Man-oh-man, the sights just won’t stop out here. The temps were in the mid-teens at sunrise, but the air was still, and the sky was perfectly clear, which you know I like. Best of all, my sister, the vet who saved the wren a while back, wanted to come with and see the otters.
As we approached the pond, there was a commotion in the woods on the other side of the path, and it turned out to be this beauty, a red-tailed hawk, appearing to make a try for some wood ducks dabbling in a tiny stream. The hawk took a moment to pose for me, and then flew off in search of other prey, and the wood ducks were spared, at least for now.
When we reached the pond, we were a bit disappointed to find it entirely frozen over, and all we could see on it were several dozen geese just resting on the ice. We slowly walked the length of it searching for some open water, and were about to give up and move on, but I gave the geese one more look with the binoculars just in case someone was hiding amongst them. That’s when I finally spotted the otters, who had either found or made a hole in the ice. Ta da! Mission accomplished.
As much as she wanted to stay and watch them, my sister’s toes were getting cold, so we kept moving, and the next treat waiting for us was this little melanistic grey squirrel watching the sun rise, and maybe thinking warm thoughts, from a tiny branch over the trail.
We hadn’t gotten far from the squirrel when there was another flash of motion beside the path. At first, I thought it was another hawk, but the shape wasn’t quite right, and when it stopped to see who we were from a safe distance, I could hardly believe my eyes. It was my sister’s first owl ever and only my second ever barred owl! What marvelous luck she brought along. Of course, the owl had perched almost right in front of the sun and somehow managed also to get a few branches between us, but I persevered and heroically managed to get one picture to look not too bad.
The owl had finally seen enough and moved a little farther away, and it was still darn cold out, so we moved along, too. A hot cup of coffee at the cafe to which we were headed was really starting to sound good, but there was one more sight to take in, this bluebird. There were at least three of them, but this little darling knew the assignment. “Thanks, Sweetie!”
Finally, we made it to the cafe and were just taking our first sips of coffee, when my sister said, “is that a vulture across the street?” I took a peek through the binoculars, and sure enough, she was right, and we weren’t done. I grabbed my camera and ran out the door for a closer look, and the closer I got, the more I saw. In all, I counted at least 20, and here’s the tightest cluster I could find. For those of you that know Cheshire, that’s the roof and chimney of the Victorian House Restaurant & Tavern, aka “the Vic House,” and I wonder if this is some kind of omen.
Finally, here’s a closer look, for those of you wondering what color eyes do black vultures have. They look brown to me.
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 