It was cold, just below freezing, but the sun was out, and the winds were almost back to normal, so it was a picture-perfect morning in Estabrook Park.

I found another robin by the dog park still working on her nest.

I saw blue-winged teals on the river and on the pond, but the lighting was much better at the pond.

Here’s an eastern phoebe in that same light.

Meanwhile, on the grass, the ruby-crowned kinglets were so thick this morning, I tried to be careful where I stepped. Plus, they were finally showing off their ruby crowns.

Finally, at the pond I saw my first brown thrasher for the season, and it was singing up a storm.

It looks a bit like a hermit thrush but with a longer tail, a longer beak, and bright yellow eyes.

At the river, the robin we saw yesterday was still on her nest,

A squadron of cormorants flew over on their way to Lake Michigan to compete with the fishing industry,

And a pair of chickadees were preparing a nesting cavity.

Lastly, as I was almost home another yellow-bellied sapsucker did an even better job of showing off her yellow “belly”, which looks more like a collar or label than a belly.

and even demonstrated some sap sucking from the trunk of what appears to be a black birch, aka river birch or water birch (Betula nigra).

So, it turns out that I should have saved at least one of the flower pictures from yesterday for today, but oh well. Live and learn, we can only hope. Right?

It wasn’t howling quite as bad as yesterday, and the sun was shining brightly, but the wind-chill was below freezing, so I didn’t see any warblers this morning. I did see plenty of other birds, however, and some even smiled for the camera.

As I came north along the river, I spotted a European starling that has selected a nesting cavity, more natural than the back side of the police station and probably excavated by one of the many woodpeckers in the area, and was already hauling in nesting material.

Right below the starling, this mallard hen was taking a break from the water.

And out on the river, a pied-billed grebe drifted by.

Up at the pond, I saw just two pairs of wood ducks this morning, and here’s one of the drakes.

And the solo, red-breasted merganser is still hanging out. He must have lost out in the dating game this year, and now any old body of water with a decent fish supply will do. I’m sure he’s disappointed, but he sure spruces up the pond, doesn’t he? Better luck next year!

While I was lying down on the lawn to take the pictures above, this guy came over and demanded that I take his picture, too. Here you go, Buddy!

The pond seemed to be a little bit out of the wind, so there were a lot of little birds foraging for their breakfast. Here’s a swamp sparrow,

an eastern phoebe,

And a hermit thrush gleaning seeds from last years’ staghorn sumac.

On my way back to the river, this goldfinch was singing his heart out and still waiting on a couple more yellow feathers to come in. Dang supply-chain issues!

This brown creeper heard that I mentioned “along the bottom side of a branch” but didn’t have a good example picture to show you, so now we have one, and nope, I didn’t just rotate an image 90°. They really are this crazily acrobatic.

Oh, and look who was up for a change.

At the edge of the bluff, I found this eastern towhee who was perfectly comfortable down in the brush and wouldn’t come out no matter how nicely I asked.

At the river, a great blue heron was on break from fishing for the moment.

And a robin was already on her nest. She didn’t move while I was there, and I didn’t stay long, so we can hope that she’s already busy laying her first clutch. Hopefully, she’ll be off foraging next time I go by, and I’ll be able to sneak a peek inside the nest to see how she’s doing.

Finally, this female yellow-bellied sapsucker must have heard about the character yesterday who hid his yellow-belly, because here she is showing hers off for all the world to see. Thanks, sweety!

Lastly, there are two new flowers blossoming in the park, and the first is this pretty little Siberian squill right beside the river.

And the other is this striking and aromatic eastern skunk cabbage beside a stream that flows into the river.

I know that’s a lot to take in, but this is a busy time of year, and tomorrow is forecast to be gorgeous, so I’m afraid that if I don’t keep up, you’ll never get to see them all.

Oof! It sure is howling out there now, but I got lucky and snuck into Estabrook early this morning before I had to go to school. Unfortunately, it was already pretty windy this morning, too, so I didn’t get many pictures even though the sky was a beautiful blue, and I did see plenty of birds.

My best picture today is this of yellow-bellied sapsucker hiding his yellow belly from us at the moment. Otherwise he looks a lot like a hairy woodpecker, with that big beak and black-and-white pattern on his back, but take a look at the hairy woodpecker picture from back on January 8, 2022 to see the difference.

My next best picture from this morning is of these two fuzz balls sleeping in the sun.

To makeup for the picture shortfall today and tide us over till tomorrow, here’s the solo red-breasted merganser drake from on the pond yesterday.

Here are a couple of pictures of a brown creeper from Monday, when the warblers took top billing. I was surprised to find it creeping across the lawn, instead of up the side of a tree or along the bottom side of a branch.

And here’s another picture of the wood ducks on the pond from Monday.

Finally, here’s another look at that dark-eyed junco from Sunday.

The winds are forecast to be back below 20 mph tomorrow morning, so let’s all hope that holds, and the critters all come back out to play.

Alright. Let’s see if I can remember to include a title and press “publish” on the first try today. In any case, it was wonderfully dark, warm, and humid this morning with not much wind, so the bugs were thick and the little birds; the phoebes, kinglets, and warblers; were after them like crazy.

Here’s a yellow-rumped warbler by the river at the north end finally showing us exactly how they got that name.

As I was trying to get that warbler picture, I spooked a spotted sandpiper, our first of the season, who flew over to the island so that I could capture this fuzzy image. You can just make out it’s orange/yellow beak and eye stripe to distinguish it from the solitary sandpipers that haven’t arrive yet, as far as I know. Plus, it was doing that cool bobbing that spotted sandpipers do.

At the other end of that island, I spotted another pair of blue-winged teals, and here’s the dapper-looking drake. I mentioned it was dark out, right?

On the other island, the southern one, the great horned owl was less hidden than usual, perhaps to enjoy the nice warm air.

Back on the mainland, there must have been a northern flicker meet-and-greet because after I spotted this one, a male by the look of his mustache, I watched as at least 4 pairs took off across the river, two by two, from a big cottonwood tree while all flashing their distinctive white rumps.

At the pond, I saw my first turtle of the season, this shy red-eared slider.

Meanwhile, this little cutie was trying to get some shuteye.

On my way back south, I spotted this sparrow hopping in the grass and figured it was an American tree sparrow, which we’ve seen before, but the beak color didn’t look right, and that’s because it’s a field sparrow (Spizella pusilla) instead, which is an absolute first for me. Woo hoo!

Finally, I found another new spring flower up, these glories-of-the-snow (Chionodoxa forbesii) in front of the maintenance building. Yay!

Although this morning was gorgeous, I couldn’t get to Estabrook until almost lunchtime today. Happily, there were still all kinds of sights to see, and I’d like to lead you off with the newest arrival at the pond, Mrs. Red-winged Blackbird, here to see what the boys have been up to while she was away. Somebody had better have some good territory staked out.

Also at the pond, I was thrilled to see this brown creeper creeping up something other than grey tree bark for a change.

Here’s a creeper from yesterday, also by the pond so it could be the same individual, whom I caught mid-hop with its landing gear up.

At the river today, I couldn’t believe my eyes when I glanced at the far shore because these two looked at first like one huge bird. Nevertheless, finding two turkey vultures perched together like this is a first for me in Estabrook.

Here’s a nice mourning dove image I held over from yesterday morning.

After being absent yesterday morning, one of the black-crowned night-herons was back in its spot along the river.

Lastly, the crocuses are starting to bloom by the pond.

Oh, before I forget, when I got home from school today, Anne had another newspaper article for me. This one is about European starlings and describes a paper by assistant professor John MacNeill Miller and Lauren Fugate at Allegheny College, which questions the long-standing story that starlings were introduced to North America by Eugene Schieffelin in 1890 to complete the set of birds mentioned by William Shakespeare.

Here’s a link to the paper in Environmental Humanities, in case you’re really interested.

I hit “publish” on this yesterday, but found it in my “drafts” folder today, so I don’t know what happened. Sorry that you didn’t get to see it until now.

Sure, folks have reported seeing them for at least a week, and the waterthrush I showed you yesterday, which the experts have since confirmed is indeed a Louisiana waterthrush, is technically a warbler, but this morning I finally captured images I can show you of a bird with the word “warbler” right in its name. Yay!

This is a yellow-rumped warbler by the pond and aptly named for the little patch of yellow on its back, just above the tail, that you can see here just under its wingtips.

I saw at least 5 different individuals throughout the park this morning, and here’s a nicer picture of one by the river. These are both males of the “myrtle” variety.

This one, with the subdued coloring is a female, I believe.

Another new bird for the season is this ruby-crowned kinglet, who was doing its very best to avoid showing us its ruby crown!

You can just make out one little ruby dot on the back of its head in this not-quite-as-nice image.

And, to round out the trifecta of new birds for the season, I finally spotted this trio of blue-winged teals on the river.

Also on the river, I saw both a male and a female belted kingfisher fishing at different points. Here’s the male, with his plain white belly, below the falls, …

And here’s the female, with her “chestnut belly band”, above the falls.

Plus, I caught both buffleheads up out of the water for the first time.

Meanwhile, up on the pond, there were a full dozen wood ducks, including two couples, …

one, as yet, unattached hen, and seven bachelors all vying for the last playoff berth. Here are six of the drakes with the one hen on the far right. It was quite a circus.

The solo, red-breasted merganser drake is still on the pond.

And the Canada goose is still incubating her clutch of eggs on the island.

I have even more pictures, if you can believe it, but I’d better stop here and save some for tomorrow.

Wow! What a morning! The sky was clear, the winds were calm, and there wasn’t as much frost coating the logs that I’ve been using to cross high water. They sure were treacherous yesterday.

The night-herons were in their usual spot and starting to attract some attention. I met a guy yesterday and two new guys this morning that I’ve never seen before, and they all mentioned the night-herons. The light was too low when I first went by, but a little beam of sunlight was shining on this red-bellied woodpecker, so I took her picture instead.

Below the woodpecker, this pair of wood ducks found some magic early morning light reflecting perfectly off the dried grass on the far riverbank.

Up at the pond, there were more wood ducks, mallards, our intrepid pair of geese, and this one red-breasted merganser drake.

As I was waiting for the merganser to drift into just the right spot, this red-winged blackbird foraged in the grass at my feet,

This cottontail hid in the bushes,

And this golden-crowned kinglet paused for half a second between hops from branch to branch.

On my way back to the river, I was surprised to find an eastern phoebe hunting from the lights strung over the beer garden.

Down by the falls, I bumped into Lisa, and we headed north to check on the owl(s). We eventually saw one, on our way back south, and just as hidden as usual lately, but the exciting find today was this waterthrush. At first I thought it was our first northern waterthrush of the season, and if you’ve been with us for a while, you may recall they were common for a week or so last fall. Upon closer inspection, however, I believe it is our first ever Louisiana waterthrush (Parkesia motacilla), but I’m waiting on the experts to weigh in.

Just a bit past the waterthrush, I spotted this red squirrel ripping bark from that branch it’s on, for a nest, I presume.

At the far north end, we saw plenty of geese, mallards, and a few more red-breasted mergansers and a few more wood ducks, but no buffleheads today. Instead, back on shore Lisa noticed this thrush hanging out with a pair of fox sparrows. I first thought it was a hermit thrush, as we saw Friday, but it was acting bolder and had a lot more red color on its back, so maybe it’s our first Swainson’s Thrush of the season. Another one for the experts, in any case.

On my way back south, as I was approaching the herons again, this European starling really wanted someone’s attention, if not mine.

And I finally found a junco. I guess, they’re not all gone yet.

At last, I made it back to the herons, and here’s one in the better light.

If this keeps up, I’m gonna need a bigger blog!

I don’t think it got below freezing last night, but it was cold, clear, and calm enough for convective cooling to leave a coating of frost most everywhere. Happily, the mostly clear skies continued past sunrise for a couple of hours before the clouds rolled back in.

I didn’t see the blue heron today, but I found the pair of black-crowned night herons in the same tree as yesterday.

At the pond, beside the pair of geese, a pair of wood ducks, and a quartet of mallards, we had a red-breasted merganser drake trying his luck at snagging a goldfish.

At the river, I had the rare treat of catching a bufflehead, the drake this time, out of the water for a moment.

I almost didn’t notice this mallard hen making like a wood duck and taking a nice long break from the water.

There are still plenty of golden-crowned kinglets around, and here’s one down on the grass with a smidgeon of snow left over from last evening.

On my way back south, I was lucky enough to finally catch in range one of the belted kingfishers I keep hearing.

Meanwhile, closer to the water, an eastern phoebe was hunting smaller prey.

Finally, the night-herons were still in their perches as I went by again, so here’s one more glimpse, just in case they’ve moved on by tomorrow.

Lastly, I forgot to mention that a crew was delivering beer at the beer garden yesterday morning, so they ought to be opening soon. Also, the dark-eyed juncos and brown creepers were noticeably absent this morning. I doubt they are all gone yet, but perhaps they are starting to make their way north.

All signs that, despite the snow and frost, warmer weather can’t be too far away. Yay!

It took a while for the rain to turn to snow this morning, so I didn’t get into Estabrook until 10am. Happily, must critters were still up at that late hour, and I got to see quite a few. Conditions continue to be suboptimal for photography, however, so let’s see what images I managed to scrounge up.

Right off the bat, near the very south end, I was thrilled to spot again our great blue heron, who’s been absent for a while since it first reappeared for the season back in March. I don’t know what it’s been up to in the meantime, nest building in some near-by rookery, we can hope, but welcome back anyway!

Farther north, I found our two new celebrities, the pair of visiting black-crowned night-herons, perched right where I left them yesterday.

I’m sure I’ll get tired of them eventually, but today was not that day.

As I approached the north end, I couldn’t believe my luck to finally get a clear shot of one of the elusive hermit thrushes that I knew had to be around somewhere.

At the north end, the quintet of red-breasted mergansers were still busy fishing along with one pair of buffleheads. Meanwhile, one pair of wood ducks was on the pond along with the nesting goose and her guardian gander.

On my way south, I spotted this little eastern phoebe surveying its soggy domain.

While a northern flicker, a female by the looks of her unmustachioed face, did the same from a high perch.

Finally, the black-crowned night herons were still in their spot on my second pass, and here’s the second of the two from across the river.

Tune in tomorrow to see if I finally spot one of the warblers that folks are beginning to report.

I couldn’t make it to Estabrook this morning, while the skies were grey but dry, and had to go around lunch time when the clouds started leaking. Most of the critters were busy today, and had no time for pictures, but there were a couple notable exceptions.

Our two new favorite black-crowned night-herons were still gracing us with their magnificent presence, and I found them just a bit south of where they perched yesterday.

After I did my best to get pictures of both of them, one hopped down to the water’s edge to look for lunch.

The other bird I was able to capture today was this youngish looking bald eagle, maybe four years old with some like specks in its dark plumage and some dark specks on its white tail, soaring in lazy circles over the village of Shorewood, just east of the park. I don’t recall seeing this individual before.

And that’s the show for today, folks. The great horned owl was in its recent favorite spot again, but hidden even better than usual.

I see we’re due for snow showers tomorrow morning, so maybe that’ll make for some pretty pictures. We’ll see soon enough, right?