It was a peaceful morning in Estabrook Park. The temperature, humidity, wind, and even cloud cover could all be described as mild. The usual four or five great blue herons were on the river, and they’re a little tricky to count when they are so spread out and moving around, but at least this one stood still for me.
We still have one or two green herons, as well, and here’s a youngster on the far riverbank blending in pretty well, despite its high-contrast markings. I read that these markings work by breaking up the bird’s outline and misdirecting the eye.
The biggest surprise on the river today was the reappearance of our on-again-off-again great egret, which does not appear to be trying to camouflage itself at all, but which sure does manage to make itself scarce when wildlife walkers come to visit. “Where were you yesterday?”
On my way back downstream, I found a handful of cedar waxwings preening in a tree over the far shore. They’ve been starting to fly around in flocks, and I watched a few dozen race across the soccer fields earlier in the morning, so it was nice to catch some nearly at rest.
The next surprise of the morning was spotting our first eastern phoebe of the month, also over the far riverbank, but a lot closer to eye level. “Welcome back, Sweetie!”
The last big surprise of the morning was spotting this tiny kestrel as it glided in to land on the infrastructure that supports one of the radio towers located across the river and downstream of the abandoned bridge abutments. The last time we saw a kestrel, back in mid-July, it was actually a pair, and they were mixing it up with some crows by the old candy factory.
Finally, here’s that monarch picture I mentioned yesterday.
Lastly, I did stop by the weed patches beside the southern soccer fields this morning, but I ended up chatting with the work crew that was there again today and didn’t get many pictures. I learned, however, that the current plan is to plant the east side of the path, where I’ve been seeing so many butterflies and dragonflies this summer, with turf grass. This is a sad turn of events, in my opinion, and if you agree with me, I urge you to contact whomever you know at the parks department to ask them to reconsider. I have a couple contacts that I will try, and if I can’t make any progress, I’ll share them with you. I apologize for not yet having a better plan, but I’m scrambling to catch up with this new situation.
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 