It was a nice and sunny morning for our weekly wildlife walk, about as chilly as expected, but the breeze was a little stronger than yesterday’s forecast suggested. Oh well. Seven hardy souls came out to join me, nevertheless.
On my way to the parking lot to meet up, I was happy to see a pair of pied-billed grebes back on the river. I haven’t seen a grebe since last Tuesday. I do have a blurry picture of the two together, but I think this solo performance came out a lot better.
Once our group was assembled, we first headed to the pond, and one of the highlights there was this blue-gray gnatcatcher, who was a first of the year for several of us, and may be the same individual I saw yesterday, but he sure put on a nicer show today.
Despite the good start, I didn’t get any pictures beyond that, for some reason, so here are a few more from yesterday. The tom turkey didn’t leave you much of a look at the hen, so here she is getting her feathers back in order.
We did see a few brown creepers this morning, but I like this picture from yesterday more.
We also saw the brown thrasher again by the pond, but it gave me a much better look yesterday.
We didn’t see a single phoebe this morning, but I did see one at the south end on my walk back home. Perhaps they just needed it to warm up a bit. Anyway, here’s a good look one let me have yesterday.
Lastly, here’s another pose from that handsome yellow-rumped warbler yesterday.
It appears that we might be done with cold and wet weather for a few days at least, so let’s hope the parade of warblers resumes. In addition to the three we’ve seen already, yellow-rumped, palm, and pine, four others have been spotted so far this month elsewhere in Milwaukee County. If you see one, please be sure to point them towards Estabrook!
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 