There was a stiff breeze out of the northeast this morning, which reminded me, and anyone else out in it, just how cold the waters of Lake Michigan still are. The windchill temperature was supposed to be 31°F at sunrise. Yikes!
Luckily for our resident eastern screech-owl, the opening of its nook faces the southwest, so it might have felt as snug as a bug in a rug.
The sky was nice and clear, though, and the sun is pretty warm this time of year, so if you could find a sunny spot that was out of the wind, such as our riverbank at the north end, it felt quite comfortable. Perhaps that’s what this American redstart, our first of the year, was singing about.
Another new arrival who had found a similar spot was this male rose-breasted grossbeak.
As did this Nashville warbler, of which I’ve seen a few already, but who haven’t let me get a nice picture until today.
Goslings hatched beside the river have the advantage of automatically being out of the cold wind, at least for today, and here’s one of several broods I saw. The ones at the pond are still doing fine and are already nearly twice this size.
Even the Baltimore orioles, who usually keep to the treetops, were down near eye-level for a change.
Finally, your blossoms of the day are these elegantly understated prairie trilliums, aka toadshades, but it was way to cold for toads today.
Lastly, the forecast for tomorrow looks similar to today, except that the winds are supposed to be 2 mph instead of 12 mph. Woo hoo!
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 