March eases in like a little white lamb…

It was a wonderful morning in Estabrook Park. Everything had a fresh coating of light and fluffy snow, the air was cold and still enough to keep it that way, at least for a couple of hours, and the sun poked through the clouds every once in a while. What a way to start the month, let alone meteorological spring!

The next pleasant surprise of the morning was finding our two bald eagles perched over the far riverbank near the upstream island, though there was no snuggling today.

At the pond, a blue jay allowed me a rare photo, and this one is even better than last time.

The bigger treat at the pond was this dark-eyed junco in the “Oregon” group of subspecies, which ebird still considers to be “rare” for here. In this first picture, you can just see where its black hood ends at the shoulders.

In this picture you can really see how the black hood compares to the brown and gray back and sides.

Finally, what’s the point of having snow if I don’t get a picture of a northern cardinal in it? Unfortunately, much of the snow had already been knocked off of the branches by then, if only by birds hopping around on them, but you can still see a little snow in the lower left corner.

The forecast looks nearly as good for tomorrow morning, with a little more wind and a lot more sun, so come on out for our weekly wildlife walk to see who might have just arrived, or to see the winter visitors before they’re gone.