spotted sandpipers, in addition to the usual dozens of mallards and geese, but the big surprise was getting another shot at a Wilson’s snipe portrait. This time it was already across the water, so I didn’t spook it, but this stretch of water was nice and narrow, and the light wasn’t too bad at the moment.

Mixed in with all the yellow-rumps, there were also a few palm warblers, and here’s one foraging for bugs down on the exposed river rocks.

Also foraging on the river bottom was the first rusty blackbird I’ve seen this season.

There were even three great egrets, instead of the usual two or sometimes one, and I managed to catch two of them in the same tree at the same time.

But wait, there’s more! I’ve seen a few ruby-crowned kinglets already this fall, but no golden-crowns until this morning, and I even managed to get a picture of one.

There are still a few more pictures, if you can believe it, but I’d better stop here and keep a couple in my back pocket for the inevitable rainy days ahead.