Temps were somewhere in the mid-thirties this morning, depending on exactly where you mounted your thermometer. Plus, the sky was clear and the air was still, so we had our first frost of the season in Estabrook Park.
Despite the cool weather, we still have a few wood ducks on the pond, and here’s a drake blending right in with the vegetation along the edge. “Sorry, Buddy, but you stick out like a neon light.”
In the meadow beside the river at the north end, I found a couple of bucks, one of whom may have made the buck rub I spotted there earlier this week. This one doesn’t have the biggest rack I’ve seen, but his neck does already look wider than his head.
Then it was time for me to drop off my gear at home, put on my work coat, and join the Friends of Estabrook for their first of two fall Buckthorn Weedouts. As I mentioned yesterday, the Milwaukee River Keepers were also hosting a river cleanup this morning, but what I didn’t know was that the Spooky Sprint was also running today and the Milwaukee County Transit System (MCTS) annual Bus Roadeo competition was taking place in the UWM commuter lot just across the river, with a drum corps and everything. There was quite the carnival atmosphere in the park.
Anyway, we had a great weedout and removed a lot of buckthorn and honeysuckle to prepare for the tree planting next weekend, but it didn’t afford me the opportunity for many wildlife pictures, so here’s a young white-crowned sparrow from Thursday.
And here’s yet one more grebe picture, also from Thursday.
As we were hauling our tools out of the work site, however, I did notice a butterfly across the parkway, and by some miracle I was able to keep my eyes on it until it landed in the grass between the pollinator garden and the paved path. I gently set down my tools and hustled over to that spot, and it was still there. Even better, it must have been working hard to soak up some sun, and so it let me sneak a picture with the only camera I had, the phone in my pocket. Here it is, probably our last painted lady butterfly, and possibly our last butterfly at all, of the year. I read that they don’t overwinter in Wisconsin, but instead migrate to “the deserts of northern Mexico and the southwestern U.S.” “You’d best be getting on your way, Darling!”
I see the sunny skies are set to resume tomorrow morning, and the temps will be about 10°F warmer than today, but the wind will be about 10mph stronger. At least I won’t have to rush off for anything, and I wonder what I’ll see next.
