“Get your own crabapple!”

I had an online meeting early this morning, so I wasn’t able to get into Estabrook till nearly 9am, and it was a little disconcerting. I eventually pulled myself together, however, and found this cute little hermit thrush parked low in a tree beside the river for a second.

Out on the water, meanwhile, another coot has dropped in, and this one was much less shy, so I got to have a nice look at it. Its pale beak suggests that it’s still a youngster, and perhaps that’s why.

The grebe and wood ducks are still on the pond, and they are starting to attract a gaggle of photographers. I counted three this morning, but for me, the better action was in the trees on the backside. There, I found this darling red-bellied woodpecker working vigorously on getting that crabapple into its belly.

Even better, there was a young yellow-bellied sapsucker nearby who seemed interested in the crabapple operation.

In fact, the sapsucker kept inching closer, as though maybe the woodpecker would pass over a sample, but the woodpecker was having none of that and shooed the hapless sapsucker away.

The woodpecker had barely skipped a beat before it was right back at that crabapple.

Finally, it was cool this morning and partly cloudy, so I didn’t see any butterflies. Instead, here’s a pretty clouded sulphur from a couple of days ago.

Lastly, the Milwaukee Birders are heading to Havenwoods State Forest tomorrow, and I think I’ll pop over to see who there might be to see there. Come on out, if you’re able, and perhaps I’ll see you there.