Yikes! This month sure started out with a cold snap. It wasn’t raining, and the actual air temperature was only down to freezing, but the clouds were thick and the whipping wind out of the north pushed the wind chill down to 20°F. Brrrr! Good thing I hadn’t yet thrown away all my winter clothes!
I didn’t see many mammals, but the birds were mostly going about their business, and I thought this female cardinal at the pond looked appropriate for what we can only hope is winter’s last gasp.
The fox sparrows are still pretty numerous throughout the park, and here’s one pausing to decide where to forage next.
One of the sights I’ve been waiting for is this swamp sparrow, our first of the year. I’ve been hearing little peeps out of them for a couple of days, but they evaded my camera until this morning. “Welcome back, Cutie!”
Once again, I did see a couple of yellow-bellied sapsuckers today, but I still can’t beat the pictures I was able to get on Monday, so here’s one more. In this one, you can see the neat little holes they make in the bark to be able to sip the sap.
Finally, I did see a couple of yellow-rumped warblers by the pond, but they gave me the slip again, and the palm warbler has not yet resurfaced, so here’s one more look at the palm warbler from Sunday.
The current forecast call for rain all day tomorrow, but we’ve seen that fail to materialize before, and maybe we’ll be so lucky again. Jemandem die Daumen drücken!
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 