The weather was still pretty nice in Estabrook Park this morning with temps in the teens and skies only partly cloudy. There were a few common mergansers and no goldeneyes on the river, but the nice surprise was finding a bald eagle perched over the far riverbank at the north end. We haven’t gotten a good look at one since late December.
The big surprise at the pond was this male brown-headed cowbird hiding in the bushes on the island with the house sparrows and house finches. We are right at the northern edge of their year-round range, and we see plenty in the spring and summer, so I guess we’re bound to see one from time to time over the winter.
The cardinals were as thick as ever, and I’m a sucker for them when they perch on the sumac against a blue sky like this.
Finally, to round out the trio of woodpeckers I see almost every day all year long, after the downy and hairy ones earlier this week, here’s a male red-bellied woodpecker striking a nice pose on an old snow-covered tree trunk.
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 