There was a nice blanket of snow on the ground, not a cloud in the bright blue sky, and a nice, crisp air temperature of -2°F, which 17 mph winds out of the northwest made feel like -20°F, in Estabrook Park this morning. It is finally starting to feel like winter in Wisconsin! I saw only one other pedestrian during my visit, but there were plenty of hardy critters coping with the conditions, and here are some of the ones I captured on film.
The flat river water is almost completely frozen over already, and there were about three dozen Canada geese out on a patch of it between the islands and all lined up with the wind.
In the few channels of open water that remain, along the far shore, a few common mergansers were diving for fish, …
and a lone common goldeneye drake was diving for snails.
Back on shore, a male downy woodpecker was busy pecking the heck out of that branch.
Back at the pond, the bushes that surround it were jam-packed with poofy little birds, and here are a few I haven’t shown you too recently: a black-capped chickadee, …
a white-throated sparrow, …
and a female northern cardinal.
The forecast is for -8° tomorrow morning, with a slight reduction in wind, but I’m keeping my hopes in check for now after a string of recent forecasts that over promised but under delivered. We’ll know the real score soon enough.
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 
We escaped to Florida yesterday!!!!!! Impressed with the hearty ducks and birds you saw and yourself for going out to see them
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