Two more surprises…

It was a weird morning in Estabrook Park. The weather was nice enough, seasonably-cool and with blue skies eventually showing up as the morning wore on, but I misjudged the windchill and so was a little underdressed. Also, I saw a lot of birds, more than usual, but not a single raptor, and nobody wanted to make a portrait with me today. Oh well. The show must go on, and this is what I’ve got.

The first surprise was finding yet another late-season catbird lurking in the bushes at the north end of the pond. It never showed itself more than this, and I’m surprised this picture even came out as well as it did.

After the catbird bolted, I spent a few minutes scouring the bushes with my binoculars, in hopes of a better shot, but I had no luck, although I did spot this busy white-throated sparrow instead.

At the river, there was hardly anyone around, although I have heard that someone who stopped by after me saw an osprey and an eagle. Instead, the only picture I took was of the heron that seems to really like fishing in the falls.

South of the falls and beside the river, I did come across this white-breasted nuthatch who was busily hopping around this branch, and I was able to sneak one presentable image.

I stopped back by the pond again and arrived just in time to catch this muskrat steaming towards the island.

I also saw the hooded merganser but didn’t take the picture when I had the chance, and then the little stinker went into hiding. Luckily, I didn’t make that same mistake with the wood duck drake.

Finally, the second surprise of the day, also at the pond, was this bird that I’ve glimpsed a couple of times before but have never managed to photograph until now. This certainly isn’t a portrait, it kept to the top of a tree over the island, but it is enough to positively ID our very first pine siskin (Spinus pinus), with its “sharp, pointed bill” and “subtle yellow edgings on wings and tail.” I read that one reason which could explain why we haven’t seen them till now is that “this nomadic finch ranges widely and erratically across the continent each winter in response to seed crops.“