Nicer weather has returned, and it was a gorgeous morning in Estabrook Park, with clear skies, still air, and mild temps.
Right out of the gate, as I was crossing the southern parking lot, these three beauties came out to greet me. I suspect they were dropped off in the park by someone who found keeping chickens to be more than they had bargained for. There was also a box, which I had noticed yesterday morning, and that appears to have contained chickens for a bit, if you know what I mean. As I left the park some hours later, there was no sign of the chickens or the box, and I hope that means someone has adopted them.
My next big surprise of the morning was spotting this young yellow-bellied sapsucker above the crest of the bluff north of the beer garden and making its maiden journey south.
Once I made it down the bluff to the river, I heard the Cooper’s hawk and young great horned owl again, so I went to take a look, and this time I found the Cooper’s hawk first.
Then this magnificent creature, who was definitely not the young owl I could still hear crying, swooped in to help sort things out. I left them all there and returned to the water, but all the squawking and crying soon stopped.
When I finally got to my favorite log to take a seat and survey the water between the islands, look who I found there. I got a few pictures of it standing in shallow water, but it soon flew up to a nice low perch of the southern tip off the northern island, where I could get better pictures.
I don’t know if it was because of the osprey or just luck of the draw, but there was nobody else out on the water today besides mallards and geese, so I headed back inland and soon spotted this beauty, a merlin, perched high over the wildflower meadow.
Farther north along the river, this eastern phoebe was actively hunting bugs out of the nice still air.
A bit north of the phoebe, I found this northern waterthrush higher in a tree than I am used to seeing them. I usually find them foraging among the rocks and sticks that litter the riverbank.
On my second visit to the pond, there was another flycatcher hard at work, and I believe this one is an eastern wood pewee. I don’t hear their calls any more, but it appears that at least one is still around.
Back at the weeds beside the southern soccer fields, there were still a few dragonflies today, and I believe this one is a female blue dasher, which we have seen before.
This one, on the other hand, may be our very first band-winged dragonlet (Erythrodiplax umbrata), as best as I can tell, and subject to confirmation. Heck, I’d never even heard of “dragonlets” until trying to put a name to this face today, but it’ll be our 19th dragonfly species, if I’m correct.
Finally, this monarch appears to be so freshly emerged that its wings are still soft enough to wrinkle along the bottom edge, and that’s gonna be your butterfly of the day.
Lastly, some kind park visitor left me these two 16 oz cans of Natural Ice. Nice!
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 