Look who the nice weather blew in…

Man, it was a magnificent morning in Estabrook Park. Temps were back in the 60s, and even better, so was the dew point. Plus, the sky was clear, and the breeze was light. What more could one ask for?

Welp, how about this beauty! It was perched in a tree right over the riverbank just a bit upstream of the northern island. I had already checked the water around the islands and only saw a few mallards, so I was on my way to the bridge to check on the swallows, and I just caught its big, dark shape out of the corner of my eye. At first I didn’t see the white head, so I thought maybe it was a vulture. I immediately backed up a step to put a branch full of leaves between us to give me time to cover my face with my camera. Then I eased into the clear, and by then it had turned my way to reveal that it was an osprey, which we haven’t seen in a while. I tried to keep as still as I could, and it let me take about a dozen pictures before it must have said to itself, “I don’t know what that is, but why risk it? There are plenty of other perches from which I can fish along this river.”

The swallows at the bridge looked no different than yesterday, and on my way back south, I spotted a great blue heron on the far shore just above the falls. They can be temperamental, even at that distance, so I was creeping towards the water’s edge while trying to keep covered by foliage, when I notice birds were starting to make a ruckus. A couple of jays and grackles were squawking, and even the heron across the river made a couple of croaks, so I looked up to see if I could spot a raptor above.

Sure enough, this bald eagle, which we also haven’t seen in a while, was pulling the fur out of some hapless rodent, either a rabbit or squirrel. Again, there was some convenient foliage that enabled me to hide while I got my camera on, aimed, and covering my face before I slowly crept into view. This time, I got off about a half-dozen pictures, before the eagle decided that breakfast was no longer struggling and would probably taste just as good at the nest upriver.

Anyway, I did eventually manage to get some shots of the heron without spooking it. Yay.

South of the falls and across from the “Blue Hole“, I inadvertently flushed a green heron from our side of the river, but it only flew to just the other side, and then checked the branches above for hazards.

What might have attracted the heron’s attention was this pair of belted kingfishers. No, they are not particularly close, but I seldom see them any closer, and I manage to get a picture of them in the same frame even less often.

Happily, the river is pretty narrow there, so I was also able to get a nice closeup. of the pretty female in the sun on the right.

Finally, the butterfly of the day is a red admiral, which was kind enough, or warm enough, to let us have a good look at the ventral (under/outside) of its wings.

Oh, I almost forgot! I also found my first free Hamm’s beer this morning. Woo hoo! What a fine way to celebrate a five-predator day.