Author Archives: Andrew Dressel

Thank goodness their mom was able to find some native milkweed after such a long flight, eh? I hear the non-native milkweeds are actually bad for the monarchs. Thus, the less-than-fastidious lawn mowing in the park this summer is serving a greater purpose, it seems. Meanwhile, the yellow salsify (Tragopogon dubius) has opened just outsideContinue reading “Heirs apparent!”

The bright sun on warm days and a clear, cool night made for a nice mist rising off the pond this morning. It would be a great morning for swimming lessons, if any of you are old enough to remember taking swimming lessons in the local pond on cold summer mornings. I’ve got only oneContinue reading “Smoke on the water…”

I am very excited to report the sighting of another duckling! This time it’s a good-sized blue-winged teal on the river with its mom on a gorgeous Sunday afternoon. You may recall that we first saw the Mr. and Mrs. on the pond back on April 11, when we still had frost on the grassContinue reading “More babies and bugs”

Yesterday, long-time reader Dan stopped by, and we went on a field trip down the west side of the river to North Ave and back up the east side, about 3 miles round trip in the fabulous Milwaukee River Greenway. I brought my camera, just in case, and am sure glad I did, but let’sContinue reading “What a bunch of babies…”

Yikes it was a cold morning for June: 50°F, and the wind made if feel like 45°F. I had to break out a fuzzy hat, and maybe that’s what set off these red-winged blackbirds. I was just walking around the pond on the paved path, minding my own business, and they were simply not havingContinue reading “Birds go ballistic!”

It was another cool morning, but maybe too cool for some critters. There was not a lot going on. Oh sure, the squirrels and rabbits were going about their business, and robins where everywhere, but the pond was empty until one female wood duck flew in, there were no deer to fear, and I haven’tContinue reading “A butterfly bonanza!”

Man! What a super deluxe morning. The air was calm, cool, and crisp, and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, but let’s get right to the action! Several Baltimore orioles took exception to where a crow had perched itself, and they expressed their displeasure with great enthusiasm. The crow stuck it out for quiteContinue reading “Drama in the high trees!”

The ducklings, fresh off their hot debut yesterday, where nowhere to be found this morning. Nowhere that I looked, anyway. Mallards and wood ducks were on the pond, and I did startle a great blue heron, for which I am very sorry, but he did get a nice send off from a red-wing blackbird forContinue reading “All Creatures …”

I got out a little earlier this morning, and I’m sure glad I did because I got to enjoy this spectacle of Mrs. Mallard taking her new ducklings on what might be their first tour of the pond. The light was still low, and they were always moving so my camera struggled to capture evenContinue reading “Wait… there’s more!”

You’ve got to be wondering, how long can this go on? I know I do. After all, how many birds even are there, anyway? At some point, we’ve got to have seen them all, right? Right. But today is not that day. I was by the pond, heard a new, cheerful call, simply looked up,Continue reading “New kid in town”