Some success on a soggy day…

It was quite a soggy morning in Estabrook Park, but there was a gap in the rain, so out the door I went, and my first treat came as I approached the middle parking lot on my way to the pond. There was a Cooper’s hawk, which I don’t believe I’ve managed to photograph since early April, in a tree on one side of the lot and a pair of crows in a tree on the other side. I suspect that neither species was hunting “prey”, but they did chase each other around a bit, and that’s always exciting to watch. Here’s the hawk staring down the crows after one chase ended and right before another began.

At about that point, the clouds started leaking again, so I opened my umbrella, hiked over to the pond, and stood around for a while to see who I could see. There was a great blue heron, and a pair of wood ducks, but they kept pretty far away, so I continued on to the Kwik Stop on Wilson to grab a cup of coffee and wait for Donna, of Milwaukee Birders, to give me a lift to their outing today.

As I approached the Kwik Stop, I could hear a familiar sound, and it only took me a second to locate the source: these two young raccoons who got themselves stuck in a recycling dumpster. They looked as pitiful as they sounded, and that little outstretched paw is about the cutest thing ever, but they are still wild animals, and I like my fingers just as they are, so I had no intention to reach down in there with my bare hands to help them out.

Instead, I found this handy-dandy log laying in the woods right behind the dumpster, and once I stuck it down in there for them, they knew just what to do.

One was quite bold and hustled right up out of there. The second hung back for a bit, so I did my best to give it some encouraging words, and then it, too, ambled up that log, and went off to go find Mom, or at least catch up to its big sister.

Anyway, Donna arrived right on schedule, and off to Oak Creek we went. It turns out, however, that the former “Rawson Gardens” is on airport property, though unfenced and unmarked, and the FAA, via local law enforcement, is actively discouraging folks from visiting. Thus, the group put its heads together, and we opted to visit nearby Pleasant View Park in Franklin, instead.

Things got off to a great start when we quickly spotted this eastern meadowlark, who clearly was not expecting company.

He soon pulled himself together, thankfully, and here he is giving us a proper pose.

Besides the meadowlark, the meadows were full of savannah sparrows, and here’s one making sure I’m ready …

before breaking into song.

We never did see any bobolinks, which had been the point of the Oak Creek destination, but I did get my third ever picture of a spot-winged glider.

Finally, the meadows were also full of dark and elusive butterflies, and I must have chased a dozen before I finally found one who finally found what it was looking for. It turns out to be a common wood-nymph, which I hope to see in Estabrook one day, but have only photographed in Kohler-Andrae State Park, before today.

The weather forecast for tomorrow morning looks very nice, at least for now, so if you’ve always wanted to join one of our weekly wildlife walks, tomorrow morning might be the perfect time to give us a try. Based on recent attendance, I’ll look for you in the parking lot by the beer garden at 7am, and I’ll swing by again at 8 for the folks who can’t make it that early.

If you get hung up in traffic or otherwise can’t make either of those times, I’ve hidden my phone number in the text of the wildlife walk page, which I hope slows down the spammers who search web pages for just such phone numbers, but which I hope enables you to send me a message to learn our location and come find us.