After a brief rain delay right after sunrise, today turned out to be a pretty nice day. The air was a bit cooler, drier, and even calmer than it’s been for the past couple of days, at least for this morning.
My first treat came at the falls when I checked the exposed rocks in the middle and the far shore for shorebirds. There were a couple of spotted sandpipers, along with a few mallards, but the surprise was finding this turkey checking to see how the new landscaping is holding up during its first summer.
Around the islands farther upstream, I didn’t see much new, but back on shore I did find this beauty, a very fresh-looking painted lady, in the meadow, which remains blissfully unmowed.
On my way back downstream, I heard a second green heron calling to the one I had already spotted fishing below, and it didn’t take me long to find it perched up nice and high against a refreshingly blue sky.
Most everyone else was keeping out of sight, perhaps because their feathers were all still wet from the rain, but by the time I reached the weeds beside the soccer fields, I found our first spot-winged glider of the year all dried out.
We haven’t seen much of the red-tailed hawks lately, perhaps because the gulls are keeping them away, but today I found this one in a decidedly more relaxed pose at the far south end.
Finally, the black raspberries are coming in quickly, and here’s one that needs just about one more day of this sunshine to be ready for eatin’.
The forecast for tomorrow morning looks like a repeat of today, but let’s hope the critters change up their performance a bit.
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 