Author Archives: Andrew Dressel

I didn’t get to the park until the afternoon, almost all the snow is gone now, and more than half of the pond ice is gone as well. The mallards and the Canada geese were getting comfortable with all the newly exposed water … … and the grass. The big new arrival, however, are theseContinue reading “Snow comes and goes…”

It appears that a few fish in the pond did not survive the winter, and some herring gulls wanted them. The geese didn’t seem to mind. Meanwhile, the mallard pair was expanding their range, on and off the ice. Parts of the river trail are starting to dry out, if not under the water ofContinue reading “Not every one is a winner…”

Not much new to report today, and we seem to be in bit of a holding pattern while waiting for the pond ice to hurry up and melt already. The pair of geese were in the tiny patch of now-open water on the south end of the island when I arrived at the pond, andContinue reading “Please hold…”

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…”