Oof! It’s been a day. You’ll be stunned to learn that I’m taking off again first thing tomorrow morning, so I had a ton of things to get done today, and I suspect that I haven’t adulted like this since before the pandemic.
Anyway, I did get into Estabrook this morning, and the weather was quite nice. Even better, we had a few new warblers, mostly beside the river at the north end, and here’s a female or immature Blackpoll warbler.
This Swainson’s thrush caught me by surprise, not only for perching out in the open like this, but also for standing there long enough for me to bring my camera to my eye, adjust a setting or two, and get this nice picture. “Thanks, Darlin’!”
This female or immature magnolia warbler, on the other hand, was behaving the way most of the birds were this morning: frantically darting around in a leafy tree hunting for bugs.
This little cutie was also in and out of leafy trees more than I would have expected from an eastern wood-pewee, so I thought maybe it was a least flycatcher instead, but I was mistaken. An eastern wood-pewee it is.
There were several American redstarts, but they are about as flighty as they come, so I was thrilled to catch this one.
In what’s left of the weeds beside the soccer fields at the south end, the common yellowthroat I’ve been hearing and glimpsing for a few days finally relented and let me have a quick look, although he did manage to obscure his namesake yellow throat behind a leaf. Ah well. We take what we can get, right?
Finally, there are still plenty of monarchs around, and here’s one topping up on some goldenrod not far from the yellowthroat.
As for the trip I mentioned above, this time it’s my sister’s idea, and we’re going to the Galapagos Islands for a week with WorldVets, a volunteer organization that “works to bring veterinary services to underserved areas of the world.” Anne’s already been there, so she’s sitting this one out. As usual, I’ll do my best to keep you posted while I’m away.
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 