February eases off the brakes…

The weather this morning in Estabrook Park was a lot nicer than forecast. Sure, temps were back in the teens, but the wind was light, at least down along the river, and there was hardly a cloud in the sky, so the warm sun really took the edge off the cold. The critters still seem to be in some kind of late winter slump, but at least they were a little more willing to come out and play than they have been the last couple of days.

At the river, the winter wren and catbird were still in hiding, but the hermit thrush was busy foraging in one of the seeps along the side of the bluff.

I could hardly find a bird at the north end, and it was probably too cold for the muskrats, so I headed for the pond. The fancy sparrows were taking the morning off again, but our favorite little red squirrel was trying to capture some of the sun’s warmth in its usual spot.

Back at the river, our lone song sparrow came out to join the hermit thrush.

Finally, I did see a few common mergansers and mallards on the river today, but this solo common goldeneye hen made the nicer picture. She even found a sunbeam coming through the trees to light up her eye and the tip of her bill for us.

I’m off to Saint John’s on the Lake for a little show and tell this afternoon, so if you live there, or you know someone who does, perhaps I’ll see you there. If not, you can catch me at the spring semester of North Shore School for Seniors in Whitefish Bay next month.