Author Archives: Andrew Dressel

The big news in Estabrook is that the water fowl are starting to arrive back on the pond. We first saw a couple of Canada geese surveying the frozen situation from shore Saturday, but now that the open water is up to a solid (liquid?) 5%, there are a fine-looking pair of mallards… … andContinue reading “Coming home to roost…”

The river trail was nice and firm this morning, after the cold temps last night, but that might be the last time for a while, with low temps forecast to be above freezing for the rest of the week, so I did my best to take advantage of it. The lower river has pretty muchContinue reading “Just some odds and ends…”

We’re in for yet another beautiful blue-sky day in Estabrook, and I feel like Steve Martin doing the LA weather report saying that, but my buddy Max suggests this is partially due to the recent reduction in human activity, and some science seems to back him up.1,2,3 The activity on the river continues to evolveContinue reading “Nature takes her time…”

Things are finally starting to happen at the pond. The ice is still thick and probably covers 99% of the water, but the birds are starting to arrive anyway. First up is this red-winged blackbird, who was enthusiastically announcing his presence to everyone within earshot on this glorious March morning. Woo hoo! While I wasContinue reading “More signs of Spring!”

I’ve gotta proctor an exam at UWM this morning, so no time for a park visit. Skies are grey anyway today, and here’s hoping that the redheads will still be there tomorrow. The good news is that it was crazy nice out yesterday afternoon, I got my chores done early, and a fellow park visitorContinue reading “Field Trip!”

Where to start? Where to start? Spring is really starting to spring, the sun was out, the air was calm, the temperature was mild, and the sky was blue, blue, blue. Best of all, we’ve got three, not one, not two, but three new arrivals in the park to report! First, and most exciting forContinue reading “And so it begins…”

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…”