We received a little more snow overnight in Estabrook Park, which is always nice, and temps were in the high twenties this morning, which is a bit of a warmup, but the cloud cover remains thick, and there was a bit of haze in the air, so I’d call wildlife viewing conditions somewhat of a mixed bag.
The eagles stayed home today, probably in Lincoln park, and both a red-tailed and a Cooper’s hawk made flyovers, but neither stopped to say “hi”.
Instead, one highlight I did find was this common merganser hen resting on some river ice and perhaps enjoying the relatively warm air.
I am happy to report that belted kingfishers must still be finding the calories they need in the water that remains open, and I managed pictures of two distinct individuals today. This one, of a female, came out the nicest.
Finally, our American black duck is back, and here it is dabbling with the mallards. Besides the darker overall color, the black bars on each end of the blue stripe, instead of white bars, as on the hen behind it, clinch the ID.
The weather is supposed to be even worse tomorrow morning, so who knows what we’ll get, but I’ll be sure to let you know.
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 