The forecast showers never materialized this morning, so I had a nice, if cool and dark, visit to Estabrook Park. The big news is that Baltimore orioles, or at least this one triumphant male, announcing his presence from the treetops along the river (specifically the longer song that starts at 1:00, right after the blue jay), have finally arrived from their “wintering grounds in Florida, the Caribbean, Central America, [or] the northern tip of South America.” Yay!

The six goslings on the pond are still doing fine, but didn’t make a nicer picture today than this one from yesterday.

On my way back to the river, I came across this palm warbler who seemed content to just sit and enjoy the morning for a while. That’s the easiest warbler picture I’ve ever taken.

Back at the river, I was thrilled to find our resident great horned owl taking its nap out in the open for a change.

The five river goslings we first saw yesterday were still doing fine this morning, along with their mom and dad. Oddly, they are attracting quite a crowd of other geese, whom Dad valiantly keeps at bay.

At the north end, we had another visitor, a merlin this time, and it had no patience with me at all.

Meanwhile, a couple more mammals must have heard about yesterday and wanted in on the act. The first is this beautiful red squirrel.

And this raccoon didn’t exactly clamor to be photographed, but I couldn’t resist those fuzzy ears and kept real quiet to let it sleep.

Lastly, this doe seemed to be wondering where all the young bucks have gone. They were right here just yesterday.

I see nothing but clear skies in the forecast for tomorrow, so keep your fingers crossed that we get some pictures with pretty blue backgrounds for a change.

Let’s start with the easy stuff. The six goslings on the pond are doing just fine, and here they are on a cruise with Mom and Dad, now that the weather has improved a bit.

Although there may be some tension brewing between the siblings, but what else is new, right moms?

Meanwhile, on the river, a new batch of goslings appears to be fresh out of the nest. Woo Hoo!

Back on shore, the infamous prairie warbler is still kicking around and drawing a crowd. I pointed out stairway three to a woman who heard from a guy at the pond that he had just seen it there. I don’t know if she ever found it, but when I got back from counting swallows and sandpipers on the river, I found it about 50 yards south of the stairway. It let me try to follow it around with my camera for a while as it jumped from branch to branch in the treetops, and then it must have gotten tired of that game so it came down closer to the ground and began to sing a song instead. Thanks, little buddy!

Just south of the prairie warbler, I came across this little cutie, and that “uniform bright cinnamon brown above” and faint spots that fade out mid-chest means I can finally be sure it’s not a hermit thrush or a Swainson’s thrush, and we’ve got ourselves an honest-to-goodness veery (Catharus fuscescens) at last, just returned all the way from “central and southern Brazil.” Welcome back, Sweetie!

Farther south and back out on the water, a pair of blue-winged teals were rustling up some afternoon victuals, and when they spotted me, the drake lingered for a second while the hen snuck out of sight. That’s some mighty-fine strategery, right there.

Then the mammals, who we usually only get to see once a week or so, really kicked it into high gear. They started off small, and here’s an eastern chipmunk who acted as if I surely couldn’t see it now.

Then they started to grow, and here’s an eastern cottontail who knew that I knew that it knew I was there, but it was taking a “wait and see” approach before scampering into the brush.

Next, I was stunned to find a coyote out in the middle of the day, but there was something on the ground up there that it did not want to abandon.

But before I could go see what the coyote was so attracted to, I came across this beauty just starting to grow his antlers and appearing absolutely fascinated to learn what I might be. It cautiously approached me more than once, even coming completely out of the brush for a closer look, and each time I deployed my best “sit down and don’t move a muscle” tactic.

But wait, there’s more. Here’s his buddy, or maybe his brother, who has just a little more antler already, but wasn’t quite so bold.

And if you can even believe it, there were three of them, and the third one was the shyest of all. That’s as close as he dared come.

By now, after all these years, I’ve already had the pleasure of a pretty close facsimile to each one of these experiences before, from time to time, but to have them all occur on a single afternoon? Be still my heart! I sure am going to miss these visits while I’m gone.

I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw dawn breaking on a cloudless sky this morning. Woo Hoo! I wolfed down my breakfast and hustled out the door as soon as I could.

It was great to see the goslings out enjoying the weather for a change.

The wood ducks seemed to be enjoying it too, and they were venturing farther from the water than I recall seeing before. Here’s a pair high on the east lawn.

I counted an even dozen wood ducks altogether, and here’s eight of them across the paved path east of the pond. The guy in the back appears to be yucking it up, but isn’t that often the case?

I went back to the west lawn to get more gosling pictures and knelt down by the water with the sun at my back.

Then the little tykes slowly foraged right up to me. I barely breathed, let alone moved, and Mom and Dad just let the scene unfold. Even this squirrel seemed transfixed by the moment. I thought of trying to capture some video on my phone, but opted to just enjoy it.

I eventually tore myself away and hiked over to the river to see what else there was to see, and there was plenty. Here’s a blue-winged teal drake.

A gadwall hen, whom I don’t believe I’ve seen since last spring, though we did have that handsome drake on the river over winter.

And at the far north end, I thought I saw the prairie warbler again. I even told some poor guy, who drove all the way out from Madison to see it, that I had just seen it, but when I got home and looked at the pictures, it wasn’t a prairie warbler at all. Psych! Instead, it appears to be a black-throated green warbler, as best as I can tell, although the yellow chest below the black throat gives me pause, and we’ll see what the experts on ebird have to say about that soon enough.

On my way back south, I found another spotted sandpiper piping the muddy riverbank, but with nice sunlight this time.

Lastly, I spotted this deer quietly munching on some fresh sprouts. That’s gotta taste good after a winter of sticks and bark, eh?

Maybe we will get some spring weather to enjoy after all.

We got a good soaking this morning, but as noon approached it appeared that there was going to be a gap in the rain, so I hustled home from school, and on my way, I spotted a big flock of cedar waxwings, maybe 3 dozen birds, beside the Oak Leaf Trail. I put on my park clothes, grabbed my camera and binoculars, and headed right back out again to see if I could spot them from afar, but they had followed me to the north side of Capitol Drive, so I was able to get this nice close-up of this shy one instead. What a nice way to start an outing, eh?

On my way north through the park, I found this eastern towhee deep in a thicket, and just as I had given up hope of getting a picture of more than just his backside, he turned to give us a look. Thanks, little Buddy!

Common yellowthroats were plentiful today, and this one by the river let me take this nice portrait.

This spotted sandpiper was working the waterline almost directly below the yellowthroat.

And as if that wasn’t enough, this marsh wren began to sing from a pile of brush between me and the river. Sheesh, guys, pace yourselves! I’ve got room on the chip in my camera for pictures of all of you.

The biggest surprise of the afternoon, however, was finding this prairie warbler at the north end. You may recall me telling you that one had created quite a hubbub last week, but I had thought it had finally moved on. Well, either it never left, it came back, or we’ve got another one.

At first, it was pretty high overhead, and all I could see was the black stripes on a yellow bird, so I couldn’t even tell for sure that it wasn’t “just” a magnolia warbler. Then the little feller did me a solid and came down to eye level so I could get a better look. I couldn’t believe my luck.

Finally, as I made my way back south in hopes of beating the rain, I came across a great blue heron fishing on our side of the river for a change.

That’s not a bad outing, considering the weather, even if I do say so myself. Not bad at all.

Despite being on a new page of the calendar, the cool, dark, and damp weather persists, and the goslings on the pond have gotta be wondering, “I pecked my way out of a nice cozy eggshell for this?”

We had a surprise retro visit on the river from this ever-dapper, red-breasted merganser drake. In the very next picture, he set those fine feathers right down in that mud at his feet, but I’ll spare you that visual trauma.

At the crest of the bluff, this male northern flicker appears to have been digging in the mud himself before taking a break to let everyone know he’s there.

South of the falls, this spotted sandpiper paused just for an instant to give me a look and then went right back to searching for morsels at the water’s edge.

At the far south end, this hermit thrush took a moment to survey the area from this low perch before getting back to foraging in the lawn. In the background, you can make out green leaves starting to appear on the brush and purple violets in the grass.

I was very excited to see an ovenbird for the very first time this morning, with its little black and orange cap, but that little stinker evaded my camera like the dickens. That’ll give me something to work on, but in the meanwhile, I got enough nice pictures of the rose-breasted grosbeak yesterday, that I can show you a new one today.

The forecast for tomorrow is for rain starting before dawn and continuing into the afternoon, so who knows what we’ll get, but maybe we’ll get a break.

The dark and gloomy skies of April continue into May, I am sorry to report, but at least it wasn’t raining this morning, and the thunder and lightning we had overnight was done for now, so I went to Estabrook to see who the winds might have blown in.

Most of the regular crowd was up and hard at work already, and here’s a rare, at least for me, glimpse of both robins at the nest for a moment. Mom’s been keeping a pretty tight lid on the thing, which isn’t surprising given the weather we’ve been having, but I have no idea how many eggs she might have in there now.

At the pond, a couple of goslings were out and about when I arrived, …

but they quickly retired to the warmth of Mom’s embrace.

They weren’t the only ones sleeping in this morning, either. Here’s at least one raccoon we’ve seen a few times before, …

and here’s another in a cavity that I have not seen occupied until now.

Not everyone was a sleepy-head, however, and here’s a wood duck hen perched over the river, perhaps looking for a nesting cavity that has room for just one more egg.

This mourning dove, also perched by the river, has been snoozing so long that it needed a stretch when I went by.

Lastly, as I neared the south end on my way back home, I caught a glimpse of a black-and-white bird as it tucked into a cedar tree, and I was just able to make out a little bit of its back with my binoculars, so I took the picture I could, and started inching closer in hopes of a better view.

I could not believe my luck when it let me approach, although very slowly, and even came back out of the cedar tree a bit to help me out. Thanks, Buddy. Best of all, it turned out to be a gorgeous rose-breasted grosbeak, our first for the season. Woo Hoo!

That there were two of them, was dark chocolate frosting on the cake with whipped cream and a cherry on top!

May is sure starting off better than it first looked, eh?

I see that it is already raining as I write this, but I was able to sneak into Estabrook before it started, and I managed to see a few things. One of the masked bandits was peeking out of a tree trunk, perhaps to see if the park was still crawling with birders hoping to catch a glimpse of the fabled prairie warbler.

At the pond, the six goslings were trying to get in out of the cold. Meanwhile, two new pairs of geese have joined the party, and Dad was doing his best to keep them from getting too close.

There were also a pair of blue-winged teals on the water, and here’s the drake.

I didn’t see an owl by the pond this morning, but the great horned owl at the river was out in the open again, which is always a treat.

By the falls, this great blue heron appears to be getting a little shut-eye. Maybe it had a rough night.

Finally, it appears that we have another new arrival, this tiny “least flycatcher” (Empidonax minimus), just arrived from the Yucatan Peninsula, and there abouts. Welcome to Estabrook, little cutie!

It appeared to be busy catching flies, but its motion was much more like that of the eastern phoebe, quick dashes into the air before returning nearly to the same place, than that of the kinglets, who seem to prefer their flies on a twig.

The forecast is for this rain to clear out before tomorrow morning, so keep your fingers crossed!

The heavy overcast continues, but the air keeps getting a little warmer, the wind wasn’t too strong, and the forecast showers did not develop, so it was not too bad in Estabrook Park this morning.

My first big treat was spotting this beaver hauling a branch upriver in the same spot where we saw one doing the same with a clump of dried grass last week. I sure hope that means it has mouths to feed at home.

Here’s a wider look so you can see the size of the branch it has.

At the pond, the owl was gone, and I didn’t see the goslings at first, so I made do with this sharp-looking common yellowthroat.

I did eventually find the goslings, and here are all six taking a swim with Mom and Dad.

Back at the river, I did see our regular great horned owl back in its hiding place, the belted kingfishers were busy (and noisy), and here’s one giving me a look.

Farther north, I spotted another black-and-white warbler foraging at the water’s edge.

And here’s the prairie warbler (Setophaga discolor) that everyone is so excited about lately. Seriously, I must have bumped into 6 people this morning who had all come to Estabrook just to see it. It is quite a bit north of its usual range, so I guess this is a rare chance to see one without driving to Kentucky.

Farther south, I spotted another family of geese, but with only one gosling. It appears to be a tough spring for Canada geese, at least compared to last year.

Finally, Lisa noticed a great blue heron glide by, so I was able to get a much nicer picture than earlier when it was on the other side of the river, and the sky was darker.

It is supposed to be raining all day tomorrow, and I’m supposed to be on campus for a special event anyway, so I’m not sure if I’ll have something for you until Sunday. I’ll be sure to let you know if anything changes.

I was disappointed that we didn’t have any of the forecast gaps in the cloud cover this morning, but I was preparing to head out anyway, and then the rain started. Ugh. So, I held off, went to school, and finally got into Estabrook in the late morning after I got home. The cloud cover was still thick, but at least it wasn’t leaking anymore.

The excitement began when I reached the pond and was greeted by this amazing spectacle: six spanking-new goslings bobbing around on the water with their mom.

Before I could get anymore gosling pictures, however, I had to go check out the ruckus some crows were making in the trees on the east side of the pond. Here’s one of the crows.

And look who’s up there with it! Holy Smokes! A great horned owl!

I couldn’t tell if that’s the same great horned owl we see at the river, but I didn’t want to add to the stress the crows were causing, so I went back to the pond to see if I could get more gosling pictures, and I sat on the bench just in time to catch this pair of blue-winged teals sailing by.

I didn’t have to wait long, however, until Mom, Dad, and six little goslings popped right up onto the lawn with me, and it appears that everyone was ready for a nap.

They weren’t the only sleepy-heads, either. Here are a couple of raccoons.

And here’s a squirrel or two.

I eventually headed back down to the river, and I could not believe my luck today to find our usual great horned owl out in the open for a change.

And, yes, I did consider the possibility that they could be the same owl, just in two locations, but on my way back south, the river owl was in that same spot, and when I visited the pond again, the first owl was still in the same tree! I think the chances that if flew down to the river to greet me, waited for me to come by a second time, and then flew back to the pond before I got back there myself are vanishingly small, don’t you?

Anyway, the swallows we saw yesterday were up from their nap by the time I got to the north end, and they were busy hunting bugs out over the water. It was way too dark for my camera to get good action shots today, but I couldn’t help but try, and here’s the barn swallow, with its “rusty” face, “tawny” underparts, and fancy, white-striped tail, plucking something off the surface of the water.

Here’s the tree swallow, with its bright white chin and underparts but no tail stripe, doing the same.

As I crouched down at the water’s edge so the swallows wouldn’t stick to the far shore, look at the pretty spotted sandpiper who landed right in front of me, gave me a quick look, and proceeded to go about its business anyway. It wasn’t too long before a second sandpiper showed up, made some kind of display with its wings, and they both took off for the far shore. Maybe that’s how sandpipers say “wanna go someplace quieter?”

Finally, unlike the false alarm from a couple of weeks ago, I believe this is really a Swainson’s thrush with its distinctive “buffy eyering”, instead of the “whitish eyering” of hermit thrushes. It could be on its way to British Columbia, for all we know, after tanking up at the Estabrook buffet.

Lastly, thanks for all the well wishes for my upcoming adventure! I’ll definitely keep you updated once I get there.

It was cold, just below freezing at dawn, and not as sunny as forecast, but the critters in Estabrook did not disappoint this morning!

By the time I was heading inland toward the pond, the sky had brightened enough for pictures, and as I was searching for a bird, I heard a rustling above and behind me. It took me a moment to find the source, but when I did, I was treated to this amazing scene.

I did not realize what I was seeing right away, and by the time I did, they had already gone their separate ways. Here’s the Mrs.

Meanwhile, at the pond, I caught a glimpse of our first gosling of the season. Woo Hoo! By the time I grabbed my camera, Mom had already tucked it under her wing, and all that was left to see was this empty eggshell. I bet we’ll see them out on the water tomorrow morning.

Also at the pond, but not on film, sadly, were the first pair of Caspian terns I’ve seen! I got a good look at their distinctive black face with my binoculars, but by the time I grabbed my camera, they had moved on already. Darn. I’ve gotta just mount that thing to my face.

By the pond and elsewhere throughout the park, the blue-gray gnatcatchers were plentiful, and here a male, with his Groucho Marx eyebrows.

And here’s a female without. They both preferred not to look my way.

At the north end, I encountered another special treat, and this time I have the pics! I glimpsed some swallows hunting over the river, and figured they were the tree swallows that we’ve seen before. As I walked up the path however, I happened to glance out over the water and could not believe my eyes.

Best of all, there were three (3!) different species of swallows in that little flock. Here’s the one tree swallow with its bright white throat. The images are all a little fuzzy because I had to shoot through the dense thicket you can see above. I’m amazed they came out as clear as they did.

Here’s the one barn swallow (Hirundo rustica) with its “rusty” “throat and forehead”, which I’ve never seen in Estabrook before, probably because we don’t have any barns.

And here’s one of the northern rough-winged swallow (Stelgidopteryx serripennis) with its brown back and chest that “fades to white,” and that I didn’t even know existed until this morning! Ha!

Finally, as if that wasn’t enough excitement for one morning, on my way home, a pair of robins and a pair of chickadees all shouting at once caught my attention. I tried to see what they were all shouting about, and look who I found trying to sleep through it all.

A gray morph eastern screech-owl in a hole so small I would have never thought to look in. I wonder if it knows the red morph we saw for a few days last week.

Lastly, at the far north end, the  Dutchman’s breeches (Dicentra cucullaria) are blossoming!

Speaking of Dutchman’s breeches, I’ll be wearing them soon, at least if I buy any pants while I’m there, because I’ve accepted a one-year post-doc at the Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) in the Netherlands to “develop and execute an engineering research project for the ‘Bicycle of the Future’.” I ship out at the end of May, once the UWM semester wraps up, which means I won’t get to visit Estabrook Park every day, but beyond that, I don’t know. I’ll bring my camera, of course, and perhaps I’ll be able to show you some pictures of Dutch wildlife. I hear they have some.