After walking up one side of the river and down the other yesterday morning, I opted to take a break from Estabrook Park today and join the Milwaukee Birders at the lake front, where snow buntings and harlequin ducks have been spotted lately.
Welp, these things seldom go as planned, and even with a good turnout of about a dozen birders, we were unable to get eyes on either of those exotic species. Instead, we did find a few surf scoters (Melanitta perspicillata), on their way from breeding grounds in “far northern Canada and Alaska” to wintering grounds on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. They are not on the list of 211 bird species spotted so far in Estabrook Park.
Floating with the scoters, there was also one greater scaup, whom we have seen before on the Milwaukee River in Estabrook Park, but not yet this year. The white face patch next to her bill marks this one as female.
And that’s the whole show for today, I’m afraid. I just never know what I’m gonna see, and that’s part of what keeps this whole enterprise interesting.
Anyway, I’ll be back in Estabrook Park tomorrow morning for our second weekly wildlife walk. We’ll start from the parking lot by the beer garden at 8am sharp, and please feel free to join us, if you’re so inclined. The forecast currently calls for clouds and wind but pretty mild temps and no rain.
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 