Highs and lows in Estabrook Park.

Holy Moly, what a weather roller coaster we are on! Temps reached the high 60s yesterday afternoon, or even setting a record high of 74°F at the airport, then we had lightning and thunder last evening, snow overnight, and temps are in the low 20s this morning. Yikes! The sun is peeking through the clouds now, and the temps don’t bother me, but the 20+ mph wind will keep most critters hunkered down, so I’m staying home for now.

Luckily, I went out for a bike ride yesterday afternoon and stopped by the pond on my way home, where I found two young nature enthusiasts taking pictures, one with binoculars, acting as the spotter, and the other with a camera nearly as big as he is. Good for them!

Anyway, when I asked them what they were seeing, they told me that there was a pair of hooded mergansers and even a turtle out enjoying the warm sun, so I hustled home to get my own camera, and this is what I managed to capture.

First the turtle, a red-eared slider, and surely setting the record for earliest Chelonian emergence in Estabrook.

Then the pair of hooded mergansers. You may recall we had a female/immature on the pond for a while late last fall, but I’m not sure when was the last time I saw a drake there.

They were snoozing against the east show when I returned with my gear, so I started with the turtle, but they soon headed out for some fishing, and it didn’t take the hen long to land a nice big goldfish.

It took her a couple of tries, but she eventually got it lined up just right and into her belly.

Meanwhile, the drake was diving, but coming up empty, as far as I saw, but he did make a nice swim-by with the wood duck, whom we had already seen earlier in the day.

Finally, the pair docked off the tip of the island and appeared to settle in for another nap.

As I reluctantly headed back home to do the work work that I had been putting off, I couldn’t help but notice that the big patch of snowdrops on the north side of the maintenance building was in full bloom. Better yet, as I tried to line up my best artsy shot, they even had a customer come visit. Yay!