Trick or Treat!

The wind is back to howling and the sun is breaking through now, but when I finally ventured out this morning, it was dark, damp, and eerily quiet in Estabrook Park, a fitting start to today’s festivities. Plus, it continued to sprinkle from time to time, which people seem not to like much, so I had the critters pretty much to myself, and that’s always a treat.

And the critters did not disappoint! I was hiking north along the river when I saw an osprey dive into the water, launch back into the air, and perch a ways upstream. I thought my chances of getting a nice picture without spooking it would be improved if I was up on the bluff, so I hustled back downstream a bit until I found a spot that I could scale. Thankfully, the osprey was eagerly eating its catch and so was still perched where I had last seen it. Finally, I crept behind the fencing at the crest of the bluff on my hands and knees to further improve my chances of getting this image, and that really did the trick. Soon after that, a red-tailed hawk came by and appeared to make a play for some of that fish, but the osprey did not want to share, and they both took off upriver.

As if that wasn’t enough raptor excitement for one morning, before I could even get to the end of the fencing, this Cooper’s hawk flew in, but it was just a tad too late for the party.

Farther upstream and a lot closer to the water, I found this great blue heron looking for a fish of its own.

Above the falls, the phoebe from yesterday was making the best of the still air and perhaps making up for lost time as it grabbed a couple flies per minute on the wing.

Between the islands, the gadwalls are still with us, and these two seem to have hit it off.

I only saw one of the wigeons, the drake I believe, so I can’t say the same for them.

At the pond, the rain was keeping the usual gaggle of photographers away, so I took the rare opportunity to get my first nice wood duck picture in a while.

Finally, back at the south end, I was thrilled to spot a fox sparrow still kicking around. They were mentioned by name in today’s Journal Sentinel by Paul A. Smith, who wrote about how “warm weather has allowed some bird species to linger in Wisconsin, but not for much longer.” Specifically, “sightings of yellow-rumped warblers and fox sparrows over the last week in Wisconsin highlight the mild conditions.” Ta da!

Lastly, and perhaps due to the season of giving that is upon us, some kind souls left me two treats along the river. The mug probably belongs to the beer garden, so I returned it there, but the beer? That might be the fanciest beer anyone has ever left me, so it’s chilling in my fridge now, and I’m gonna enjoy the heck out of that later.

That label sure is spooky, though, isn’t it?