The current deep freeze bottoms out…

The temperature this morning in Estabrook Park was the negative of yesterday’s, and the breeze was still blowing pretty good, so the wind chill was down into the negative twenties. Yikes! I’ve certainly felt colder, but I’m not sure if I have in December. At least the sky was clear and the sun was out, so I could start nice and early!

Here’s a look at that sun just after it cleared the bluff and started to light up the mallards dabbling in the open river water, where the mild rapids resume below the falls. You can also see the layer of steam rising off the relatively warm water and blowing downstream.

You’d think the park would have been pretty empty, and you’d be mostly right, at least along the river, but up on the bluff folks were warming up for the “Candy Cane Course 5K & 12K,” which I’m sure sounded like a good idea when they signed up. Anyway, the river wasn’t quite empty either, and here’s a robin perched right at the edge of the ice to take some sips of water.

The flocks of house sparrows and house finches that visit the pond when it’s cold enough were noisy today, despite this Cooper’s hawk lurking in the trees. Perhaps they had collectively decided that if the hawk was going to do something, it would have already done so, and they might as well get back to twittering while the hawk waits for the sun to warm it up.

Finally, it took a while for the woodpeckers to become active, but once the temperature rose to zero, I started to hear them, and here’s a male red-breasted-bellied getting to work on digging up some breakfast.

Lastly, temps are supposed to be all the way up into the teens for our weekly wildlife walk tomorrow morning, although the breeze will still be blowing, and the sky will have clouded up. So, put on your good coat, your Yaktrax®, or the equivalent, and come on out to see the common mergansers and maybe the American black duck or some bald eagles. I’ll see you at 8 in the beer garden parking lot.