I had reason to run out to the Wehr Nature Center this morning, and the event was at 9am, so I figured I should get there before the sun rose. That way I could spend my daylight looking for wildlife there instead of while sitting in my car. Anyway, this is who I found.
I hadn’t even left the parking lot when I heard the now-familiar call of a bluebird. It turns out that there were at least two, and this is the one I could catch sitting still enough for a picture in the low light. We’ve seen them during the winter in Estabrook before, but not yet this winter.
When I finally did get out of the parking lot, I found a small herd of deer in the fields beside the road into the lot, and here’s the buck that was with them keeping a wary eye on me.
Meanwhile, a flock of wild turkeys was taking over the bird feeders, and they had more than one tom with them. It was a fairly small and crowded space for such large birds, but here’s a tom I could catch by himself for a moment. That gray arc across his belly is the little chain they have put up to demark the feeder area. We do get to see turkeys in Estabrook from time to time, but not yet this year and not yet a tom that I know of. Man, that morning sun was really lighting him up, eh? I sure hope the hens appreciate the effort he’s making.
The turkeys were not the only birds at the feeders, and on a second pass, there were at least six pine siskins flitting about in the trees above it. We do see them in Estabrook, but not even as often as turkeys, and I’ve only ever seen one at a time there. It was fun for me to hear them chattering amongst themselves.
While walking around the pond, I heard a tufted titmouse nice and clear, but I could not put eyes on the little stinker. Instead, I had a momentary sense of elation when I spotted the tuft on the head of this beauty, but this is a cedar waxwing, of course. We get to see them in Estabrook even more frequently than turkeys, but the titmice there have also managed to elude my gaze. Someday, My Loves!
Finally, I attended the event and headed for home, but it was a beautiful day, and I already had the car out, so how could I not stop at the lakefront on my way home, right? You know I like a good, cold winter as much as the next guy, and maybe a bit more, but I was happy to see some open water already, nevertheless. I couldn’t find any curiosities in it, however, just the usual suspects: geese, mallards, mergansers, goldeneyes, scaups, and buffleheads. The most interesting sight turned out to be raptors on a breakwater about a mile NNE of the South Shore Yacht Club. You can just make out eight of them perched on the icy concrete and two in the air, and I caught one of them flying close enough to shore for me to positively id it as a young bald eagle. They appeared to be having a regular Valentine’s Day mixer out on the lake! Ha! Good for them!
For the curious, that looming white rectangular shape in the far background is Milwaukee’s Linnwood Water Treatment Plant north of Bradford Beach, and it was about five miles away. Oh, and the Wehr Nature Center was fabulous. I hope you get a chance to visit it.
Lastly, I hope you have as good a time today as these eagles seemed to.
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 