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 to be busy fishing near the far shore.

Meanwhile, out on the river, we were back to two hooded mergansers, that I could find anyway, and here’s the photogenic one.

The first big surprise of the morning was the first deer encounter I’ve had in a while. It started with the deer coming up the trail behind me, and both of us being nearly scared out of our skin by the sudden encounter. The deer pranced around a bit, and I could never quite get my camera on it, but it oddly did not simply run away. Then after I thought it had finally moved on, and I was halfway across the meadow, there it was again, back for another look, I guess, and this time I managed to be quick enough. How fun!

Back out on the river, the mallard hen with five young ducklings brought them my way for a change.

While just downstream, the hen with eight older ones was standing watch just out of frame as they took their morning nap.

As I continued back downstream, this great blue heron perched high over the southern tip of the southern island and let me sneak a picture. They have been quite shy this year, compared to previous years, and I have no idea why.

That’s it for the birds and mammals, so now onto the bugs. Back at the meadow, I found our first cobra clubtail dragonfly of the season and only our second ever. Yay!

Much farther south, our very first American rubyspot damselfly of the season perched right on the asphalt of the paved path. Hurrah!

Finally, one of the thistles, invasive Canada thistle, I believe, is coming into bloom among the weeds beside the soccer fields, and it attracted our very first fritillary butterfly in Estabrook this morning, a variegated fritillary (Euptoieta claudia), which I’ve only ever seen before in Yellowstone National Park. Woo Hoo!

The forecast for tomorrow morning calls for clear skies and a light breeze, so I wonder who we’ll see next.