Checking in to see who’s still here…

Anne and I are back from our travels, and I still have some pictures from the trip, but I was anxious to check on our friends in Estabrook Park this morning, so I’ll keep the rest of the trip pictures in my back pocket for one of the rainy days in our forecast.

The sun was slow to shine this morning, and streetlights were still on well after sunrise, but this goldfinch busily feasting on cedar seeds by the soccer fields helpfully held still long enough for my camera to capture an image.

Just a bit farther north, I could hear a trio of cardinals chirping to each other, and one happened to perch out in the open so we could have a look.

On the pond, there was a trio of wood ducks preening and resting, …

a great blue heron skulking along the far shore, …

a bold female mallard dabbling along the near shore, …

and a couple dozen Canada geese, of which these sixteen did a nice job of lining up with the fall foliage over the island.

At the north end, a Cooper’s hawk perched in one tree over the northern island in the river, and the sun snuck through the clouds for a moment, …

while a peregrine falcon perched in another, and the clouds had already plugged that hole.

Finally, a recently-arrived hermit thrush was perhaps digesting a belly full of breakfast, or just taking a breather, before continuing a bit farther south to its wintering grounds.