It was a bit warmer, a bit breezier, and a lot cloudier in Estabrook Park this morning. The big news, however, is that the geese in the tree are multiplying, and today it held three (3)! You can see the head and part of the back of the third one under the one on the left. Even odder, they were mostly just holding still, as though they were as surprised to find themselves there as I was to see them. What on earth they are doing up there is anybody’s guess.
The next big news is our monthly hermit thrush sighting, and hardly a day too soon, if we’re going to keep that record going.
I was happy to get another crack at a winter wren, but I didn’t do much better than last time, I’m afraid. One of these days…
Back out on the water, it appears that my pronouncement yesterday that the winter waterfowl have all flown north was a bit premature, because the red-breasted merganser drake was back again today.
Not to be outdone, the common merganser hen was there, too.
Things were quiet at the pond, with just the pair of geese and a mallard drake. I saw wood ducks flying over the river earlier, but there were none on the pond this morning. Instead, the fun sight was this white-throated sparrow, of whom we haven’t seen much in a while, except for that one who tricked us into thinking we had seen a savannah sparrow last Monday.
I saw my first warbler of the year today, a couple of yellow-rumped warblers by the river, and try as I might, neither one would let me get them on film. After the pond, I even hiked all the way back south along the river in hopes of having a third chance, and I did see quite a few golden-crowned kinglets, but I had no luck with the butter-butts.
When I finally emerged from the woods beside the southern soccer fields, I could feel that the morning had warmed up a bit, and I saw my first small cloud of lake flies, which is perfect timing for the freshly-arrived warblers. Yay!
That encouraged me to give it one more try and patrol the line of bushes, mostly buckthorn, unfortunately, along the crest of the bluff, in case one had come up there in search of bugs. As I approached the little patch of lawn between the path and the bluff at the north end of those soccer fields, I saw a bird or two hopping around on the grass, and I figured they were song sparrows, which are plentiful lately, but I gave them a look with my binoculars anyway, just in case there was a white-crowned sparrow foraging with them.
Well, I didn’t see a white-crowned sparrow, but lo and behold who I did see instead: our first palm warbler of the season! Hallelujah! Not only are they the best posers of all the warblers, in my opinion, but they are still considered rare in Milwaukee County at this early date, and this is the first one anyone has reported seeing this year. “Hello, Gorgeous!”
So, if you still need a hermit thrush, a winter wren, or a warbler for the month, come on out and give our wildlife walk a try tomorrow morning. We meet in the parking lot by the beer garden at 8am. If you’re running late, we’ve already headed out by the time you arrive, and you want to come join us, you can text me at the number hidden in the prose on this page, in an effort to minimize the spam calls I get, and I’ll give you our current location.
Also, if you can’t join us Monday morning, there’s always the North Shore School for Seniors class at 2pm Tuesday afternoon.
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 