The breeze was lighter and the clouds thinner in Estabrook Park this morning than the forecast had led me to fear, so nice images were a lot easier to find than yesterday.
Warblers get most of the press, for a variety of reasons, but they are far from the only pretty birds in the migration wave washing over us now, and here’s the first indigo bunting I’ve photographed this season. They seem to prefer being by the river, and I found this one at the edge of the clearing beside the islands, which has been a reliable place to find them.
I saw and even photographed a Blackburnian warbler yesterday, but I sure am glad now that I held off on using that dim and grainy picture so that I can show you this one today without repeating myself.
I’ve seen cottontails, gray squirrels, and red squirrels since I’ve gotten back, and this red squirrel munching on tree buds has made the nicest picture so far.
I glimpsed a couple magnolia warblers yesterday, but didn’t even get them on film, so it was great to capture this adult female today.
I spotted a Lincoln’s sparrow last month, but this shy little cutie at the crest of the bluff is the first one I’ve been able to show you this year.
Here’s one of the warblers that doesn’t have “warbler” in its name, a northern parula. Both “John James Audubon and Alexander Wilson called it a “blue yellow-backed warbler,”” but “Carl Linnaeus originally classified the bird as a type of titmouse (genus Parus),” so the American Ornithologists’ Union supposedly went with “parula” “to honor its history and distinctive appearance,” even after that misclassification was corrected.
Finally, the chimney swifts are also back, and here’s one of a couple dozen hunting insects over the Milwaukee River
The forecast for tomorrow calls for even cooler air and a bit more of a breeze but even more sun than today’s forecast did, so who knows, it might still be a nice morning.
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 