We traded in the clear sky for calm air, but it was still another very nice morning in Estabrook Park, and the big surprise today was finding these three handsome amigos on the exposed river bottom, right beside the upstream island where I spotted the doe and fawn yesterday. I believe that I did also see the doe again this morning, but the fawn must have been sleeping in.
Then it was time to go meet Donna for a ride out to the fabulous Retzer Nature Center in Waukesha, where she and Katie had arranged for the Milwaukee Birders to visit today. They had promised bobolinks, for which I am an absolute sucker, as you may have realized by now, and they delivered!
Someone mentioned that bobolinks are sometimes called “skunk birds” due to their coloration, but I was amused to find, when I searched for “which birds are called skunk birds”, that the title is shared with the hoatzin, which we saw in the Brazilian Amazon a couple of years ago, because of “the manure-like odor that their foregut bacterial fermentation system produces.” Huh!
Anyway, moving on, we came across a common yellowthroat who was being uncharacteristically uncoy.
In addition to the large meadows, which are only mowed on a specific schedule to suit the bobolinks, they also have water features at Retzer, and the small pond we visited had green frogs (Lithobates clamitans), which I’ve only ever knowingly seen before in the Mequon Nature Preserve. I keep searching for them in Estabrook, but I’ve only come up with bullfrogs so far.
Given the open meadows I mentioned above, you should hardly be surprised to hear that we saw bluebirds, and here’s a dad just about to deliver a tiny morsel to the nesting box attached lower to the post he’s perched upon.
As you might expect from a “nature center” they have bird feeders by the main building, and we watched a parade that included, jays, woodpeckers, finches, nuthatches, a pair of rose-breasted grossbeaks, and even a ruby-throated humming bird, but the bird that put on the best show, in my humble opinion, was this house wren singing his heart out on a post nearby.
Finally, there were quite a few large, orangey butterflies flitting about, but I couldn’t will one to land, no matter how hard I tried, until this one found a thistle blossom to its liking, and that was the opportunity I needed to ID them as great spangled fritillaries, which we’ve only gotten to see once in Estabrook and once in the Mequon Nature Preserve. It turns out that they’re just as great and spangled on the outside as on the inside. Nice.
It appears that the recent streak of cool and pleasant weather will continue into the morning, after a shower late this afternoon, so conditions should be good for our weekly wildlife walk tomorrow. We’re already well past the earliest sunrise of the year, but there should still be enough light for a 7 am start, for the early risers, and I’ll swing back by the parking lot again at 8 am for the sleepy heads. Maybe the fawn will be up by then, too, or someone can manifest the eagles again.
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 