A wild goose catch!

Let’s cut right to the chase, shall we? As I neared the north end of Estabrook Park this morning, the alarm went out again that a Ross’s goose (Anser rossii) was just seen in Lincoln Park. Well, it was another nice day for a long walk, and now I knew the way well, so I trekked on up the river. This time, I found it right away feeding amongst the Canada geese, and here it is. Ta da!

The reason for all the hoopla, besides the fact that it is a handsome goose, is that their migration range does not quite stretch to Milwaukee, so we don’t get to see them here often.

Anyway, with that taken care of, here is who else I saw on this cool but beautiful morning in Estabrook and Lincoln Parks. The hoodie was on the pond again, and hardly looks up any more when I arrive.

The woodie is still shy, but perhaps the Canada geese lend him courage.

Great blue herons are still here, and I counted three again this morning. For a small change of pace, the second of the three caught a little something for breakfast.

The male belted kingfisher continues to rule over the northern island and its surrounding waters, with bravado if not size.

Back on shore, the squirrels were all in a tizzy, and I was sure there must be a raptor lurking above them somewhere, but I never could find it, and took this picture instead.

Just a bit upstream from the squirrels, I was happy to find a hermit thrush still scrounging up enough to eat.

And today, for the very first time, I watched a white-breasted nuthatch perform their name-sake maneuver: stuffing nuts into tree bark crevices in order to crack them open with their sharp little beaks and thus hatching out the kernel from the nut. Here it is with a seed before stuffing it into one of the crevices in that bark to which it is clinging.

Then I went to go see a goose in Lincoln Park, and while I was there, I also spotted this pair of mature bald eagles across the river.

Plus a red-tailed hawk, for good measure.

On my way back south, I came across another four wild turkeys.

But before I could get a nice portrait, somebody woke up this sleepy-looking buck, either me or the turkeys, and then they all mosied away from me.

Finally, when I made it back into Estabrook, look who I found fishing over our riverbank! The osprey is still here, and it granted us a well-lit portrait with a pretty background today. Woo hoo! What a morning, eh?