The high-pressure system we’ve been enjoying is starting to lose its grip, and we’re due for rain later, but it was still pretty nice in Estabrook Park this morning. All eight goslings are still at the pond, but I left them alone today, and here’s another picture from Sunday.
There were a couple surprises on the river at the north end: a female hooded merganser, who avoided my camera, and a pair of gadwalls, whom we have not seen since last fall. Here’s the drake.
Northern flickers have been back for a while, but I haven’t had one pose for a picture until this morning. Here’s a female, in the foreground and blurry, and a male, in the background and looking sharp.
Robins have started building nests, and here’s one with a beak full of material.
Winter wrens and fox sparrows appear to have continued north already, but hermit thrushes are still around, and I counted three this morning.
The biggest surprise of the morning was finding a male common merganser on the river near the south end. I haven’t seen the likes of them since February. I thought they had all flown north already. “Buddy, you’d better hurry up!”
Finally, just as I was about the walk out of the park, by the southern parking lot, I spotted this striking red-tailed hawk working hard to grab one of the squirrels or chipmunks scampering around, but it wasn’t having a lot of luck.
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 
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