After all the surprises of yesterday’s air and water show, it seems the critters were taking a break today. Plus, it was quite cloudy this morning, so a good time to sleep in.
I did get to see a belted kingfisher over the river, and this one is a male, for a change.
At the north end, this little eastern wood-pewee took a perch uncommonly low to the ground. Perhaps it’s a recent fledgling and doesn’t know the rules yet.
I was happy to see the hooded merganser is still on the pond.
At the pollinator garden this tiny and quite-colorful feather-edged petrophila moth (Petrophila fulicalis) caught my eye.
This female monarch was also there and had perhaps recently emerged from a cocoon chrysalis because they are usually much more flighty.
The pollinator garden was quite fruitful this morning, and also hosted our first red-spotted admiral aka red-spotted purple (Limenitis arthemis) of the season. I read that “they have evolved to mimic the poisonous pipevine swallowtail (Battus philenor),” which I would also love to see, but haven’t yet. In fact, no one has reported seeing such a swallowtail in Estabrook Park, so far.
Back at the south end, the weeds beside the soccer fields were hosting our first eastern thistle longhorn bee (Melissodes desponsus), similar to the two-spotted longhorn bee we first saw in July, but without the two spots on its little bee butt and with yellow pile on its back instead.
Finally, it would appear that some angler(s) left me a tip for picking up their leftover fishing tackle. “Thanks!”
Lastly, let’s anoint the FOY red-spotted admiral as our butterfly of the day.
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 
I have to be the “butterfly police”: Butterflies emerge from a chrysalis, not a cocoon. Cocoons are for moths.
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