If you asked me to design the perfect mid-March morning, I don’t know what changes I would make to today’s specifications. It was cold enough overnight to firm up the trail, but in the mid-30s already when the sun came up, so I hardly needed gloves. Plus, the air was nearly still, and the sun even shown for a bit before the clouds rolled in.

Best of all, the birds responded in kind, and it sounded like an orchestra warming up in Estabrook this morning, and here’s one of the culprits, a song sparrow earning its name.

I was thrilled to see almost all of the usual crowd on the water above the falls. Even a greater scaup drake was back.

The goldeneyes seemed to have paired off, but this hen looks less than impressed with her drake today.

A few common mergansers are still around and here’s a drake looking anything but common.

The hooded mergansers still appear to be sorting things out.

The buffleheads haven’t taken off yet, either.

The cherry on top was the return of this mature bald eagle. The gulls and geese alerted me to its flyover as I was photographing the buffleheads, and I caught a glimpse of it through the trees and figured that was all I was going to get. When I finally continued north, however, I couldn’t believe my luck to spot it perched in a tree over the northern island.

Usually, as soon as one of these spots me coming up the trail, off they go, but this one seemed mesmerized by all the geese, ducks, and mergansers on the water below, like a kid reading the dollar menu at McDonalds.

Anyway, it eventually did take off and with a nice long branch in tow, so I headed over to the pond where I found this happy scene. A pair of geese were back on the ice, after taking a break for about a week, and they brought a pair of mallards with them this time.

Things are really picking up in Estabrook now.

It seemed as though it took a whole extra hour for dawn to come this morning, and it brought an extra surprise with it when it finally arrived. The great blue heron, however, whom we’ve been seeing on the river at the south end lately, did not appear to be as excited about one last burst of snow as I was. Hang in there, Buddy! I read it is supposed to reach into the high 40s this afternoon.

The mink still eludes me, and even teased me with a nice set of tracks this morning.

The change in weather got the red-winged blackbirds back to singing throughout the park, and this one by the pond was especially bold.

Back by the river, the song sparrows continue to be thick in the grass, and here’s one taking a short break from foraging.

Finally, by the time I got back to the south end, it had already warmed up quite a bit, and our heron had even found a new perch that got its toes out of the snow.

That’s gotta feel better, right?

I can’t wait to see what new arrivals the warmup will bring.

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 until after 7, let alone a robin or a red-winged blackbird. Them birds was froze!

Nevertheless, our recent resident great blue heron was already on the river at the south end when I went by, and it was still there when the light was much better on my way back home. Here it is on the far shore and seeming to ask, “Where the heck did all this fresh ice come from?”

“Sorry, buddy, but you probably know better than I do just how darn fickle Mother Nature can be.”

At the far north end, I counted over 100 Canada geese sleeping on the ice around the northern island, along with a few mallards, goldeneyes, common mergansers, hooded mergansers, and even a pair of buffleheads all on the water. I didn’t want to disturb all those slumbering geese, so I didn’t really get close enough for any pictures.

Instead, back on shore, there was a pair of nuthatches chattering to each other in a tree over the path, and this male really liked the spot he had and was not going to give it up.

Finally, by the pond, this robin appears to have given up trying to pry any worms out of the frozen ground and was sampling the staghorn sumac for a change.

I know that’s not a lot of pictures, but my fingers couldn’t take much more today. The good news, however, is that in the 10-day forecast, I don’t see a low temperature below freezing, so this really could be winters last blast.

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 extricated itself from their little pack.

Between the islands, I counted 10 common mergansers, more than I think I’ve ever seen, and here are the 5 closest together that I could capture.

The most interesting spectacle of the morning, however, were these three hooded merganser drakes vying for the attention of one hen. It appears that an important judging criterion is the size and fullness of the hood, which I guess isn’t very surprising given the fact that they have “hoods” at all.

It reminds me of one of those awards shows song and dance numbers with a female singer and a bunch of guys in tuxedoes. Best of luck, guys!

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 like winter.

As I’ve already mentioned, now that the river is clear of ice around the islands at the north end, the lower river is pretty quiet. Instead, I expected most of the action to be at the north end, and I didn’t have time to dawdle, so I stayed on the path as it skirts around the low grassy area down the bluff from the southern playground, where I had seen coyotes a few times back in January.

Well, wouldn’t you know it, this was the morning that one decided to reappear! Ha!

I spotted it out on the ice, and it appeared to be trying to cross to the other side, but a lot of the ice now is merely frozen foam that floats down from the falls and piles up into a thick mat. It turns out, however, that such a mat of frozen foam won’t even hold up a coyote, because this one fell right through. I was shooting through about 100 yards of trees and branches, so I couldn’t line up a gap until it had just fished itself back out, but you can still see the water draining out of its fur. Brrrrr! What a way to start the morning, right?

Here it is again, back safely on shore and already starting to look pretty puffy. Phew! I hope it dries out soon, and I wonder if and when it will try to cross again. It clearly knew I was there, so I gave it the friendliest wave I knew how. I stopped short of a thumbs-up, though.

Anyway, once the coyote was out of sight, I went down the bluff and onto the grassy lowland to check out some little birds I had spotted while watching the coyote. There were several song sparrows busily foraging away.

And at least one American tree sparrow mixed into the bunch.

After watching the coyote come south along the river, I didn’t expect to find anything bigger than a sparrow for a while, so I forged north and immediately startled the great blue heron standing on the shore. Dang! Sorry about that!

Luckily for us, it was really hungry, the fishing was really good, or there was just the right combination of the two, because it only moved a couple hundred yards upstream. This time, I knew to be stealthy, and it let me capture this image in return. That fresh mating season plumage sure is pretty, isn’t it?

Anyway, I did eventually make it to the north end where I counted at least 4 dozen geese, maybe 3 dozen mallards, 8 goldeneyes, 7 common mergansers, 6 hooded mergansers, 5 buffleheads, 2 greater scaup drakes, a couple of herring gulls, and one red-bellied merganser drake. I didn’t see any shots that were better than yesterday’s, and by then my time was up, so I hustled home, hopped on my bike, and rode to campus.

The forecast for tomorrow morning is a little warmer and a little sunnier, so I can’t wait to find out who we see next.

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 did see the heron again, as I made my way north, but the pictures didn’t come out very well, so I’ll spare you.

The action really begins above the falls now, with dozens of geese and mallards, over a dozen goldeneyes, 9 common mergansers, 8 hooded mergansers, 4 buffleheads, a pair of red-bellied mergansers, a couple of herring gulls, and one greater scaup drake.

The red-breasted merganser drake finally acceded to a portrait, and his timing was as impeccable as his outfit.

Here are 10 of the goldeneyes, 8 drakes and 2 hens, still sorting out who’s going to prom with whom.

On my way back south, the great blue heron gave me another chance, and this time we managed to make a nice picture.

That’s about it for this morning, but I did make it to the park again yesterday afternoon, and the conditions were nearly as good.

The red-breasted mergansers were at the south end at the time, and here are the drake and hen napping together with matching hairdos.

Here’s another nice look at one of the hooded merganser drakes at the north end.

Also at the north end, a pair of herring gulls alerted me to a bald eagle coming north over the river, and it headed for the trees on the far shore.

It didn’t stay long, however, and when it took off again, it appears that a red-tailed hawk joined the fray.

Finally, we had yet another new visitor yesterday afternoon, an American coot, whom we haven’t seen since last spring.

Meanwhile, the air is now full of songs by cardinals, robins, chickadees, red-winged blackbirds, red-bellied woodpeckers, white-breasted nuthatches, dark-eyed juncos, goldfinches, and more. It really is quite the spectacle, and I hope you get a chance to see and hear it while it lasts.

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, I was surprised to find the blue heron again so soon. The look on its face suggests that it was not as thrilled to be there this morning as I was.

Farther north, by the abandoned bridge abutment, and once the sun started reaching down into the valley, a group of grackles were soaking it up, and these three kindly perched close enough together to make a single presentable image.

Above the falls, the water was as crowded as yesterday, if not more, and here are three drakes in a row: a common merganser, a greater scaup, and a hooded merganser, from left to right.

Here’s a closeup of the scaup on that pretty water.

Here’s a common goldeneye pair that might as well be on golden pond!

And here’s a common merganser hen who caught herself a nice little fish, her girlfriend who just wants to help, and a pair of mallards looking on in bemusement.

Between the islands, there were even more birds, if you can believe it, and this panorama is chock full ‘o goldeneyes, common mergansers, and hooded mergansers.

Here are a bunch of goldeneye drakes trying to impress a hen.

And here’s a little train of bufflehead drakes following one hen while a second hen looks on.

And that’s not even counting the dozens of Canada geese, mallards, and even a pair of crows cawing from the northern island. The place really had a carnival atmosphere this morning.

Meanwhile, over by the pond, a trio of white throated sparrows stopped by, and this one was a tad too slow to completely evade my camera.

Finally, I counted four red-winged blackbirds around the pond, so they all couldn’t have the prime spot atop the tree at the center of the island, so this one had no choice but to let us have a closeup.

Then I had to hustle off to campus, but today is so nice, I think I’m gonna go give Estabrook a second look when I get home.

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!”

Another new sight for the season was the pair of geese at the pond taking another step towards nesting on the island. Here’s one checking out the little strip of open water off the southern tip.

This gorgeous female cardinal was also at the pond and looking for something good to eat.

Back down on the river, the male scaup was still on the water above the falls.

Around the northern island, I counted about 4 dozen geese, nearly the same number of mallards, 8 common merganser, 14 goldeneyes, and 5 buffleheads, but I didn’t see the scaup hen today. This time, the buffleheads comprised 3 drakes and 2 hens.

On my way back south, after I thought I had seen everything there was to see, look who else I found on the water above the falls. A little horde of hooded mergansers! There were 4 drakes and 2 hens, but I have no idea if the hen who stuck with us on the lower river through the deep freeze was among them. We sure can hope that she finally found her clan, right?

Here’s a closer look at one of the drakes. Who wouldn’t wait two months on a frozen river for a piece of that?

Meanwhile, I saw a mature bald eagle twice today, but it might have been the same bird. The first one was flying north over the river and escorted by two noisy herring gulls. The second one was about 2 hours later and also flying north, but over the bluff without an escort. There is some excitement that the frequency at which we are seeing two adults and that one time I caught one with a branch might mean a pair is looking to nest in the vicinity. If that came to pass, Milwaukee County would finally join the other 71 counties in the state with active bald eagle nests.

Keep your fingers crossed!

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 to waste, and here’s another greater scaup who dropped in to take advantage of some above the falls.

Between the islands, there are still dozens of geese and mallards, plus this odd little grouping of a common merganser hen and drake, a common goldeneye hen and drake, and a bufflehead drake.

The northern island was overrun with geese, and here’s another scaup, a hen this time, relaxing on the water off its northern tip.

I’m pretty sure I spotted four bufflehead drakes and one hen, and here’s one of the drakes preparing to chase away two others as the hen preens herself and a goldeneye drake wonders how he got himself mixed up in this little love quadrangle, and yes, I could really have used a polarizing filter for this picture.

Finally, on my way back south, I spotted this handsome song sparrow busily chirping and foraging on the riverbank.

I could still hear the red-winged blackbirds at a couple of places along the river and by the pond, but the red-bellied woodpeckers were oddly silent this morning. I saw an eagle soar overhead, but it’s talons were empty today. I believe I spotted my first couple of grackles for the season, and I’m sure I heard the distinctive call of a killdeer as it flew past.

Now I see snow is in the forecast for tonight, so I can’t wait to see what the park looks like tomorrow!

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 nothing especially photogenic, so I continued on to the upper river. Our buffleheads have been hanging out on the west side of the southern island recently, so not very easy to see, and I was happy to catch them just off the tip and in some pretty morning light today.

Above the southern island, the water and ice were full of Canada geese and mallards again, but I also counted 10 goldeneyes and 7 common mergansers, and here’s a shot of one pair of mergansers with a goldeneye hen between them.

As I continued north to see if anyone else was on the open water south of the bridges, the gulls, geese, ducks, and even crows all started shouting at once, and it didn’t take long for this beauty to glide into sight.

I thought maybe this eagle had a fish again, but when I got home and could zoom in, I now see that it’s hauling a short stick instead. I wonder what the heck that’s about. It sure would be amazing if it were trying to build a nest here, but that stick looks way too small for that, right?

Anyway, it perched in a tree over the far shore and looked around for a bit before moving on.

The dramatic change at the pond persists, and I could hear a red-winged blackbird, but I could barely find a single pair of house sparrows and no house finches. There were now two pair of geese, and they were grazing on the lawn beside the middle parking lot while they waited for the ice to melt.

Finally, when I got to the path leading up the bluff at the south end that I usually take, I thought I’d take just a glimpse down river, now that the water is open, just to see if anyone was there, and look who was.

Our first red-breasted merganser since last spring. This is the drake, and there was a hen with him, but they were pretty shy, and this is the best picture I managed to capture so far.

I see we’re forecast to reach the mid-50s overnight and wake up to howling winds, so who knows what I’ll be able to find tomorrow. Tune in again to find out.