It is a soaking wet morning again, and I don’t know if and when I’ll be able to get into Estabrook today, but I’ve got some great news to report, in case you don’t enjoy the Journal Sentinel with breakfast as Anne and I do.

Paul A. Smith reports on the front page of the sports section that “Bald eagles [are] nesting in Milwaukee County”! Woo Hoo!

You may recall when I got all excited about seeing an eagle flying with a stick back on March 5, and until now, Milwaukee County was the only county in the state not to have a breeding pair of bald eagles.

Well, Mr. Smith’s article explains that one pair of eagles “have been observed sitting on [their nest on public land in southern Milwaukee County] around-the-clock.” Furthermore, “eagles have been seen this year working on three other nests in Milwaukee County [including] one on private land in the east-central and one on private land in the northeast.” Either one of those could well be the eagles we’ve been seeing in Estabrook Park. Hot diggity dog!

I’m pretty sure we’ve been seeing two different adults, and here are the best portraits I’ve got so far.

This is the one from March 14, with some gray smudges on its beak, and who also took off with a branch in its talons.

And here it is again, a day later, with the same gray smudges on its beak.

Here is a different eagle, I believe, without those gray smudges and with a distinct crease on the side of its beak from March 18.

And here’s that second one again, still without the smudges and with the crease, the very next day. That’s also when we got to see its ankle bracelet.

If you squint, you could even say you saw it here first, right? How exciting is that?

PS. You’ll not be surprised to learn that Lisa, our owl spotter, saw the newspaper article last evening already and tipped me off with a text message. Thanks again!

It seems that the drizzle won’t stop, and the fog won’t clear, but I needed the walk anyway, so I went out with just my phone. Check out this happy sight that I found waiting for me by the pond! Spring is really starting to spring now!

I bumped into a birder new to Estabrook, who reported that it wasn’t foggy in Mukwonago when he left home. Nevertheless, he was thrilled to see all the golden-crowned kinglets we have, and he alerted me to buffleheads, hooded mergansers, and wood ducks down on the river. I did manage to spot the buffleheads, two drakes and a hen, and one hooded merganser drake, but the wood ducks stayed hidden in the fog. Maybe I’ll see them tomorrow, if this rain ever ends.

No sense in sugar coating it. This morning started out cold and dreary, and then it began to rain. The good news, however, is that I spotted another new arrival in Estabrook, this little cutie beside the river, whom I believe is an eastern wood-pewee, just in from South America!

At first, I thought it was an eastern phoebe, but its feathers make quite the little peak at the back of its head, it’s beak has a tiny hook at the end, and it “looks like it’s wearing a gray or dusky vest.” All these features better match the wood-pewee than the phoebe. We’ll see soon enough if the experts let my identification stand.

I saw neither the beaver nor the muskrat, but here’s another muskrat picture from yesterday, in which it appears to be sniffing an old beaver-gnawed log.

The great horned owl was in its regular spot again, but the lighting this morning really helps to make it visible through the brush.

The golden-crowned kinglets were as plentiful as yesterday, but the low light this morning made my pictures much worse, so here’s one more from yesterday.

I heard the killdeer, but couldn’t spot them, and the kingfisher was silent this morning, so here are a couple more pictures from Sunday when the light was nice on the pond.

The blur is caused by the sticks I was shooting through.

It appears that the last of our winter water fowl have finally flown north, and even the solo goldeneye drake and the solo, red-breasted merganser drake from yesterday were gone this morning. Meanwhile, I’ve only spotted wood ducks twice so far this year.

Tune in tomorrow to find out if our newest arrival really is an eastern wood-pewee, if any wood ducks finally arrive to stick around, and if the rain really does continue for another day.

The beautiful weather yesterday seems to have caused a regular “changing of the guard” in Estabrook Park. Today, all the common mergansers, hooded mergansers, and buffleheads were gone, and they were replaced by golden-crowned kinglets, which were thick along the river.

I did see one red-breasted merganser drake, perhaps the one we saw on the pond a few days ago, and one goldeneye drake, but they both kept to the far shore of the river. The kingfisher and killdeer were also around, but had no time for pictures this morning. The one subject who did sit still and close enough, if well hidden, was the great horned owl again. Here you can see one closed eye and one “horn”.

Finally, the muskrat must have heard from the beaver yesterday that I was offering free portraits, and so it came out for my best muskrat portrait yet. What a little cutie-pie, eh?

I see the forecast calls for the next three mornings to be wet, but so was today’s, and if they turn out to be as nice, we should be in good shape.

Wow! What a morning! I couldn’t ask for a better first day of spring. I counted 34 different species of bird, with some help from my friends, and a few were even willing to sit for a picture. The first one was this little American tree sparrow on a frosty log beside the river. I was surprised to find one still here, considering how far they have to go.

North of the falls, I caught up with Lisa, who performed her usual magic and spotted a great horned owl hiding in a tangle of branches and vines on the southern island. This is the best picture I could manage, but you can see its shape, the pattern on its feathers, and even its horns.

Between the islands, we spotted a couple pair of common mergansers, a couple pair of goldeneyes, one red-breasted merganser drake, a couple of killdeer, and a few hooded mergansers, including this handsome drake.

There was even one pair of buffleheads who haven’t flown north yet, and here they are. He’s got his eye on me, while she checks for eagles, but we saw no eagles today.

We did see the first beaver in a while, and farther north than I’ve ever seen them.

Back up on the bluff, as I headed for the pond, and Lisa headed for her car, she spotted a great blue heron flying north over the parkway. Amazing!

At the pond, the red-winged blackbird males were hard at work staking out their territory, before the females arrive, but I didn’t see any actually fighting today. Instead, I did see this grackle striking a pose.

As I was checking for sparrows at the edge of the lawn, I heard the familiar call of a kingfisher and was thrilled to see her park herself in a tree over the island.

Here she is again on a different branch and facing our way so we can see her beautiful orange belt.

Finally, on my way home, I stopped by the mushrooms again to take advantage of the better light this morning.

I sure hope your spring is off to as great a start as mine is!

Once again reality was not nearly as soggy as the forecast, and it was not a bad morning for seeing the sights in Estabrook Park. Things are starting to quiet down on the river, and I didn’t see a single common merganser today. There was still one pair of buffleheads, one pair of hooded mergansers, and a few goldeneyes, however, and here’s one of the immature males swimming all by his lonesome.

As I was searching the water at the north end, my new buddy came by to do the same. When I first spotted it soaring in, I tried to duck behind a tree, but I haven’t yet learned a way to predict if and where they might land, so when it did land, it was nearly overhead. I really didn’t want to spook it away, so I did the only thing I could think of at the time and just laid down on the wet grass, which did the trick. I’m sure it saw me, but it must have figured anyone fool enough to lay down on the wet grass like that could not possibly be a threat.

After a while, my neck was starting to cramp from trying to take pictures on my side, so I just rolled onto my back and propped my camera on my belly. Eventually, I began to wonder how long it was gonna stay there and how long I was gonna have to lay there. Luckily for me, not everyone was as excited to have an eagle perched nearby as I was, and this bold little red-winged blackbird came to my rescue.

This is the last shot I got before the eagle decided it had had just about enough of that pesky little bird, and it headed back north.

But before it went, however, it really showed off the jewelry it is sporting on its left ankle. I read that uncolored, metal bands are “federally regulated … with a unique 9 digit number to identify individuals.” Unfortunately, I can read only 4 of the 9 digits, “9-445”, so that’s as far as we can go for now. I have never seen one of those in the wild before.

On my way back south, a trio of golden-crowned kinglets teased me as they danced from limb to limb, and this was the best picture I could get.

At the pond, the pair of geese were still there, but not nesting yet. Instead, the prettiest picture came from one lone, red-breasted merganser drake who seemed quite sleepy, and only a few of my pictures catch him with his eyes open.

There were also plenty of male red-winged blackbirds around, and these two got into such a tussle that it took them to the ground. That’s also something I have never seen before.

Lastly, it appears that the recent rain and warm weather has already got some mushrooms sprouting. Does anyone know what kind these are?

Despite the wet forecast, I lucked out and stayed dry today. It was a good morning for seeing birds, if tough for photographing them, but I took some anyway.

At the north end, the crowd of buffleheads have moved on and left only one pair behind. Similarly, the flock of common mergansers have flown north and left just one hen behind. There were still 3 pairs of hooded mergansers and about the same goldeneyes, but the interesting sight for me was this little quartet of misfits. I see a solo hooded merganser hen, two goldeneye hens, and one young goldeneye drake who doesn’t yet have his mating plumage. They look about as thrilled as the wedding guests at table 19.

Another great sight that I failed to capture this time was a belted kingfisher finally back on the Milwaukee River.

A bald eagle came by again, stared at the floating duck buffet for a while, and then flew back upriver. It’s beak appears to have different markings from the one we saw earlier this week.

As I hiked from the river to the pond, I glanced up in time to catch this amazing spectacle of nearly three dozen swans flying north in a big v-formation. That’s certainly a first for me.

Finally, at the pond, the pair of Canada geese were there but not yet nesting, a pair of mallards was dabbling, and this pair of mallards was snoozing on a log. I don’t believe I’ve ever caught both with their eyes closed at the same time before.

I bumped into Charlotte, a professional wildlife biologist, by the pond, and she helped me spot a winter wren along the river, but it eluded both our cameras. At the south end, just as we were heading our separate ways, she heard another, even bigger, flock of swans with four to five dozen birds, I’d guess. I didn’t bother with my camera that time and just enjoyed the show.

I see the forecast for tomorrow morning is just as wet as today’s was, so here’s hoping I get just as lucky.

Yesterday afternoon was so beautiful, I couldn’t help but go to Estabrook a second time, and that’s what it took to finally capture some images of the killdeer that I’ve been hearing on the river.

I had an exam to proctor this morning, so I couldn’t go early, but I hurried home as soon as I could, and got out while the weather was still nice. I heard the killdeer again but didn’t see them. Instead, I was treated to this spectacle of eight (8!) buffleheads all swimming together. I could not believe my luck.

Finally, this male hairy woodpecker was uncharacteristically close to the ground for just long enough for me to take this portrait.

I also saw a pied-billed grebe in the distance, but it eluded me this time. Maybe next time.

It was a nice enough morning in Estabrook, but the air was a little foggy, so no good for long shots, and the birds were a little busy, so in no mood for portraits. Thus, I didn’t take many pictures and saved a lot on film.

I was happy to see again the great blue heron who’s been hanging around, and here’s one picture I did take.

All the regulars are still on the water at the north end: Canada geese, mallards, common goldeneyes, common mergansers, hooded mergansers, a pair of buffleheads, and even the solo scaup drake. One new-comer, whom I failed to capture, was a wood duck hen. We saw a couple of drakes back on March 2, but this is our first hen of the season.

I didn’t see our eagle this morning, but here are some pictures from Monday that I haven’t shown you yet. It seems that it had an itch to scratch.

I hope that felt as good as it looks, but it’s probably gotta be real careful with talons like those, right?

Anyway, another first for the season was the little chipmunk that scampered across the trail in front of me. It had no time for me or my camera, but this grey squirrel already had its morsal and was luxuriously munching on it beside the pond in a brief slice of sun. “Why don’t ya take a picture? It’ll last longer.” “Thanks! Will do!”

The ice continues to melt on the pond, and I’d guess the water is about 30% clear. There were two pair of mallards today, but the geese were up grazing on the lawn beside the road. I see we’re in for a real warm patch this afternoon, so here’s hoping that helps things along.

It was pretty dreary looking this morning, when the sun did finally come up, so I didn’t mind going to campus instead of the park. Plus, the sun started to burn through the clouds a bit later this morning, when I got back home from school.

There are still plenty of fancy water fowl around, but I didn’t see any scenes as pretty as yesterday’s, so here’s another look at a pair of hooded mergansers from yesterday that I didn’t use.

While I was checking out the birds on the water, look who showed up to join me. The location isn’t as pretty as yesterday, but it was over the east shore, so I was able to get a lot closer. My, what a big, sharp beak it has, eh?

Meanwhile, the pair of Canada geese were still on the pond, and one was even investigating the island. It shouldn’t be long now before there’s a nest with some eggs in it. Yay!

Back along the river, the song sparrows continue to be plentiful, and this one posed in nice bright light for a change.

Finally, I spotted our great blue heron again, but failed to get an image. Instead, here’s one from Sunday that I didn’t use.

Another hopeful sign that spring must really be on its way is that I did finally did see the killdeer I’ve heard a couple of times already. This time it made a couple of big figure-8s over the river and then flew off over the far shore.

The forecast looks nice for tomorrow morning, and I can’t wait to see if anyone else new shows up.