It was a perfect morning in Estabrook Park. Sure, it was a little cool, a few degrees below the average low for this date, but the sky was crystal clear, and the air was nearly calm, so the sun warmed things up pretty quickly, and it was just a fabulous time to go looking for wildlife. With any luck, that could be our last frost of the season, too.
My first treat of the morning came when the gray catbird, which has been hiding out in the bushes at the far southwest corner of the softball field since Monday, finally relented and posed perfectly, atop a clump of sumac seeds and in the sun. “Hello, Gorgeous!”
Then, a green heron finally visited the pond. At first, it was nearly in front of the sun, so terribly backlit, but then it moved north a smidge to make the nicest green heron picture so far this year. “Thanks, Precious!”
When I strolled around the pond, I found the thrasher there again, making this my best thrasher year by far.
It was still too early to head home, so I hiked back toward the north end, and look who I found along the way, our first black-and-white warbler of the year. “Welcome back, Darling!”
Then it was finally time to head home, and as I passed the pollinator garden, I glimpsed a flash of blue. Happily, the flash didn’t go far, and it perched on a low branch of that big oak tree there, where it turned out to be this stunning male eastern bluebird. What a beauty, right?
Finally, as I was crossing the southern soccer fields toward the exit to Wilson Drive, I took one more look around to soak in a little bit more of the perfect weather, and look who I saw gliding right towards me: the very first American white pelicans I’ve ever been able to photograph in the park. What a way to wrap up the month, eh? I don’t know how it gets better than this.
Lastly, my presentation last evening seemed to go okay. At least they haven’t canceled the matinee for today, so if you’ve got nothing better to do, you might as well come out to the Shorewood Public Library at 2 this afternoon to see if you agree.
Oh, if you clicked on the link I provided yesterday to view that post on my website, and you found the pictures to be better that way, you can do that again today without me having to insert the link like that. Just click on the light-gray text in the upper right corner of this message that says “Read on blog“, and that should provide you with the same result.
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 