It was a gorgeous morning in Estabrook Park, with temps in the 60s for the first time since I don’t know when, mostly clear skies, and nearly still air.
I watched this beauty fly by as I crossed the ball field on the way from the pond to the river. They’re not very comfortable at the pond yet, but they’ve become pretty common on the river, and I could count five today on the far riverbank as I stood on the boardwalk.
As we’ve already discussed, the belted kingfishers have been pretty scarce this summer, but we had two visitors today, and the mix of blue and red feathers on the breast along with the “sort of new at this” behavior suggest to me that they were youngsters. “Welcome to Estabrook! Make yourself comfortable and stay a while.”
Speaking of “new at this”, here’s another batch of mallard ducklings that look fresh out of the incubator.
Meanwhile, the fawn on the island was getting breakfast on its own and starting to look a little grown up, except for the spots, which usually don’t fade until “late summer or early fall.”
It’s a little too soon for cedar waxwing fledglings, so this one can’t use that excuse for why it let me get an uncharacteristically nice portrait. Maybe the bug hunting was just so good out over the river that it was in an especially good mood. “Thanks, you handsome devil!”
I took this next picture earlier in the morning, by the pond, but the tradition has become to save the bugs for last, so here it is. Long-time readers may see the similarity to one of my favorites, the snowberry clearwing, but this one is sure not sipping nectar from a bee balm blossom. Instead, this is my very first Nessus Sphinx moth (Amphion floridensis), and it is exhibiting behavior that I read is called “‘carrion feeding,’ where it absorbs moisture, essential salts, and amino acids from decaying matter,” which is the carcass of a young raccoon in this instance. I normally don’t include pictures of the carcasses I encounter, as you may have realized, but all you can see is the fur of this one, and this is the very first Nessus Sphinx moth I’ve ever seen, so who knows when, if ever, I might see the next one. Plus, this will be the 350th animal I’ve gotten to log in the not-very-scientific index I keep on the website, so there’s no way I could leave it out.
Okay, now for a simpler pretty picture to act as a visual sorbet. I’ve glimpsed a few red admiral butterflies already this year, and even taken a couple of bad pictures, but this is the first one that gave us a nice pose since last October.
Tomorrow morning I’ve got a very early appointment with a boat, so I won’t be able to visit Estabrook, but I’ll post something to keep you going until Sunday.
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 