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Yesterday was a long day of trains, planes, buses, and automobiles, but I made it home in one piece, and slept well. The weather’s been busy here today, but between the downpour this morning and the gusty winds this afternoon, there was a calm in Estabrook Park long enough for the critters to put onContinue reading “Gee, but it’s great to be back home…”

The rain did quit by morning, and the sun even came out around noon, but man-oh-man it sure was cold in the breeze before then. After a couple of hours outside, I had to go back to my apartment, get warmed up, and put on more layers before going out again. When the sun wasContinue reading “Full Circle”

Despite flipping to a new page in the calendar, the wet weather continues unabated here in South Holland. Happily, the birds just keep singing, and new ones keep arriving, so here’s who I could get a picture of this morning. The wrens have been loud and proud for a few weeks now, but usually fromContinue reading “April Showers!”

Oof, what a morning. It wasn’t raining or particularly cold, but the unrelenting wind was whipping at a constant 27 mph, and I can still feel it on my skin after a nice lunch, shower, and nap. The birds were abundant, however, and I even spotted a few hares, but everyone was hunkered down andContinue reading “The March Wind Howls”

Happy belated vernal equinox. I read that it occurred sometime last evening, depending on your time zone. Anyway, I’ve got some pictures left over from the weekend that “didn’t fit the narrative,” so I thought I’d use them to help celebrate this special occasion. First up, here’s a handsome tufted duck drake from Saturday, whenContinue reading “Happy Spring!”

I spoke too soon about the spring weather, I guess, because the cool breeze this morning cut right to my bones even with another layer on, but I should thank my lucky stars that at least it wasn’t also raining. The chill was worth it, however, to catch a glimpse finally of the aptly-named bluethroatContinue reading “‘Tis the season…”

With any luck, we are finally done with snow and heavy overnight frost. Today I got away without wearing my poofy coat for the first time this season, and I mostly left my gloves in my pocket. Another noticeable change is that the chiffchaff are back and singing up a storm. This morning it wasContinue reading “Starting to get on Spring’s good side…”

Oof, what a morning! At first, I was all excited because the rain did quit early, as I am sure you all hoped, and the radar looked nice and clear. Then, when I got out to the Ackerdijkse Plassen, I was reminded that soaking drizzle does not appear on radar, and I only dared take outContinue reading “Almost drizzled out.”

The trip to Bavaria I mentioned last weekend didn’t pan out, so I’m still here in South Holland, and what a beautiful day it was, especially after the rain and snow we had for most of the week. It was cold, and most open water had a skin of ice, but the sun was out,Continue reading “A brand-new bird, some returnees, and a vagrant, oh my!”

Besides all the new birds I saw yesterday or was finally able to photograph for the first time, there were plenty of old favorites around, too. While I was checking out the falcons up on the School of Architecture tower, I noticed a pair of European jays in the tree right over my head. TheyContinue reading “Weekend Wrapup”