A warm November rain…

The clouds were thick over Estabrook Park this morning, but the temps were unseasonably mild, the breeze was light, and the rain appeared to have stopped. In fact, the forecast called for a 15% chance of rain and the radar looked clear. Anne and I have learned, however, especially while bicycle touring, that the “15%” number is often better interpreted as “a 100% chance of precipitation at only a 15% intensity.” In the woods, where the mist accumulates on tree branches above, the dripping was pretty steady.

Anywho, the upside is that I had Estabrook Park and its denizens mostly to myself, which is always a treat. So it was either shelter from the wet, lack of people, or just plain luck-of-the-draw that brought one of the great horned owls back home to roost. Here it is checking out the mallards on the river below right after checking me out and deciding that I was harmless, or at least that’s what I’d like to think.

I had hardly gone 100 yards from the owl when I came across another raptor we love to see. This red-tailed hawk had all the nearby squirrels in a lather, which tipped me off to look for it.

Finally, and with such a wet day it’s a miracle I even made it to three birds, there are still belted kingfishers kicking around, and here’s a male over the river. In related news, there were no signs of the wood ducks, gadwall, wigeons, or even great blue herons today, although I do expect to see the latter again this year, and I wish “safe travels” to the rest.

Lastly, I couldn’t believe my eyes when I spotted this spider web out over the river this late into November. After so many windy days, some spider must have just built that recently, which is crazy, right?