It was quite cloudy and a bit breezy this morning in Estabrook Park, and I got off to a pretty good start when I spotted this youngish-looking great blue heron wading a little deeper in the pond than they usually go. But then I remembered that the Milwaukee Birders were going to the Oak Creek Parkway today, about which I’ve heard plenty, but to which I’ve never been, so I declared “Victory” in Estabrook and hitched a ride to South Milwaukee.
We started at the mill pond, where Mill Road crosses the parkway, and things got off to a great start when a bystander was kind enough to point out this fawn lurking at the water’s edge. Noice!
We also saw some herons, sandpipers, kingfishers, and swallows, but the big surprise for me came when we started following the creek down to the lake and came across two mallard hens who both had broods of ducklings that looked brand-spanking new. It’s getting to be pretty late in the summer for that, I would think, but I suppose they would know better, and not having to migrate might give them a little more leeway than other species might enjoy.
I also spotted a wild turkey hen along the creek, which we’ve seen before in Estabrook, …
but this one had a couple of poults with her, which I can only dream of seeing in Estabrook, at least for now.
When we finally reached the outlet into Lake Michigan, we couldn’t help but notice the killdeer flitting around and calling for the murder of cervids at the top of their lungs. What took a little more searching, however, was a pair of youngsters, who already have most of their adult plumage in, but whose tail feathers still look a little fuzzy. We see the adults in Estabrook regularly, of course, and probably some of them are enjoying their first summer, but I have yet to see an obvious youngster there yet.
There were dozens of ring-billed gulls, and a few herring gulls, but the treat for me was the trio of Bonaparte’s gulls. Someone has reported seeing them in Estabrook Park, but not since 1994, and we’ve seen them at the lakeshore, but not in Estabrook yet, so yet another sight to dream about.
The South Milwaukee Yacht Club has a little marina right next to the creek outlet, and the swallows were loving the low perches right next to the water, and here’s a gorgeous barn swallow on break from hunting and without a white sky background for a change. Sweet!
At first glance, this next cutie looks just like the northern rough-winged swallows we see in Estabrook every summer, but that brown band across the top of its chest marks it as a bank swallow, instead. I have managed to photograph them in Estabrook during spring migration, but it was nowhere close to a portrait like this, so I didn’t even bother to show you. Maybe someday, eh?
Finally, the brush beside the creek was loaded with ebony jewelwing damselflies, and here’s one whose white spots on her wingtips marks her as a she.
P.S. Thanks to Milwaukee Birders for hosting the walk and for providing the lift!
P.P.S. I am sure that you will be as relieved to hear as I was that the broad-winged hawk we thought we saw yesterday has turn out to be a real broad-winged hawk. That’s our thirteenth bird of prey in Estabrook. Woo Hoo!
P.P.P.S. The weekly wildlife walk is ON for tomorrow morning at 7 a.m. and again at 8 a.m. Be there or be square! (Please note that the author, the editorial staff, and the entire graphic arts team, realize that birding can only be enjoyed if participation in it is completely voluntary and do not wish to imply any pressure whatsoever for you to attend. We will certainly miss you but will not actually consider you to be square if you are not there.)
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 