It was a little warmer and a little breezier this morning than yesterday in Estabrook, so there was no frost on the grass this time. The sky was just as clear, though, so it made for some pretty pictures, and the issue that kept websites from working yesterday appears to have been resolved, so I will even be able to show you some. Yay!
The pied-billed grebe was still at the pond today, I am thrilled to report, but I like the picture it let me have yesterday better. Man, that bird likes to eat fish.
There was also an eastern phoebe at the pond yesterday, but it was after smaller, more-airborne prey.
At the islands in the river, the exciting guest today was this Cooper’s hawk who swooped in, perched for a minute, found no suitable prey, and then moved on to continue its hunt elsewhere.
Meanwhile, back on shore behind me, this northern flicker appeared to be just warming up in the sun. Either that, or it was keeping very quiet, very still, and a very close watch on that Cooper’s hawk, so that it doesn’t end up as prey.
The biggest avian treat for me today, however, was over the river and downstream of the old bridge abutments. I was looking for a great blue heron that Ken told me about, but I found this beauty instead. The trees on the riverbank provided great cover for me, so I was able to sneak up nice and close without disturbing the osprey, and if you click on this image so you can view the full-resolution version in flickr, you may find it as fascinating as I do.
Finally, it didn’t warm up through the morning today as much as it did yesterday, so I didn’t see a single dragonfly today. Yesterday, on the other hand, I saw a few, including this beauty, a black saddlebags on the weeds beside the southern soccer fields. It was still soaking up the sun at the time, so it let me get as close as my lens would allow, and the full-resolution image contains a ton of detail.
Lastly, red admirals were not even the only butterflies taking advantage of the warm sun yesterday morning, and here’s a stunning, late-season common buckeye butterfly. It must have managed to warm up quickly, so it was a lot more flighty than the dragonfly, I’m sad to say, and you won’t get much more out of this image. I’m just relieved I got one at all that I can show you.
I see it is forecast to be cloudy, cool, and windy tomorrow morning, so don’t hold your breath for any pictures of critters soaking up the sun in front of a crystal blue sky.
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 