The very nice, if a little cool, holiday weekend weather continued today, and we had a nice turn out for our weekly wildlife walk, with five joining me for the 7 a.m. start, and three more joining at 8 a.m.
We stopped by the pond first, and I was glad to see the pair of green herons still lurking about. I got a passible picture this morning, but I like this one from Saturday better.
At the other end of the pond, I finally caught a house wren sneaking out of the wren house.
I can’t tell if this is the same bird, or its mate, but this little cutie has a bit of nesting material in its beak and is waiting patiently in the nearby oak tree for me to scram before it adds it to the nest.
We eventually made it to the river, at the north end, and we did spot a few warblers, but the highlight of that location for me was this olive-sided flycatcher perched high over the scene.
Meanwhile, down below, this chipmunk was taking advantage of a downed tree branch to enjoy some maple blossoms without having to climb for them.
On our way south along the river, we encountered two mallard hens with ducklings. One brood looked to be about half grown, and the other, pictured below, looked a lot closer to brand-spanking new.
The pièce de résistance, however, has got to be this darling female ruby-throated hummingbird on her nest. Thanks to Mike Miller, who stopped in on his way home from helping inspect the martin house at Lakeshore State Park. He said he spotted her hovering, and then simply watched her go to her nest. That sure makes it sound easy doesn’t it? Anyway, as is sometimes the case, this image is worth clicking on, or just click on this text, so you can zoom in on flickr to see all the pretty details.
Finally, I didn’t get a blossom picture today, but I did check on the shooting stars on Friday, and I was thrilled to find them unscathed and now in full bloom, so here they are.
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 