A bit of a rebound…

The temps have warmed back up to only seasonably cool, and the sky was crystal clear again, but the wind was still blowing, so the weather in Estabrook Park this morning was a mixed bag. After yesterday’s no-hitter, I didn’t have high hopes, but the critters put on a pretty nice mid-November show.

The first mammal to show its face this month turns out to be this little American red squirrel beside the pond.

I’ve seen a Great blue heron only a couple of times since Anne and I got back, and it has been much shier than usual, but today I finally managed to capture it on film.

I spotted my first American tree sparrows of the season, and we haven’t seen them since last March. “Welcome back, Sweeties!”

I didn’t see any odd ducks today, but there has been a Mallard hen and drake on the pond recently, and here’s the hen.

And here’s the drake.

Since there’s still a little bit of room left in this post, here’s my first olive-throated parakeet (Eupsittula nana) picture, from the Crooked Tree Lodge. We sure heard them and glimpsed them dashing from treetop to treetop near Tikal, but they wouldn’t enter the photo booth until we were back in Belize.

Finally, here’s a tiny lantana leaftier moth (Orphanostigma haemorrhoidalis), also from Crooked Tree Lodge, and I read that “leaftier” means “a moth larva that lives in a folded leaf held together by silk strands.” So, there you go.

The forecast for tomorrow has similar temps and sun, but the wind is supposed to die down a bit, which sounds wonderful. Maybe I’ll be as lucky with the critters.