This morning started out wet and grey, though not as wet as forecast, thankfully, and I was able to hit Estabrook soon after 6 am. Man-oh-man, was the place ever hoppin’ with birds! I counted 66 species.
Here’s my first rose-breasted grossbeak of the season. I also saw a female with him, but she soon bugged out while he continued to chow down on catkins. Classic, right?
Here he is pausing for just a moment so we can have a good look at him.
As I finished up with the grossbeak, I could hear the highest little chirps overhead, and they were being made by a flock of cedar waxwings. Most of the flock soon took off, except for these two lovebirds.
Down on the river, I haven’t seen any exotic ducks in a while, but the sandpipers are starting to arrive. I saw two spotted, which we can hope will stick around for the summer, and this one solitary, which is just passing through. Perhaps that’s why it looks a bit glum.
Meanwhile, back on shore, chickadees are preparing to make more chickadees.
This immature great blue heron, without the stringy head plume feathers of a breeding adult, appeared to be play nesting on the far side of the river. It stepped out onto a mat of sticks, squatted down on its “ankles“, and proceeded to rearrange the sticks as though it were finalizing a nest.
I’ve never seen anything like it, and I found it mesmerizing. I read that they “usually start breeding during their third spring,” so maybe this one will get the chance to prepare a nest for realsies next year.
I eventually tore myself away from the heron and hiked back over to the pond. By then the clouds had all moved on, and I finally found a Baltimore oriole willing to ignore me as I took advantage of the beautiful blue sky to snap some pictures. I suspect it helped that he was hungry for those blossoms, and that I kept a tree between us. You can just make out the branches it “contributed” to the picture below in the upper left and lower right.
Just as with the grosbeak, he eventually came up for air and let us get a better look at him, too.
Finally, the fruit trees are in full bloom, and even the butterflies, in this case a red admiral, are joining in on the feast they provide.
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 
