The rain did roll through during the wee hours of the morning, as advertised, and we even had a few claps of thunder before sunrise. The good news is that it kept right on rolling, and skies were nearly clear by the time the sun actually rose. It was quite windy, but it was also so warm that even the windchill was in the high forties. Pretty wild weather for February.
I don’t know if it was the crazy weather, or they were just busy making up for lost time, but I spotted two masked bandits at the pond when I arrived. They were quite skittish, as they are supposed to be, but I was able to catch one keeping its eyes on me from behind a bunch of sticks at the water’s edge.
Also at the pond, we had our first bunch of Canada geese checking out the place. I don’t know if our regular nesting pair was among them, but here’s one standing nice and still, just in case.
I saw the usual suspects at the river, but nothing especially film-worthy today, so I went back to the pond. The geese had already moved on, but look who had already found some open water under the bushes.
Then, as I was scanning the bushes and trees for an interesting sparrow, look who swooped in to do the same.
Finally, I took the path south of the dog park back down to the river for one last look around. The river path is very muddy right now, so I was avoiding it today and sneaking peeks from where I could access the river directly from inland. It’s still frozen all the way across there, so there wasn’t much to see, and I still had some time on the clock, so I did what I usually do when there’s not much to see, I’m bored, and it’s still too early to go home. I started picking up trash.
I had almost filled the bag I had picked up by the pond, and as I bent over for one more wrapper, I could hear a call from above, which sounded like turkeys, as much as anything. Listen to the track labeled “Flock calls (Western)”. I could not find the equivalent on YouTube. I glanced up just in time to spot through a gap in the trees a few large birds flying north, probably following the lakefront, and I got my camera on them just in time for only one shot. It’s not perfect, by any means, but it’s darn good enough to positively ID my first greater white-fronted geese (Anser albifrons) in North America, let along Estabrook Park. Yee Haw!
Long-time readers may recall that I saw plenty of them in South Holland a few years ago, and the fine folks at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology explain that this species “occurs across the [whole] Northern Hemisphere.” Their range map indicates that these birds are probably on their way to the northern half of continental Nunavut to make more geese on the arctic tundra. “Safe travels, you beauties!”
Lastly, I see we’re due for a cool-off, the skies should stay mostly clear, and the wind should wind down, so the river path might even firm up by tomorrow morning. Keep your fingers crossed!
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 