A dark and stormy morning…

The forecast suggested that I had about a two-hour window between sunrise and thunderstorms, so I snuck into Estabrook to see who I could see, but I didn’t even need light for the first observation. There had been a big influx of white-throated sparrows since yesterday morning, and they were singing their songs throughout the park.

I sure do wish I had more light for my second observation, but I made do with what I had, and I believe this may be our first northern house wren for the year. It is right in the center, its beak is pointing to 8 o’clock, and its tail is pointing at 1 o’clock. The indicator for me that suggest that it is not just another winter wren, is the light color below the beak. Plus, it wasn’t making winter wren noises.

There was a kingfisher at the pond, as is often the case these days, and perhaps it even had trouble seeing me, so I was able to take a nice, arty portrait.

The biggest surprise of the morning, however, came when I inadvertently flushed this green heron, the first reported in Milwaukee County this year, from the bushes at my feet to this perch on the island. To have any color at all, instead of a silhouette as with the kingfisher, and not have the ISO go through the roof, I had to slow the shutter down to 1/15th of a second. Luckily, the heron was kind enough to freeze in each pose it struck, and I could prop my elbows on the railing of the little bridge in the path around the pond. “Thanks, and welcome to Estabrook, Sweetie!”

I also spotted a couple of hooded mergansers on the pond, but I didn’t even try for them. Instead, I found them again, or another pair, at the river, where the lights over the parking lot on the far shore provided some backlighting.

Finally, the sky kept getting darker, and the radar map suggested I was about to get soaked, so I started to hustle home. As I passed the downstream island, I couldn’t help but check for a great horned owl, and look who I found in its place. We do get to see wild turkeys in the park from time to time, and I do know that they can fly up into trees, but I have never seen a turkey in a tree in Estabrook Park before. I guess it really is true that there is a first time for everything.

Lastly, you may be stunned to learn that I’ve got some family activities to participate in this weekend, and gladly, too, so I’m not sure how much, if any, photography I’ll get to do, but if you don’t hear from me, have a great weekend, and I hope to see you in Estabrook at 8am on Monday morning.