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 early hour.

The next big treat came by the river where I found Mom at her nest for the first time since we’ve seen her chicks. Hurray! The sun hadn’t yet come over the bluff, and I froze when I spotted her from afar, so these pictures are rough, to say the least, but they are able, I believe, to convey the important information.

Here she is stuffing the gullet of the chick on the left, her right, …

and here she is doing the same for the chick on the right, her left.

Then I hiked back up to the parking lot by the beer garden to welcome five intrepid wildlife walkers. It was great to get the band back together and we went straight to the hits, with a stop by the night heron and then the hummingbirds. From there, we checked the river, and I was glad to see the wood duck hen still has her six ducklings.

The surprise guest this morning was this darling hooded merganser, and her dark eye makes me think that she’s a female.

By the time I had captured the best merganser picture I thought I might, it was already nap time for the wood duck ducklings.

Finally, there was a new dragonfly today, this stunning Halloween pennant, and I spotted one both in the meadow by the boat launch at the north end and in the weeds beside the soccer fields at the south end.

Speaking of the meadow at the north end, I am thrilled to report that the parks department hasn’t mowed it yet this year, so it is awash in colors. There are pink clover and crown vetch, which I understand is invasive, sadly; bright yellow bird’s-foot trefoil and yellow sweet clover; white clover and white sweet clover; and a few blue/purple alfalfa blossoms, which I don’t believe I’ve noticed before. Perhaps they finally won’t mow it this year, but I’m not holding my breath, so if you can find the time, do yourself a favor and go see the spectacle before it is gone.