The weather this morning in Estabrook was way better than forecast. The temperature was 21°F instead of 20°F, winds were 13 mph instead of 14 mph, and so the “RealFeel®” temperature was a full 8°F instead of the measly 6°F predicted. Ha! Plus, the sun was out and there was hardly a cloud in the sky. What a way to start the day!

It was so nice out, the critters couldn’t even wait for me to arrive, and Anne noticed deer walking past our window as I was putting my gear on, so I grabbed my camera and ran out the door in flip-flops to capture this trio of tulip tasters in our neighbors’ back yard. I wonder if they are the same trio I spotted crossing the river back in January. If so, they sure get around!

Well, I eventually did get all my gear on, swapped my flip-flops for boots, and headed down to the river to see who else was up, and this little guy greeted me right away at the south end again, but this time it was across the river so I could watch it enjoy its breakfast.

Farther north, winter wrens are still around, and I finally caught one catching its breath so I could take a picture.

At the north end, I was surprised to find this odd-couple of mergansers. On the left is a female or immature male red-bellied merganser, and on the right, with the distinct neck line, is a female or immature male common merganser.

A pair of buffleheads were still there, as well, along with a pair of wood ducks, who preferred not to be photographed today.

Best of all, I finally captured an image of a crazy-elusive pied-billed grebe. Every time I noticed the little stinker with my binoculars and tried to take a picture to confirm what I thought I saw, it would dive and not come back up no matter how long I waited. Obviously, it has no SCUBA gear, so it simply surfaced some place I wasn’t looking, but I couldn’t believe how good it was at that. Nevertheless, it wasn’t quite good enough to evade me forever, and so here we are:

On my way back south, I spotted the great horned owl again in its new favorite hiding place, but not every picture can be a portrait, right?

Up on the soccer fields at the south end, I finally spotted a brown-headed cowbird foraging amongst two dozen robins, and yes, I really did count 24 robins out on the lawn, but it’s a big lawn.

Lastly, just as I was about to exit the park and cross Wilson Drive, I spotted another brown creeper in the nice morning sun so I could take a sharper picture than yesterday.

Oh, I almost forgot. The overnight cold snap created some interesting ice formations on the river, and here are a couple of them for all you art-shot lovers.

Okay. That’s really it for today. I see the forecast for tomorrow morning is almost the same as today, but with less wind, so just perfect. See you then.

It was two years ago, to the day, that I wrote those first four words and kicked off this whole adventure with an email message to some friends and my family. Two years later, it was cold, cloudy, and windy, with snow showers forecast, so I went into Estabrook with pretty low expectations, despite the momentous occasion. Well, I shouldn’t have worried, and perhaps the critters knew what day it was, because they really put on a show for us.

I didn’t see any deer today, but I was greeted pretty quickly at the south end by another muskrat.

I followed it for quite a ways up the edge of the river, but could never quite get in front of it, so this is the best portrait I could manage.

I saw two different eastern phoebes, this time, and here’s one of them.

At the north end, things really started to get going with surprise appearances by a red-breasted merganser drake.

And a pair of buffleheads.

By the pond, this hairy woodpecker appeared to add a little roughage to its diet.

And I finally spotted a brown creeper that I hear others have seen for the past week or two.

The main event, however, was the arrival at last of a pair of wood ducks on the pond, to join the pair of mallards and the pair of Canada geese that have been there for a couple of weeks already.

What sweet symmetry, eh? But that’s not even all, yet. I headed back down to the river, and I’m 99% sure I flushed an American wood cock. It looked comically short and squat with that color scheme and elaborate pattern on its back. Now that I know where and for what to look, I hope I can see one before I spook it away next time.

But wait! There’s even more! And I’ve got the images to prove it this time. We have an American kestrel back again, and this one’s a male. Here he is, across the river with his fresh breakfast.

Things were going so well, I wanted to stay all day, but I’ve got a tour of my bike lab to give this afternoon, so I headed back up the bluff to hurry home only to be stopped in my tracks by this little cutie.

He was so bold, I had to switch my lens into “close” mode, and I’m glad I did because here he is triumphantly showing me his catch.

Lastly, as the nuthatch hopped farther up the tree, and since my lens was already in “close” mode, I couldn’t help but take this picture, too.

That’s about as nice an anniversary celebration as I could have hoped for, right? Thanks, guys!

The rain finally took a break, the sun came out, and it was a gorgeous morning in Estabrook Park. Plus, my visit started off with a bang when I spotted this deer sneaking into the woods at the far south end.

Even better, she turned around and and struck a pose for us. We haven’t seen hide nor hair from them since I caught three of them crossing the frozen river back on January 18, and it sure is a treat to see them again.

The sun finally came out as I was making my way north along the river, and I thought two red-bellied woodpeckers on the same branch against a bright blue sky would make a nice picture.

They took their sweet time getting into position, however.

But once they did, the action happened fast!

On my way to the pond, I ran into Lisa, and she said there wasn’t much to see there today, so we headed to the islands at the north end, where I hoped she would spot a great horned owl for me, and she hoped I would make an eagle materialize. Well, neither came to pass today, but we did spot a pair of buffleheads, which might be the last pair we get to see this season.

On our way south, we spotted a winter wren and a trio of golden-crowned kinglets, but I got no pictures this time. We did swing back by the pond, but Lisa was right about there being nothing to see there, and then she had to go to work, so I headed back to the river. On my way, I came across a couple of fox sparrows singing to each other, and here’s the handsome one.

When I finally got back to the edge of the water, which I haven’t seen this high since early last spring, I found this dark-eyed junco checking out our mushrooms, which my old buddy, Mike, claims to have “on good authority are oysters.“

I barely turned around from that scene to find this acrobatic, white-breasted nuthatch showing us its stuff.

Finally, after I wrote yesterday’s post about the eagles’ nests, I did find a gap in the rain, and headed out to find my first live Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana), the Wisconsin State marsupial, after nearly two full years of searching. Woo Hoo!

As I look out my window now, I see that it is already raining again. Oh well. I hear we need the water, and the critters don’t seem to mind, but it sure was a beautiful morning while it held off, eh?

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.