Well, we finally won the trifecta of poor October weather for a walk in Estabrook Park this morning. It was cool, which isn’t necessarily a negative by itself, but it was also breezy and rainy. The bright side is that I pretty much had the place to myself, which is a nice treat once in a while.
Despite the suboptimal weather, things got off to an exciting start when I heard and then saw a pair of red-tailed hawks in the WITI TV tower as soon as I crossed the Oak Leaf Trail. This is the best shot they let me have of the two of them together, and if I had to guess, based on their behavior, one was a youngster crying to be fed, and the other was a parent trying to coax its youngster into getting its own darn breakfast for a change.
I did not anticipate getting a lot of bird pictures today, so when I saw the grebe still on the pond, I thought that one more look at this little cutie couldn’t hurt.
The biggest treat of the day came at the river between the islands. The flood we had a while back left quite a mess there, and the small trail along the water that I often used to take has been blocked, so there is still a lot of trash to collect. Today I had brought a large, heavy-duty bag, so I was really going to town, and when I picked up one large piece of plastic that the rushing water had plastered against a clump of logs and branches, I could not believe my eyes. Look who I found using the plastic for cover: our first snake of the year, a DeKays brown snake, and only my third ever live snake sighting in Estabrook. Holy Macanoli!
As I may have already mentioned, it was cool out, so the poor thing could barely move, and I didn’t want to leave it just exposed like that, so I warmed it up in my hands until I could feel it really starting to wriggle, and then I let it go find a better place to hid in that clump of logs and branches. “See you in the spring, Sweetie, I hope!”
After savoring the moment for a while, I pressed on to the meadow. Cooper’s hawks have become pretty regular at the north end lately, even if I don’t always get a picture, and this morning I was greeted briefly by this mature one sporting a bit of jewelry.
With only four serviceable pictures today, I finally have space to blow on showing you this striking moth I saw by the beer garden back on October 3: our ever first maple spanworm moth (Ennomos magnaria).
Finally, I may not have seen a single insect today, so here’s one more look at a monarch on a Mexican sunflower blossom by the pollinator garden from October 5.
I see that clear skies are due to return overnight, so maybe we’ll get to see the sun tomorrow morning. Keep your fingers crossed!
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 