Compared to the heat waves and torrential downpours we’ve had already this summer, the weather was pretty nice in Estabrook Park this morning. The partly cloudy skies even let the sun through once in a while, which lit up this young great blue heron fishing on the pond very nicely.
The two hooded mergansers were on the pond again, and one caught a nice big crayfish while I was there, …
and gulped it down in short order.
I couldn’t find the green heron, but after Jenny, Kathy, and Lisa joined me for this week’s wildlife walk, they quickly found it for me. Thanks!
The main event at the pond, however, was the appearance of a third belted kingfisher and the response it elicited from the other two. There was a lot of shouting and flitting around, …
but my favorite was when one perched and spread its wings while shouting at another, which happened several times. It was quite the display!
The river was down about three or four feet, and the boardwalk, which had been under water yesterday morning, was now drying out, but the water was still rushing by just below it, and we didn’t see a bird on or in it, even when John and Dave joined us in the 8 a.m. wave.
After eventually calling it a morning, I headed home, and on my way, I stopped at the stand of flowers at the southwest corner of the dog park, and I was happy to find the eastern tiger swallowtail still there. This time it even let us have a look at the upper/inner/dorsal side of its wings.
There were also a couple red-spotted purples and a monarch, but the big surprise was catching a glimpse of this ruby-throated hummingbird sampling the same cup plant blossoms as we’ve seen the butterflies on.
Even better, it perched so I could slow my shutter way down, and the background gave us a bit of a break from the bright gray sky. This image came out especially nice, despite what WordPress is showing you, and if you want to see all the detail, you know the drill.
After a short break, it resumed feeding, and this time I was a little better prepared to capture the scene, even if the background didn’t really cooperate.
With a bounce in my step, I continued south to the pollinator garden, and there I found our first hackberry emperor butterfly of the month.
Finally, here’s a fresh-looking male monarch on a fresh-looking blossom.
Lastly, if you were affected by the recent flooding, I hope you didn’t lose anything irreplaceable and that you can dry out or replace whatever did get wet. If you can join us for the Friends of Estabrook Picnic in the beer garden from 5-7:30 tomorrow afternoon, I’ll buy you a beer.
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 