Author Archives: Andrew Dressel

Wow! I wasn’t sure I’d even make it to the park today. Luckily, the snow finally petered out around 2pm, and the winds even let up, so I finally ventured in. No sense trying to take a picture of blowing snow, eh? The big raft of mallards was in their usual spot on the upperContinue reading “A nice snowy day…”

After the oddly slow day yesterday, I was relieved to see a lot more activity in the park today. It’s the start of the spring semester at UWM, so maybe that’s what was going on. First up was this lonely little female common merganser trying to get cozy with a few mallards on the lowerContinue reading “All kinds of new stuff…”

It was a super slow day in the park today. The new snow sure was pretty, but there were hardly any critters about, let alone new ones, and there were only a few mallards on the river. I got there later than usual, and maybe they had canceled the matinee. I did see this littleContinue reading “Sleepy Sunday…”

The sky was blue, the snow was white, the air was calm, the trail was firm, and yada, yada, yada. Just another …. oh, you know the drill. Usually, the lower half of the river, south of the mudflats, is pretty empty, with just a few mallards and maybe a gull or two, but todayContinue reading “Just another day in paradise…”

What can I say? After a long run of gloom, we’re having a string of amazing days, and it looks like the red-bellied woodpeckers are fixin’ to make some hay. I saw pairs like this more than once throughout the park. Even the nuthatch, who gave me such a hard time yesterday, seemed to beContinue reading “A pleasant change of pace…”

It is hard even to describe how beautiful it was in the park this morning. There was still plenty of shiny white snow on the ground, it was 20°F warmer than yesterday, and there was a breeze, but not so much that there weren’t areas of calm along the river and in the woods. MostContinue reading “Surprise, surprise, surprise…”

The sun was out, the air was still, the snow was fresh, the surface of the trail was like concrete, and I got the lay the first footprints on much of it. What a stupendous morning in Estabrook! Most critters were sleeping in, it seems, but I did see a lot of fresh rabbit tracks.Continue reading “Brisk, bracing, or just breathtaking?”

What a fabulous morning! The sun came out, parts of the sky were blue, the trail along the river was hard as a rock, and I just about had the place to myself. Sweet! Once again, a chickadee dared me to take its picture, and out of a dozen shots, this is the best IContinue reading “A brief break in the weather…”

It was a nice January morning, with freezing temps and a dusting of snow, but hungry birds gotta eat, so here’s a goldfinch filling up on great burdock seeds beside the southern soccer fields. Down on the river, just about all the usual suspects were about, including all three of the white water fowl we’veContinue reading “A winter’s day…”

Anne didn’t get the jigsaw puzzle finished last night, so I didn’t get to the park till after lunch today. The pair of buffleheads were there again, but even more shy than yesterday, so I didn’t even both with a new picture. There were three goldeneyes today, which makes for a fun scene. There wereContinue reading “Buffleheads, goldeneyes, and mergansers, oh my!”