We finally received our first hard freeze overnight in Estabrook Park, and the ground was crunchy with ice in places this morning. It was also a bit breezy, which pushed the windchill into the teens, but the sky was blue, and the sun was warm, so it was a darn fine morning for taking pictures.
When I got to the pond, I was stunned to find 54 Canada geese floating on the water and eerily quiet. I sat on the bench to soak in the scene, and this bold one came the closest, but I had no food for them, so nobody ventured up onto the lawn.
An owl was back in the usual spot on the southern island in the river, and it appeared to be basking a bit in the sun, so I was able to find a spot with a pretty clear shot.
On my way back south along the river, I found at least a dozen mourning doves foraging in a sunny spot on the side of the bluff.
Farther south, I managed to catch this red-bellied woodpecker when it popped out of the shade for a moment as it worked its way up this tree trunk.
Finally, just as I was about to exit the park, I heard this red-tailed hawk calling from the big TV tower there, almost as if to say, “look up here!” I got a couple of pictures of it on the tower, but then it had a better idea and glided to a tree across the parkway where I could take a nice portrait in a natural setting. “Thanks, Beautiful!”
Lastly, we haven’t had enough cold yet to form ice on the river or even the pond, but the few pools of shallow water beside the river have formed nice patterns of ice crystals on their surface, and here’s a maple leaf stuck in one.
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 