Enjoying the cool-down, while it lasts…

It started out even cooler this morning in Estabrook Park than yesterday, so cool that I even wore a jacket for the first hour, but the cloud cover was much thinner, so the light was nicer, and the day warmed up pretty quickly.

I didn’t see any herons on the pond, however, and I couldn’t find any interesting visitors on the river, either. Instead, the most remarkable sight I saw today was this brood of young mallards with their mom. Most of their cousins are already big enough to look like adults, but these little cuties are still wearing their birthday suits.

I didn’t get another bird picture until I was back at the south end, where I spotted this cedar waxwing in the birch tree over the weeds beside the soccer fields. I would have liked to have been able to wait for the cloud to pass behind it, but waxwings tend not to sit still long.

This song sparrow, however, was in the same tree and too busy singing to go anywhere, so I had plenty of time to wait for some nice blue sky to show up.

I’m never sure if it is the mix of weeds themselves, their location between the river and a wide expanse of mown lawn, or just the time of day, but I usually find the best selection of photogenic bugs there, and today was no exception. I know I’ve shown you a Halloween pennant dragonfly a couple of times already this summer, but how’s a guy supposed to resist these colors?

Similarly, I’ve already shown you a banded hairstreak butterfly earlier this month, but this one doesn’t have a chunk of wing missing, so I’m claiming a do-over.

Lastly, if I can get away with doubling and tripling up on those two, certainly you won’t complain if I also show you one more red admiral butterfly. Plus, that first one looked a little worn, but this one still looks fresh out of its packaging.

Lastly, if this recent cool, dry weather is getting you down, you won’t have to suffer much longer because I see 80s and thunderstorms in back in the forecast for tomorrow. Enjoy!