It has warmed up a bit by now, the clouds have thinned, and the wind has abated, but it was pretty cloudy, cold, and windy at sunrise in Estabrook Park this morning. We even had a few nice lake effect snow showers. I did have one intrepid wildlife walker join me, but his excuse was that he had just dropped off his car for service and now had a couple of hours to spend before it was ready. It’s just as well, because most of the critters were also waiting out the morning, and my fun recent string of new faces was finally broken. Oh well.
Thus, here are some more faces from yesterday when it was also cold, but at least the sun was shining. By now, I hope many of you recognize this male red-bellied woodpecker, who really did appear to be simply basking in the sun by the pond.
And here’s his little distant cousin, a male downy woodpecker, who appeared to be more hungry than cold, or at least hungry enough to ignore the cold, and was hard at work chipping away at the bark on little branches.
Also at the pond, the little red squirrel was back in its favorite warming spot.
Out on the river, I was surprised yesterday by a seeming complete lack of mallards, who are normally quite common, if not ubiquitous. I had seen none on my way north and none around the islands. As I made my way back south, I encountered a long-time reader hiking the other way who reported that she had just seen a pair, so I kept my eyes peeled, and sure enough, I spotted exactly one pair just a little ways passed her. Before I could get a picture of the lucky couple, however, I noticed a third bird near them who turned out to be this common merganser hen with a fresh fish in her bill, and I figured you might like that picture better. Who doesn’t like fish, cold and fresh, for breakfast?
Finally, the cardinal I showed you yesterday toyed with me a bit before that picture, and he took his sweet time ascending to the peak of that clump of sumac seeds, so here he is again but before he hopped to the top.
The forecast for tomorrow morning calls for similar temps, but lighter winds and maybe even a little sunshine, so maybe we can hope that the parade of new faces picks up where it left off. I here there are grackles and a couple of merlins around. If you see ’em, tell ’em I’m waitin’ for ’em.
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 