Author Archives: Andrew Dressel

Our recent interlude of mild winter weather continues in Estabrook today, and it was a beautiful morning for a walk in the park. Our American coot is still with us, and here it is in the exact same spot as the last two mornings. Man, it must really like it there. A red-breasted merganser drakeContinue reading “Sometimes things line up just right…”

It was a greyish morning in Estabrook Park, with bright spots in the cloud cover, and a bit warmer than the previous two days, but still cool enough to firm up the mud in the river path. As I hiked north along the river, I was thrilled to find our American coot again, in theContinue reading “A shy one finally relents…”

What an absolutely fabulous morning it was in Estabrook Park. The air was cool, crisp, and still, the skies were crystal clear, and the river path mud was frozen solid. There was even enough light for me to head out before 7am for the first time this year. My first reward for starting so earlyContinue reading “It’s starting to sound like spring…”

It appears that winter is not quite done with us yet, and actual air temperatures were in the low 20s this morning. The sky was cloudy, but not too dark, and the air was nice and still, so it was a pretty nice day to visit Estabrook Park. The first big surprise was spotting thisContinue reading “Cold finally returns…”

The actual temperature is supposed to be 33°F this morning in Estabrook Park, but the breeze and humidity make it feel like 24°F, and the thick layer of clouds between us and the sun does not help at all. I was pleasantly surprised to find a common merganser hen on the river again, so sheContinue reading “Almost feels like winter is back…”

If you don’t live around here, and/or you didn’t watch live television last evening, you may not yet have heard that Wisconsin had its first ever February tornado touch down last evening. So, there’s been a change in the weather. The sun is bright, the sky is blue, and I even had enough light toContinue reading “Blown away…”

Now that’s more like it! The skies were not crystal clear in Estabrook Park this morning, by any means, but they sure were clear enough to let some sun shine in and let some blue reflect off the river water. For these pictures, that makes all the difference in the world. The critters were notContinue reading “What a difference a day makes…”

The recent grey weather continued in Estabrook Park this morning. I did manage to hear plenty of birds on my walk, and I even saw some out on the river, but I didn’t see a single picture worth taking today. Oof. Instead, let me show you a fun flashback from almost exactly one year agoContinue reading “Something to look forward to…”

It’s another grey day in Estabrook Park, but the show must go on, so here’s who was out and about this morning. The buck with just one antler, who we last saw on the northern island back in October, was up and on the move. And today he had a doe with him. Yay! TheContinue reading “Just a couple of bucks….”

Jeepers! February just won’t give me a break. The skies are as grey as ever, and the critters won’t come out to play, but here are a couple that I managed to capture on film anyway. The red-tailed hawk, which we saw appearing to dry itself off beside the river last Thursday, was still dryContinue reading “Stuck in the doldrums of not spring and barely winter…”