Author Archives: Andrew Dressel

Yikes! And to think I thought it was cold yesterday. At least I was better dressed for it this time. Even the deer quartet we’ve been seeing lately appear to have sought someplace warmer. Otherwise, it was a beautiful morning in Estabrook, and the mergansers and goldeneyes were on the river at the south endContinue reading “Spring drags its feet…”

Man, someone must have been watching the calendar because as soon as it turned March, the weather became “cold and blustery”, especially compared to that balmy last week of February. I checked the temps before I headed out this morning and thought to myself, “27°F ain’t bad”, but I failed to see the “real feel”Continue reading “Happy March!”

If not giants, then at least the megafauna of Estabrook. I’m talking white-tail deer, the largest mammal at 88-198 lb, and Canada geese, the largest avian at 5.7–14.3 lb, which is slightly bigger than the bald eagle at 6.6-13.9 lb. Amazingly enough, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation has reported on a scuffle between a goose and an eagleContinue reading “The return of the Giants!”

Not a whole lot to report today. I was enjoying the beautiful weather in the park both yesterday afternoon and this morning but took a total of only 15 pictures instead of my usual daily average of over 100. It seems as though all the actors are waiting for the scene change so they canContinue reading “And scene…”

It was a surprisingly quiet morning in the park today. With the weather so nice, I figured everybody and their brother would be out, but that was not the case, and even the beaver were laying low. That’s just as well. Wouldn’t want to get bored of seeing them, right? Instead, we’re left with theContinue reading “The regular crowd shuffles in…”

The one beaver we saw on Sunday must have reported back to the burrow that the deep freeze has indeed broken because today there were two of them, seeming to nuzzle and snooze together on the river ice in the bright morning sun. Sorry for all the pictures. I can’t decide which is the cutest.Continue reading “And then there were two…”

And they are hungry! As our long deep freeze finally eases up, the beaver, who we haven’t seen even a single wood chip from since December, finally ventured out last night, and they left freshly cut and debarked logs on the ice in at least four locations along the lower river. Since I walked onContinue reading “The Beaver are Back, Baby!”

It was a day so nice, I had to go out in it twice, and boy, what a difference 20 degrees makes! This morning, I wore two pairs of gloves, and this afternoon, I wore none. With last night being probably our last deep freeze, I figured it was today or never to walk upContinue reading “Fabulous February!”

It’s been a quiet couple of days in the park, and do you know what that means, boys and girls? That means it’s arty picture day, where I try to supplement the meager content I have with pictures of super interesting snow and ice formations. Yay! First up is this fascinating bit if snow thatContinue reading “Odds and Ends…”

I am always surprised to rediscover how more comfortable single digits above zero are than single digits below zero. Add a smidgen of sun and a patch of blue sky or two and it was a very nice morning in the park. To mark the occasion, we had a visitor we haven’t seen in weeksContinue reading “A bit of normalcy returns…”