The forecast snow has not yet arrived, but the clouds have been super thick all morning, the winds were light, and the temps were just below freezing. So, it was a good morning for finding birds, but a little dark for my camera.
The first bird I found was our hermit thrush, in its usual spot near the bottom of stairway nine.
The winter wren was furiously foraging near the bottom of stairway eight and had no time for pictures today, but I managed to sneak one anyway.
I didn’t see good pictures at the north end, so I headed for the pond, where this female cardinal was kind enough to stay put as I tried to find a shot through all the sticks.
Her male counterpart was a little jumpier, but we came up with something anyway.
A fun surprise was finding all the fancy sparrows at the pond today. Here’s one of a few white-throated, …
one of the foxes, …
and the young white-crowned we just saw yesterday. The song sparrow by the river, however, gave me the slip today, as did the catbird.
Finally, I couldn’t find a single goldeneye today, but there are still a few common mergansers on the river, and here’s one of the hens.
I see that the Milwaukee Birders are planning to visit Lakeshore State Park tomorrow morning, and I think I’ll join them for a little change of pace. Wish me luck!
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 