I read that we are now officially enjoying the wettest April on record in Milwaukee, but the weather this morning in Estabrook Park was just about as forecast, so cool, but otherwise quite nice. It was even cool enough and clear enough overnight to put some frost on the grass by sunrise, but the mostly clear skies let the sun warm things up pretty quickly.
My first big treat was spotting this beaver up and gnawing on its breakfast in a flooded low spot beside the river.
I didn’t see anyone new at the pond today, so I headed back to the river, and on my way, I found a trio of male rusty blackbirds shining a bit in the sun. This one was making their amazing call, but I think the female we saw a couple of weeks ago is long gone. “Sorry, fellas.”
The biggest surprise of the morning, literally and figuratively, was this guy, the first tom turkey I’ve ever seen in the park. “Welcome, at long last, you magnificent creature!”
Even better, he had come with a date, and here he is standing on her back, which I suppose is their custom. Of course, I should have zoomed out a bit farther for this shot, but I had only brought my fixed lens with me, and this was as far as I could back up. Oops. Perhaps I’d better start bringing both, eh?
This next treat is a lot smaller, but no less welcome, our first blue-gray gnatcatcher of the year. It’s a lousy picture, for sure, but it’s good enough for a positive ID, and it’s the best it would let me have, for now.
Finally, the palm and pine warblers seemed to have moved on already, but we still have plenty of yellow-rumped warblers, and here’s a handsome one.
Lastly, I wasn’t really short on pictures today, but after those fuzzy swallow pictures yesterday, let me give you another look at the tree swallows at Lakeshore State Park, when there was enough light to work with.
The forecast for our weekly wildlife walk tomorrow morning looks cool again but otherwise perfect, with clear skies and almost no breeze. The unpaved path along the river is a soggy mess, so we’ll probably avoid that, but there will be plenty to see in the tall trees over the paved path along the top of the bluff. So, come on out and help me find who has just arrived.
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 