The recent cold snap we’ve had in Connecticut is taking the weekend off, and I think a high pressure system is sitting right over us, so it is a picture perfect August morning here with mild temps, still air, and clear skies. As I mentioned, my sister doesn’t have to work today, so we drove out to the reservoir on the edge of town where we’ve seen bald eagles and great blue herons nesting before.
Everyone is done with nesting by now, but plenty of birds are still hanging around there, and here’s a belted kingfisher who stopped by before the sun came over the hill.
It appears that the mute swans have had a really good year, and we counted 42 of them on the water, which is certainly the most I’ve ever seen in one place. Wow!
We did see an eagle, but it kept its distance, and my sister found me this osprey instead. We also watched a second osprey head out for breakfast and come back with a nice big fish in short order.
The bushes along the causeway that splits the reservoir were full of little birds, and we saw waxwings, orioles, and goldfinches, but this eastern kingbird let me have the nicest picture.
We counted over a dozen cormorants perched in the trees over the island where the herons had nested last summer, and here’s one drying off after the sun finally reached down to the water.
Finally, back to the bushes, here’s my first Canada warbler of the fall migration. Woo Hoo!
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 