Wheels-up again…

It looks as though it’ll be a nice enough morning in Estabrook Park, but I won’t be there to enjoy it today. Instead, Anne and I are off to Connecticut to visit my family for a couple of days. Luckily, I’ve had a couple of great outings lately that produced some backup pictures, so here they are.

First up is another look at the catbird from yesterday, as it picks a sumac seed out of the clump it is perched upon.

Here’s a female, red-bellied woodpecker in that big, beautiful oak tree by the picnic area northwest of the beer garden.

Here’s another look at the black-and-white warbler as it performs its best nuthatch impersonation.

Here’s another look at the white-eyed vireo from Wednesday, when it was looking our way but before it hopped out of the shadows.

Finally, here’s a closeup of one of the pelicans flying overhead yesterday. That bump on the top of its bill “is a fibrous growth known as the nuptial tubercle. This odd growth develops in both sexes during the breeding season and is thought to contribute to its mating displays and perhaps signal breeding fitness. The nuptial tubercle frays and splits as the season goes on, and eventually sheds off, to regrow the next year.” Seems as though there is no end to the odd little details I can learn.

Here’s hoping I can find some nice sights to show you tomorrow from Connecticut, and FWIW, I typed this on my phone at the airport, so you can blame all the typographical errors on my big, fat thumbs.