Another smokey day…

The Canadian wildfire smoke is back and thick enough for even me to be able to smell it when I first stepped outside this morning. It was great to be back in Estabrook Park, nevertheless, and the first treat to greet me was the doe and her fawn crossing the river at the north end from the island to our shore. Once they got there, they stopped to sample the leaves of a willow tree that appears to have dropped a branch in the last day or two.

Back at the pond, a female belted kingfisher didn’t let me get too close, but close enough for this picture.

Meanwhile a young-looking great blue heron was intently focused on something along the far shore.

It was this female wood duck who stole the show today, however, when she posed on a log just right to catch the little bit of sunlight that was getting through.

Back at the north end, this time with the dozen or so Milwaukee Birders who came out today, I was pleasantly surprised by the number of butterflies on the wildflowers in the meadow. Here’s an American Lady, whom we haven’t seen since June, discreetly using some leaves to hide her roughed-up patches.

This pearl crescent, on the other hand, looked brand-spanking new, and so had nothing to hide. I was quite surprised to find not just one, but at least three of them, which is a first for me.

Not to be outdone, this tiny fiery skipper, seemed to be saying “ooh, ooh, look at me, too!”

Finally, this snowberry clearwing moth, who does look a little roughed up, but not too badly, perched there for a minute and made it easy for me to get a nice picture for a change.

I read that “the smoke is expected to linger” into tomorrow, so take care of your health, but if it doesn’t bother you much, and you feel the need to get outdoors anyway, consider joining our weekly wildlife walk tomorrow morning. We’ll start at 7 a.m. and again at 8 a.m., as usual.