It was a mild but gray morning in Estabrook Park, with temps near freezing and calm air, and we had a nice turn out for the weekly wildlife walk, but even five pairs of eyes struggled to find many birds today. Perhaps we’ve all come down with a bit of the post-holiday blues.
One of the birds that was still managing to go about its business was the white-throated sparrow, and here’s one picking berries from a bush beside the pond. I read that “white-throated sparrows are unable to produce yellow, so the birds depend on a diet rich in carotenoids—pigments manufactured mainly by plants—to provide this golden hue. Their fall and winter diet of seeds and fruit … give the sparrows a carotenoid boost.“
Another bird that needs carotenoids to help make its characteristic plumage is the American robin, and here’s one searching the bushes along the river for berries. They’ve been oddly scarce in Estabrook since the first of the year, so I was glad when we spotted at least a dozen today.
And that’s all I could scrounge up this morning. I’d like to say that I’ll try harder tomorrow, but I’m off to the east coast to see my folks again, and I probably won’t get back outside until Wednesday.
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 