The rain was pretty steady, there was a big green blob on the radar, and showers were forecast to continue until 11am, so I did not expect to be in Estabrook Park this morning. When Anne got home from her walk around 8:30, however, she reported that the rain had already stopped, and the sky was lightening, so out the door I went.
The first treat of the morning was this red-tailed hawk, possibly a juvenile by the looks of that tail, in the birch tree on the west edge of the southern soccer fields. It was on a mission and continued east, to where the squirrels are thick, before I could get any closer.
Update: the fine folks at ebird say “no”, it’s a Cooper’s hawk instead. Oh well. Live and learn, I hope.
The pond ice is starting to melt, and there was even a sextet of Canada geese grazing up on the lawn, but no picture really presented itself, so I continued on to the river. There, the great horned owl was in this morning, surprisingly visible, and sound asleep. I never even caught a glimpse of those big beautiful yellow eyes.
At the north end, the male belted kingfisher was on his station, but looking less than pleased with the rain.
Finally, I only saw one great blue heron, and it was across from the abandoned bridge abutment and beside the little falls formed by the blue hole draining into the river. Maybe with all the rain, the big falls were just too fast to fish today.
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 