It was another beautiful morning in Estabrook Park, though not quite as warm, still, or sunny as yesterday. The parade of new arrivals continues, however, so it was a great time for a visit.
The first big surprise came as I approached the islands in the river. I always scan ahead, in an effort to see who’s there before I spook them, and look who I saw perched over our riverbank today: our first great blue heron of the year. All right!
There were a bunch of little birds picking at the gravel that runs through the middle of the meadow opposite of the upstream island, and the most interesting one for me was this American tree sparrow just because we don’t get to see them that often in Estabrook.
Back out on the river, the next huge surprise was spotting this green-winged teal drake. We saw a hen or immature drake hanging out in the river for a few days last fall, but I believe I’ve only ever seen a mature drake in Estabrook once before. Yee haw!
Back on shore, we’ve still got a hermit thrush who hasn’t yet flown north.
I didn’t see any common or red-breasted mergansers today, and I only glimpsed a trio of hooded mergansers, but there were at least three goldeneyes still with us, and here’s one of the drakes.
When I finally got to the pond, the geese were out grazing on the lawn, and the new arrival today was this lone wood duck hen. “Welcome back, Sweetie!”
Finally, as I was trying to get a decent picture of the wood duck, who was hiding behind some sticks and in the shade, I just happened to glance up in time to catch a quartet of large birds flying north over the river. I only had a second before they disappeared behind the big oak tree that grows over the west lawn, and my autofocus decided to focus on that tree instead, but I believe that the outstretched long necks and legs, plus the black and sandy pattern on the wings, still identify these as the first sandhill cranes I’ve managed to photograph in Estabrook Park. Woo hoo, and oh well! Maybe I’ll have better luck next year.
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 