They just keep on arriving…

Despite the wind and partly cloudy skies, the mild temps made it a very pleasant morning for a stroll through Estabrook Park. Ten folks came out to join me for our weekly wildlife walk, and I recorded us seeing 40 bird species, including a few first-of-the-year tree swallows mixed in with a few bank swallows over the river and the upstream island.

The screech-owl was home for my first approach to the pond, but it made itself scarce after that, as usual.

Robins have begun nesting, and here’s one above the crest of the bluff at the far north end.

Yellow-bellied sapsuckers are still with us, and we saw a few today. Here’s a male on a birch tree on the east side of the pond.

Yellow-rumped warblers are becoming more plentiful, both at the pond and the river, and here’s one from beside the river.

One of the nice surprises of the morning was getting another look at the male American kestrel, this time perched high above the upstream island.

Right after we saw the kestrel, a male belted kingfisher swooped in to perch just off the downstream tip of the same island, and when I tried to time my shot with the bobbing of its tail, I also caught it with its beak open as an unexpected bonus.

Another nice surprise of the morning was finding the largest group of blue-winged teals that I’ve ever seen. It started with just two on the pond, and then eight on the river, but by the time the whole group reached the river, I counted at least 15, and there may have been as many as 20. The uncertainty was caused by their near constant motion, so that every time we counted, we got a different number.

Finally, a new blossom has begun to open in the park, this violet, probably (Viola odorata), which I read is called any of “wood violet, sweet violet, English violet, common violet, florist’s violet, or garden violet.“