Author Archives: Andrew Dressel

As promised yesterday, here are some of the new blossoms in the park. Left and right both appear to be pale purple coneflower or prairie coneflower (Echinacea pallida) growing by the connection to the Oakleaf trail just south of the middle parking lot. The middle looks like common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) blossoms covered with antsContinue reading “A smorgasbord”

I learned all kinds of new things yesterday. It was nap time again for mom and her ducklings around noon again, and don’t worry, all 5 were still there. It’s just that this little pile o’cuteness on the river bank made the best photo. Also, chipmunks climb trees just fine, it turns out, a factContinue reading “Speaking of old dogs…”

Those of you who read these words and don’t just look at the pretty pictures (and you know who you are) may recall me mentioning yesterday that there were no water fowl on the pond. Well, I found a whole bunch down on the river, instead! Yesterday afternoon I spotted two families of mallards: oneContinue reading “Where the wild things are…”

And most of the critters in the park seemed to see it that way, too. Sure, there were a couple of rabbits about, and plenty of birds were singing from the safety of their well foliated branches, but the pond was still, and I saw nary a mosquito even when on the trail beside theContinue reading “Another good morning for sleeping in…”

It’s a cool and breezy morning with not much new to see. Instead, I propose we take a look at who else was out on Sunday afternoon, when the air was warm, and the breeze was mild. First up is a silver-spotted skipper (Epargyreus clarus), of which we first saw an example just over aContinue reading “Cool Tuesday”

It looked like it was going to rain on a quiet and sleepy Monday morning in Estabrook Park after all the excitement of Fathers’ Day and the Summer Solstice this past weekend. I did see a couple of the baby bunnies just north of the beer garden again, but there were no deer on theContinue reading “Sleepy Monday”

Happy Summer, everybody! I hope you all survived your raucous Solstice parties unscathed, or at least barely scathed. Oh! And Happy Fathers’ to all the dads out there, including mine! I hope you are all enjoying your new neckties as much as our painted turtle buddy from Friday. You can just see the pride inContinue reading “Happy Days!”

Thanks to eagle-eye Anne, this morning I finally got that baby bunny picture I’ve been after since first spotting them in May. This little cutie, barely bigger than my coffee mug, is probably from a new batch. They grow up so quickly. Meanwhile, have you ever had that experience when you just get yourself allContinue reading “Lots of visitors this morning…”

Man, this string of beautiful mornings is really something, eh? Even the critters seem to be feeling it, and here are two out making the most of it. The turtle was at the disc golf first tee, and the toad was in line at the beer garden. I let the turtle play on and toldContinue reading “Everyone’s out for a morning stroll”

Well, one beetle, at least. You’ve got to know by now that I’ve been dying to use that headline for days, and today’s the day I just couldn’t wait anymore. If any of you are gardeners, you know darn well that if there’s one beetle, there are sure to be more, right? I found thisContinue reading “Ladies and gentlemen…the Beetles!”