The December Thaw is upon us, with blue skies and temps in the 40s, at least for today, and the critters in Estabrook Park were taking full advantage of it this morning. As I hiked north along the river to meet folks by the Bier Garten for our Weekly Wildlife Walk, I spotted this contented looking beaver up on the melting ice and enjoying its bark al fresco for a change.
The walk was fine, and there were eight of us today, even though I forgot to mention it in my post yesterday. The highlights, at least for me, were hearing a belted kingfisher and spotting a peregrine falcon between the islands at the north end. The falcon was already flying north with a gull by the time I saw it, and I thought the much-darker falcon might be a young gull, but Jeff, who was kind enough to share his screech owl picture with us a while ago, had already gotten a picture of it by then, so we all could correctly ID it.
In all, we spotted 19-20 bird species, depending on who was counting, and then everyone had to get on with their day, so I headed back south along the river. At one point, I thought I sensed a big shadow passing over me, but when I looked up and towards the sun, all I could see was a downy woodpecker on a tree nearby, and I figured it had just followed a track to that tree that blocked the sun for longer than I would have expected from such a little bird.
So, I continued on, and where the trail climbs up high on the side of the bluff, I kept to the less-used lower fork to see if anyone new had arrived on the river since I saw the beaver near there earlier. And that’s when I saw this beauty soaring over head: our first osprey in exactly four weeks. That is no doubt who had blocked the sun for a moment earlier, and those three light diagonal stripes in the picture are blurry guy wires from one of the radio towers far upstream.
Even better, it soon took a perch over the far riverbank to continue looking for fish, which sure made my job easier. “Thanks, Gorgeous! And safe travels!” With the bitter cold due to come back soon, I sure hope it doesn’t dawdle too long before it continues its own journey south.
Finally, before I forget, I will be away next Monday, December 16, so I won’t be able to join the wildlife walk, but I hope people who have been enjoying it will come out for it anyway. I will be back for Monday, December 23, and I hope to see you then, if you’re still in town.
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 