Author Archives: Andrew Dressel

It’s a banner day on the pond, boys and girls, so let’s get right to the main event! That’s right! Mrs. Wood Duck has a duckling, and it appeared quite energetic this morning. I read that “they usually nest in cavities in trees close to water, although they will take advantage of nesting boxes,” and IContinue reading “Double the excitement!”

I finally got that nice shot of an indigo bunting (Passerina cyanea) I’ve been after for months. He was by the canoe/kayak launch and pretty high up, so still not super crisp, but you can see the little glint of his eye, which suggests that he’s at least in focus. Even the background isn’t tooContinue reading “Some birds put on a show…”

There were Canada geese on the pond this morning, which we haven’t seen in weeks, but I’ll spare you one more goose picture, and let’s start with some of the other familiar faces. From the animal kingdom, the mallard family with the one yellow duckling continues to hang out in the oxbow pond beside theContinue reading “Three kingdoms”

With the Farmers Market, Beer Garden, and beautiful weather added to the usual Sunday crowd, I tried the find the quietest spots I could, which tend to be along the river, and this is the oddball cast of characters I found there. First up is a young blue jay (Cyanocitta cristata), old enough to fly,Continue reading “A river grab bag”

I found our Mrs. Wood Duck down on the river yesterday afternoon, instead of up on the pond where we just saw her last, and it appeared that she had some youngins with her, but they quickly got and stayed out of sight. I didn’t see them this morning, but I’ll keep my eyes peeled.Continue reading “Down to the river they went…”

What? Which three Bs are you thinking of? First the birds. Now that the thistles are going to seed, the goldfinches are starting to be all over them. The young brown-headed cowbirds (Molothrus ater), whose eggs were laid in the nests of other species, appear to be now getting out on their own and somehow learning toContinue reading “The three Bs: birds, bugs, and blossoms.”

We had a nice line of thunderstorms roll through last evening, and precipitation lingered into this morning, so I got off to a latish start. At first, is seemed that everyone was still laying low. Even Ol’ Blue had to take a step back from his usual spot by the falls. So I headed upContinue reading “Must be my lucky day…”

It appears we’ve got our first new bird in a while, a young spotted sandpiper (Actitis macularius). It’s across the river and not very big, so the picture isn’t the best, but it’s the little grey and white shape right in the middle of all the grey and white rocks. I first spotted it atContinue reading “A pretty good mix of old and new…”

Right off the bat, let me present the reader photos of the week sent in by local naturalist John Giesa, which show the absolutely astounding caterpillar of the white-marked tussock moth (Orgyia leucostigma). The moth looks pretty cool, too, but we haven’t captured an image of one of those yet. In the meantime, tell meContinue reading “More cats and caterpillars…”

To commemorate the 100th day in a row, that’s every single day since March 30th, that we’ve managed to find something pretty and/or interesting to look at in Estabrook Park, I am thrilled to show you that I finally managed to find an American red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) willing to sit still for a second.Continue reading “Episode 100!”