Happy Labor Day!

There were a few clouds this morning, especially to the east, so it took a while for the sky to light up, but when it did, wow, what a gorgeous morning it became in Estabrook Park. The clouds eventually drifted away, and the air was cool, crisp, and nearly still. Plus, there was hardly any traffic noise, so it was perfect for listening to the birds.

I stopped by the river on my way to the pond, for a change, and it was pretty quiet, but this female belted kingfisher did perch over the far riverbank for a moment.

The pond was also pretty quiet and hosting nobody new, so I went back to the river and soon found this merlin high above the southern island.

After the merlin moved on to the northern island, a pair of spotted sandpipers swooped in, and this one perched on a rock in the river just north of the southern island.

The big surprise at the river, however, was spotting a quintet of blue-winged teals, in non-breeding plumage, and our first for the season.

Here they are again, in the lower left, along with two, much larger mallards, a ginormous Canada goose, a similarly sized wood duck, and a huge herring gull. There are also three to four more mallards in the far background. See if you can spot them all.

Closer to our shore, here’s an American rubyspot damselfly that looks so fresh, it may have just emerged from the water this morning.

Back up on the bluff, here’s one of the eastern wood-pewees still kicking around. I even heard one still singing.

I did stop by the pond again, and there was more light, but otherwise the situation hadn’t changed much, so I headed back to the river. On the nice path through the forest just south of the dog park, I found this orchard orbweaver whose web caught a ray of sunlight just right.

Meanwhile, there was a steady chorus of squirrels and blue jays crying in the trees above, and look who I found attracting all that attention, our first Cooper’s hawk of the month.

Goldenrod appears to be the main source of nectar right now, and here’s a Mexican grass-carrying wasp (Isodontia mexicana), if my sources are correct, still south of the northern extent of their range.

Finally, this tiny summer azure, one of at least four on the pollinator garden, is our butterfly of the day. I haven’t seen one in a while, so I’d bet that they all are freshly emerged from their chrysalides.

Lastly, I went out around sunset last evening in hopes of photographing one of the several nighthawks Anne and I had seen hunting over the southern soccer fields just the night before, but I didn’t see a single one, and they may have all flown south already. Instead, I did see this darling red-eyed vireo busily hunting for bugs in a tree on the western edge of the fields.