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The overcast was heavy, but the trail mud was frozen nice and firm, and the forecast precipitation didn’t materialize, so it was a fine morning to visit Estabrook. Besides several dozen mallards, I was happy to see a pair of common mergansers still on the lower river, and here’s the hen airing out her wings.Continue reading “More happy signs that spring is near.”

What a fabulous start to March! By the time I got to Estabrook, temps were in the 40s, the sun was out, and the breeze was light. The only downside was that the path along the river was mostly a sea of mud, so I had to stay off most of it. Luckily for us,Continue reading “In like a lamb”

It was a little breezy and not very sunny, but the temps were right around freezing, and the trail was nice and firm, so a pretty nice morning for a stroll in Estabrook. A common merganser drake was back on the river at the south end, perhaps even the one I failed to capture SaturdayContinue reading “February waves goodbye”

It was a nice enough morning in Estabrook, with mild temps and mostly clear skies, but I had a hard time finding any pretty pictures for you. The cardinals are getting even thicker, if you can believe it, and there were probably a dozen just at the pond. They must have had a banner yearContinue reading “Sometimes, it’s the little things…”

It was a spectacular morning in Estabrook with clear blue skies, light winds, 11 degrees of Fahrenheit, and the snow from yesterday still looking fresh on the ground. I was excited to see a common merganser drake back on the lower river, but he was less thrilled to see me, and he didn’t let meContinue reading “Several happy returns…”

It did finally snow last night, and we ended up with about four, light-and-fluffy inches of the stuff, which is our biggest accumulation this winter. Then there was a mix of lake-effect snow showers and bright sun against a blue sky this morning, so quite the pretty scene. Plus, folks seemed to expect that theContinue reading “Fresh snow makes everything nice…”

I hear that snow is on its way, and it sure appeared that way in Estabrook when I arrived around noon today, but it’s not supposed to start in earnest until sunset. The yellow-bellied sapsuckers must have heard that the red-bellied woodpeckers were getting into their sap, because I spotted my first one today, thisContinue reading “Word travels fast…”

Sure, it was 11°F, but the sun came out to light up all the ice from yesterday, and it was pure magic! The coating of ice on the trails was amazing, much thicker than I expected, and the dusting of snow, like sifted powdered sugar, which hid the ice and provided an extra layer ofContinue reading “A Crystal Palace”

A lot of sleet and ice was forecast, and we did get enough for UWM to cancel classes today, but not really enough to do a lot of damage, thank goodness. There was a break in the precipitation early this afternoon, so I hopped over to Estabrook to see if anyone was around. The usualContinue reading “Ice Ice Baby”

At 32°F, it was wonderfully mild this morning, even if the wind was blowing a bit. The pretty blue skies were gone, but the birds were out in droves, so all-in-all, it was a great day to visit Estabrook. The rapidly expanding open water on the lower river was chock full ‘o mallards this morning,Continue reading “Some tantalizing new sights.”