August gets off to a soggy start…

There were still some gaps in the cloud cover when the sun came over the horizon in Estabrook Park this morning, but temps were in the mid-70s already, and the humidity percentage was in the mid-80s, so everything was already pretty wet. I met this mourning dove on my way around the southern soccer fields, and you can see all the grass clippings clinging to its feet and belly feathers, which may be contributing to the look on its face.

I skipped my first visit to the pond, for a little change of pace, and continued north along the river. Just below the falls, on the same square slab of limestone where we saw sandpipers dance a few summers ago, I spotted my first sandpiper of the morning, which happens to be a spotted sandpiper with plenty of spots.

By the time I reached the islands at the north end, the clouds had started to leak, and I found another sandpiper, which also happens to be spotted, but without any spots, so young, or at least not breeding.

I searched in vain for a solitary sandpiper, but perhaps they have already moved on. I checked on the pigeon chicks under the bridge, but I couldn’t see any difference from yesterday, and the light was terrible anyway. I didn’t see an osprey today, but I was thrilled to discover a young great horned owl back again, being mobbed by a few crows, and calling again to a sibling nearby, who I couldn’t find but could hear calling back.

When I finally did get to the pond, I was pleasantly surprised to find a belted kingfisher still fishing there.

Finally, right below the kingfisher, a half dozen wood ducks, and one mallard hen were all taking their midmorning break.

That’s it for Estabrook, but I’ve still got some pictures from Kohler Andrae, and here’s the flock of American white pelicans that the straggler was trying to keep up with on Tuesday.

The sora was surprisingly bold, and gave us a second look, this time with a painted turtle in the foreground.

There were a lot of marsh wrens in the reeds, and here’s one mid-song.

Finally, on my hike back to the campground I found this striking white-faced meadowhawk just relaxing on a blade of grass and preparing to start its day.