It was a pretty nice late-February morning in Estabrook Park. Temps were in the mid-twenties, so the river path was nicely frozen back up, the winds were light, and the sun even peeked through the cloud deck once or twice.
The big surprise of the morning was finding this greater scaup drake on the river between the falls and the islands along with some mallards, a few common mergansers, and a common goldeneye. We see plenty scaups on the lake during the winter, and we’ve seen them in Estabrook before, but my records indicate not since 2022. So, “Welcome back, Buddy, and don’t be such a stranger!”
The next biggest surprise was that no one else wanted to show their face today. I only caught this guy, I suspect, because he thought he was well hidden. “Not so fast, you handsome devil, you!”
Finally, instead of me dredging up some more pictures from Nicaragua, I propose that we just have a short post today and try again tomorrow.
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 