Temps were in the low 20s this morning in Estabrook Park, and a good breeze out of the west made them feel like the low teens. Better yet, the few clouds soon drifted away, and we had nice clear, blue skies for the first time since last year. The river was rapidly refreezing, and the critters seemed to need a moment to adjust.
I didn’t see a pretty picture to take until I got to the pond and found this female downy woodpecker digging seeds out of these clumps of sumac.
My first raptor of the new year is this young Cooper’s hawk, who scared off a whole flock of mourning doves as it swooped in, but who now seemed to be taking a moment to enjoy a perch in the warm sun and out of the cool breeze. “Maybe breakfast can wait a bit.”
Finally, at the far south end, I was hoping to spot a blue jay or red-bellied woodpecker, both of whom had kept out of sight all morning, and I checked the river one more time just in case I had missed a bufflehead or goldeneye on my first pass. Look who I found sleeping with a few mallards instead. The duck on the left, with the pretty banding in her feathers, is a female redhead, I believe. We’ve seen drakes once or twice, but I don’t believe I’ve ever seen a hen until now.
Anyway, as I hiked up the bluff from the river and crossed the soccer fields to Wilson Dr, I did hear a red-bellied woodpecker, but the blue jays evaded me for another day.
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 