Our recent cool snap in Estabrook Park continued this morning with temps right around 50° under a thick cloud cover, but at least the winds are starting to ease up.
My first treat of the morning came at the falls, where it appears a pair of northern rough-winged swallows may be nesting. I’ve seen them there for the past couple of days, and this morning one was perched on the railing and let me have a real nice look.
Farther upstream, an osprey was back and on a smaller perch than I would have guessed they were capable of.
Back at the boardwalk just below the falls, the white eyering on this warbler caught me off guard, but all my experts assure me that it is simply a northern yellow warbler.
This Canada warbler looks just as I expected and was in the same bush.
With the low light I had this morning, that’s all I was able to pull off, so let’s take a look at some pictures from earlier this week. On Thursday, when osprey, goslings, and killdeer took center stage, I also saw my first solitary sandpiper of the year, and here it is tossing back the tiniest of bugs it just caught.
On Friday, when the herons and more goslings had my attention, I also saw my first yellow-bellied flycatcher of the year.
Finally, I’ve been seeing this kingbird, yet another first of the year, beside the southern soccer fields all week, and here it is on Thursday putting some of the garlic mustard growing there to good use.
Despite the clouds letting some sun leak through this afternoon, I see they are forecast to thicken up again by sunrise tomorrow, and they might even drop some precipitation. On the other hand, the air is supposed to be almost still, so conditions will probably be a mixed bag once again, and there’s no telling what I might see, but I’ll be sure to keep you in the loop.
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 