A visit to Kohler-Andrae State Park is always a treat, but I’ve got some things to take care of at home today, so I’m back in Shorewood, and I figured I might as well check on the critters in Estabrook Park while I’m here. The pond was hoppin’ this morning with over a dozen mallards, nearly as many wood ducks, a couple of green herons, and even a great blue heron.
Here’s one of the wood ducks scarfing down a tadpole once again.
I try to avoid anthropomorphizing too much, but I struggle not to see self-satisfaction in that look. Right?
Meanwhile this less-than-thrilled looking green heron might be wishing it had a fresh tadpole in its belly right now.
As I walked toward the river, I spotted an osprey gliding downstream high above it, which I had no hope of capturing on film, and I thought to myself, “Well, darn. At least I got to see it.” Thus, you can probably imagine my excitement upon finding this sight waiting for me in the remaining dead tree high above the northern island. I don’t know if this is the same bird that somehow snuck back upstream without me seeing it, or if there were two of them, but I was glad for the second chance either way.
At the Port Washington Road bridge, the barn swallows appear to be done with their nest already, and now it is the pigeons’ turn to raise their young. You can’t really see it in this picture, but I could count two chicks when they shakily readjusted their positions.
The river water keeps receding and exposing more river bottom, which provides more foraging space for shorebirds that venture inland a bit. There were a pair of these cuties on the rocks this morning, and at first glance, I thought they were the spotted sandpipers we’ve been seeing all month, but upon closer inspection, I am happy to report that solitary sandpipers are back. They are probably leading the way back from summering in Canada to wintering along the southern Gulf of Mexico and the Amazon river basin. “Welcome back, Sweethearts! Enjoy the buffet while you’re here, and safe travels when you go!”
On my way back to the pond for a second look, I just happened to notice this tiny beauty lurking on the underside of a fleabane blossom. Multiple image search engines on the interwebs suggest that it is a “Redimita” morph of the common candy-striped spider (noplognatha ovata).
When I finally reached the pond again, a youngish-looking great blue heron was fishing in the water right of the west lawn, but I stayed behind the tree trunk there, and it let me sneak this shot.
Finally, the butterfly of the day is this clouded sulphur. There was also a few skippers and a buckeye, but this sulphur put on the best show today.
See ya next month!
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 