Deer and ducklings…

We had some rain overnight, and it sure was humid at sunrise, but the sky was mostly clear, and the air was almost still, so it was a fine morning to look for wildlife in Estabrook Park. Some of the wildlife didn’t even wait for me to get there, and I was greeted as soonContinue reading “Deer and ducklings…”

More unexpected faces…

It was a picture-perfect morning in Estabrook Park, with blue skies, a light breeze, and pleasant temps, at least for the early morning. Sure, the heat’s on its way back, after a couple days of relief, but another sign that peak summer is almost upon us, and one that I love to hear, is theContinue reading “More unexpected faces…”

Some birds bold up for a change…

It was a bit cloudy this morning, but otherwise quite nice in Estabrook Park, and now that the clouds have moved on, the day looks so pretty that I feel like I should try to do something outside this afternoon. I stopped by the pond nice and early, but like a cat that can’t decideContinue reading “Some birds bold up for a change…”

A few regulars, a few first of the years, and one more first ever…

It rained and then the sun shone; the wind blew and then the air was still. There was no graupel, so it wasn’t April crazy, but the weather was pretty crazy this morning in Estabrook Park nevertheless. I made it to the pond before the first showers started, and our yellow-crowned night heron appeared toContinue reading “A few regulars, a few first of the years, and one more first ever…”

Birds come, and birds go…

The first pleasant surprise this morning in Estabrook Park was finding the yellow-crowned night heron back on the pond. I wasn’t the only one who looked in vain for it yesterday, and we all figured it had finally moved on, but there it was today as if it had never left. The second pleasant surpriseContinue reading “Birds come, and birds go…”

More rain and less heat…

It was rainy and cool this morning in Estabrook Park: rainy enough to push back my start time by over an hour, but not cool enough to slow down the mosquitoes much. Oh well. At the pond, it appears that our little celebrity guest has finally moved on. Darn. I didn’t catch a glimpse ofContinue reading “More rain and less heat…”

A break in the heat, at last…

Well, the heat wave is starting to break, at least here in Estabrook Park, and it is still only 75°F outside as I write this. The bigger break for me, however, was that the howling wind we’ve had for the past three days has finally subsided, so I can hear myself think out there, forContinue reading “A break in the heat, at last…”

Migration may be over, but the show sure goes on…

The heat wave is still with us, so I tried to get into Estabrook Park right around sunrise to avoid the worst of it. When I reached the pond, I was thrilled to find our celebrity guest, the immature yellow-crowned night heron, was also still with us and already drawing a crowd at that earlyContinue reading “Migration may be over, but the show sure goes on…”

It’s gonna be a hot one…

My thermometer was reading 80°F at 7 a.m., and the heat index is expected to exceed 100°F later today, so I did my best to get a nice early start in Estabrook Park this morning. Another upside to chasing the sunrise is that I got to visit our young guest, the immature yellow-crowned night heron,Continue reading “It’s gonna be a hot one…”

It feels like summer has finally arrived.

Anne and I made it safely back to Shorewood from BRAW yesterday afternoon, and I was just too lazy to write a “Happy Summer Solstice” post then, but the good news is that I did venture back into Estabrook Park this morning, and look who I found waiting for me at the pond. When IContinue reading “It feels like summer has finally arrived.”