Our heatwave continues, and it was in the double 80s (°F and %RH) at sunrise again, which is not my favorite way to start the day, but there’s plenty of nice shade to be had in Estabrook Park, and we even have water features, so I can’t think of a better place to hide out.
After being absent for a few days, at least one of the green herons was back on the river and fishing around the islands. There were also great blue herons, but I just featured one yesterday, so I left them alone today.
Your flyby of the day was provided by this mature bald eagle coming down the river nice, low, and slow, just the way I like it. I haven’t been able to spot jewelry on an eagle since the winter before last. You might have to click on the image so you can see the original on flickr and zoom in to see it on this one.
I saw the wood duck ducklings again today, but they’re so grown up now that they don’t keep together, and this trio of mallards farther downstream and maintaining a tight formation made a nicer picture.
Finally, for today that is, the American white waterlily has started to blossom on the river, and a pair of damselflies are using it to make like the green darners on Monday.
Since I’ve come up a little short today, here’s another red-bellied woodpecker, a male this time, at another nesting cavity yesterday.
Here’s a male twelve-spotted skimmer, from last Tuesday, with his extra eight white spots nestled between his namesake twelve dark spots.
Lastly, here’s a sulphur butterfly, probably a clouded sulphur, on another one of those firewheel blossoms at the pollinator garden just yesterday.
It appears that today is hump day for the heatwave, as well as the week, and we’re supposed to be back in the mid-70s tomorrow morning, so I can’t wait to see who the reprieve brings out.
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 