Author Archives: Andrew Dressel

It was another picture-perfect morning in Estabrook with cool, still air, blue skies, and a nice warm sun. The lower river is pretty quiet, now that most of the ice has cleared out, with just a few geese, a few mallards, and only one goldeneye hen and one common merganser hen this morning. I didContinue reading “In case you thought it couldn’t get better.”

The forecast for this morning was just too good to pass up, with temps in the 20s, to firm up all the mud, crystal blue skies, and light winds, so I squeezed in a trip to Estabrook before school, and the 6:15am sunrise sure helped. Right off the bat, at the far south end, IContinue reading “There’s a party going on right here.”

I waited for the snow to subside before heading out this morning, in hopes of keeping my lens clean, and I was glad to find there were still plenty of pretty sights to see so late in the day. Here’s our first great blue heron since January, before the deep freeze. “Welcome back, Beautiful!” AnotherContinue reading “Hoodies, Herons, and Scaups. Oh my!”

Given the rain last night, including thunder and lightning, and the howling winds, I didn’t have great expectations for my visit to Estabrook this morning. The most noticeable effect of the recent weather was the huge loss of river ice. I am happy to report, however, that all that newly open water hasn’t gone toContinue reading “Plenty of activity, despite the weather.”

The air felt surprisingly cold for 36°F, and the trail mud was surprisingly firm for 36°F, so they sort-of cancelled each other out, and it was not a bad morning to visit Estabrook Park. There were a few mallards and goldeneyes on the lower river, but way fewer than just a week ago, and nothingContinue reading “Yet another new arrival…”

Things are getting pretty noisy in Estabrook. The singing cardinals, chickadees, and red-bellied woodpeckers have been joined by several red-winged blackbirds along the river and now a huge gaggle of geese. There were as many as 100 birds on the river at the north end, and they all appeared to be  jockeying for about aContinue reading “More changes afoot.”

It was a pretty nice early-March morning, but I had to go to school today, so Estabrook had to wait. The good news, however, is that our two favorite sleepy-heads in Cambridge Woods were both sawing wood again this morning. Plus, they were way more visible than last time, and there was even a bitContinue reading “A cardinal and two pairs.”

The overcast was heavy, but the trail mud was frozen nice and firm, and the forecast precipitation didn’t materialize, so it was a fine morning to visit Estabrook. Besides several dozen mallards, I was happy to see a pair of common mergansers still on the lower river, and here’s the hen airing out her wings.Continue reading “More happy signs that spring is near.”

What a fabulous start to March! By the time I got to Estabrook, temps were in the 40s, the sun was out, and the breeze was light. The only downside was that the path along the river was mostly a sea of mud, so I had to stay off most of it. Luckily for us,Continue reading “In like a lamb”

It was a little breezy and not very sunny, but the temps were right around freezing, and the trail was nice and firm, so a pretty nice morning for a stroll in Estabrook. A common merganser drake was back on the river at the south end, perhaps even the one I failed to capture SaturdayContinue reading “February waves goodbye”