Author Archives: Andrew Dressel

It was a perfect morning for pictures with a bright sun in the east and a crisp blue sky in the west. I set out to find a grosbeak, as one does, and these are the directions I had: Listen for its song, like a robin’s, but better. Follow the song to a tree LookContinue reading “A bevy of birds in the park this morning”

A Baltimore oriole has been at the pond two mornings in a row singing quite a song and making me work for a picture, a Jack-in-the-pulpit is up in woods with at least a dozen more on their way,  the white trillium are finally opening in several locations, and the toadshade is right on the verge ofContinue reading “More new arrivals in Estabrook!”

The air temperature was supposed to be 39°F, but with grey skies and the wind whipping out of the northeast, it felt like 32°F. The trout lilies, that close down in the night, didn’t even bother to open this morning. I stopped by the trillium, to check on their progress, and there was none.Then IContinue reading “Refugees welcomed at Estabrook Park pond”

It is a very gray and cool morning, with a breeze off the lake, so I’m in no hurry to get out there.Luckily for all of us, I finally caught a glimpse yesterday afternoon of my first warbler in the current migratory wave, about which I keep hearing.Give a hearty welcome to the Nashville warbler, onContinue reading “Warblers in my viewfinder at last in Estabrook Park”

It pays to get up early, it seems. Who could have known?As I approached the pond from the south, I spotted the geese and goslings on the lawn just to the west of the south end, so I headed in that direction, merely to say hi. Then, as absolutely amazing blind luck would have it,Continue reading “Enjoying the heron now this morning at the Estabrook Park pond”

WIth all the avian excitement yesterday, I didn’t even get to show you all that the recent April showers have brought.First up is the yellow trout lily (Erythronium americanum), a distinct species from the slightly-smaller and much-earlier-opening white trout lily (Erythronium albidum), which continues to bloom in big patches and has begun attracting bumblebees andContinue reading “The May Flowers are starting to arrive in Estabrook!”

We have some very exciting new surprise guests this morning, but first, let me set the scene.There was frost, at least on the cars, but maybe for the last time. We can hope, right? It’s May, after all! The bright sun did warm things up quickly, however, and by the time I got to the pond, theContinue reading “May Day in Estabrook!”

First things first, the pair of canada geese and all 8 goslings are still doing fine. I checked on them yesterday afternoon, and the goslings were out munching on the grass in the drizzle. Today, they were all dried out and catching some zzzs in the sun. I also spotted a pair of cowbirds, whichContinue reading “The sun returns to Estabrook”

The hourly forecast does not dip below an 80% chance of rain all day today, the ducks will be loving it, I bet, the geese and goslings will at least enjoy the lack of visitors, and the pilgrims should be arriving any day now. Fortunately, I managed to visit the park again yesterday afternoon beforeContinue reading “Rainy, rainy day in Estabrook Park”

It was a foggy morning, so I was probably looking at the ground more than the sky, and that’s how I spotted my first robin egg of the spring just off the Oakleaf Trail. The 8 goslings all seemed healthy and were getting ready for their morning nap when I got to the pond. ThereContinue reading “The first robin egg of spring in Estabrook”