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Wow, that was cold! The thermometer said 9°F this morning, but the stiff breeze out of the north made if feel as though it was well below zero. The sun rose right on schedule, at 6:09 AM, and I was out the door soon after that, but I didn’t even hear a cardinal singing untilContinue reading “Winter’s last blast, for real this time.”

Our streak of nice weather continued this morning with nicely frozen trails and clear skies. The great blue heron was up early and had found itself a nice sunny spot on the far shore. Northern cardinals were singing to the heavens from seemingly every available perch. Above the falls, one pair of buffleheads had extricatedContinue reading “The dating games…”

It’s getting light enough early enough for me to squeeze in a quick trip to Estabrook before I go to school, so that’s what I did this morning. The thermometer said 20°F, but the breeze was supposed to make it feel like 7°F, and the cloud cover was pretty thick, so it sure felt likeContinue reading “That’ll wake you up!”

It was another picture-perfect morning in Estabrook with cool, still air, blue skies, and a nice warm sun. The lower river is pretty quiet, now that most of the ice has cleared out, with just a few geese, a few mallards, and only one goldeneye hen and one common merganser hen this morning. I didContinue reading “In case you thought it couldn’t get better.”

The forecast for this morning was just too good to pass up, with temps in the 20s, to firm up all the mud, crystal blue skies, and light winds, so I squeezed in a trip to Estabrook before school, and the 6:15am sunrise sure helped. Right off the bat, at the far south end, IContinue reading “There’s a party going on right here.”

I waited for the snow to subside before heading out this morning, in hopes of keeping my lens clean, and I was glad to find there were still plenty of pretty sights to see so late in the day. Here’s our first great blue heron since January, before the deep freeze. “Welcome back, Beautiful!” AnotherContinue reading “Hoodies, Herons, and Scaups. Oh my!”

Given the rain last night, including thunder and lightning, and the howling winds, I didn’t have great expectations for my visit to Estabrook this morning. The most noticeable effect of the recent weather was the huge loss of river ice. I am happy to report, however, that all that newly open water hasn’t gone toContinue reading “Plenty of activity, despite the weather.”

The air felt surprisingly cold for 36°F, and the trail mud was surprisingly firm for 36°F, so they sort-of cancelled each other out, and it was not a bad morning to visit Estabrook Park. There were a few mallards and goldeneyes on the lower river, but way fewer than just a week ago, and nothingContinue reading “Yet another new arrival…”

Things are getting pretty noisy in Estabrook. The singing cardinals, chickadees, and red-bellied woodpeckers have been joined by several red-winged blackbirds along the river and now a huge gaggle of geese. There were as many as 100 birds on the river at the north end, and they all appeared to be  jockeying for about aContinue reading “More changes afoot.”

It was a pretty nice early-March morning, but I had to go to school today, so Estabrook had to wait. The good news, however, is that our two favorite sleepy-heads in Cambridge Woods were both sawing wood again this morning. Plus, they were way more visible than last time, and there was even a bitContinue reading “A cardinal and two pairs.”