I see that our string of nice weather is forecast to peter out soon, but not before we had one more beautiful morning in Estabrook Park.
The big surprise for today was that the young spotted sandpiper was still foraging on the same lily pads. I didn’t take a picture yesterday, but I saw it there, so that makes three days in a row. It even stayed long enough for the sun to come over the trees and light up the scene. Outstanding!
Not every lily pad was up to the task, however, but the bird simply flapped its wings and hopped to the next one.
And that’s all I’ve got for birds, I’m afraid. Luckily, there were plenty of bugs to pick up the slack. Here’s a spotted orbweaver who builds its web across the path I take along the riverbank to see the deer, owls, and even sandpipers. It has been there for the past three mornings, and it pains me to damage the web, but the brush is really thick there, so my only real alternative would be to turn around, and then we’d miss those amazing sights. I can only hope that if the repairs were too onerous, it would have moved on by now. In any case, “Sorry, Sweetie!”
In happier news, I just read that “an international team of researchers has revealed an unexpected genetic process that shapes the intricate and colorful patterns on butterfly wings,” so let’s celebrate with some of the butterflies I saw today, starting with this monarch.
Then this acrobatic silver-spotted skipper.
A few dozen yards south, the thistle blossoms change from purple to yellow, and that’s where I found this orange sulphur.
But the butterfly of the day should be this gorgeous common buckeye, the likes of which we haven’t seen in a while.
Finally, there was an article in yesterday’s paper about swarms of dragonflies at the lakefront, and it explains that “the insects are making their yearly migration south,” including common green darners, which probably explains why I’m seeing fewer and fewer of them in Estabrook Park these days. The last picture I captured of one was back on August 31, 2024, when I used a blue dasher picture instead.
Lastly, if you’ve been thinking to yourself, “these posts are all well and good,” and I sure hope you have, but then you continue, “if only there were a way for him to show me these pictures and tell me these stories in person,” then today is your lucky day. Well, I’ve already written today’s post, and you’ve already read most of it, so let’s not do it today. Instead, how about Tuesday, November 5 from 2:30 to 3:30 when I’ll be presenting for North Shore School for Seniors. They do charge a small fee, to cover expenses of their brick and mortar operation, but I hope that won’t be a deal breaker. Anyway, you can check out all the details, and sign up, if you are so inclined, at their website: Nss4s.org. I hope to see you there.
Oh yeah! I almost forgot. Someone left me another park beer, and it looks like a fresh one, so thanks for that!
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 