It was another fine morning in Estabrook park, a bit cloudy at first, but nice and sunny soon enough. Plus, the air was nice and still, so the bugs were up, and the birds were after them.

I had received two hot tips yesterday about recent mink sightings, so I hit those spots first, but the little stinkers have eluded me yet again, so I still have no new mink pictures for you. Instead, this little rascal, a young-looking red squirrel, was keeping two eyes on me as I searched in vain for the mink, so here you go.

I stopped by the pond, in hopes that maybe some ducklings would have arrived, now that the goslings have all moved on, but I didn’t see any yet. There were several wood ducks, however, and I thought it would be fitting to take a final wood duck picture, seeing as how that’s what set this whole thing off in the first place. The sun was shining by then, and I did get some nice poses from the drakes, but I like this candid moment between a hen and her drake better.

On my way to the river, I spotted this Canada warbler rustling up some breakfast.

And while we’re looking at warblers, here’s a blackburnian warbler from yesterday.

And a red-eyed vireo from yesterday.

Out on the river, I did see two sets of goslings but no ducklings today. Instead, here’s a green heron from this morning.

And another from yesterday.

The other big surprise from the river yesterday, besides all the ducklings, was this yellowlegs foraging with the sandpipers on the recently re-exposed rocks and gravel. I’ve only ever seen them once before and not nearly this close.

Here it is again being photobombed by a blue-winged teal drake. See if you can spot the culprit.

Here’s the teal all by himself in a better pose.

Finally, there’s one last surprise from yesterday, if you can believe it. As I was on my way home, with a huge smile on my face from the ducklings, the baby raccoons, etc., I could not believe my luck to spot this handsome devil out in the open in broad daylight and closer than I’ve ever been allowed before.

And, lest you think that’s a menacing look, and I was in grave danger, here’s what it did next, once I sat down.

This, I will sorely miss.

If I’m too panicked about preparing to ship out on Wednesday to visit Estabrook again tomorrow, I’ll drop you a line when I arrive “across the pond“.

Sorry about the radio silence, but I had a couple of final exams to write, proctor, and grade as soon as I got back to Shorewood, so I took a couple of cloudy days off. The sun was out this morning, however, and my grading is done, so I went to see what’s new in Estabrook.

Besides all the leaves on the trees, which weren’t there when I left, another big difference you may have noticed recently is the complete lack of geese on the pond. It appears that while I was a way, Mom and Dad decided it was time to hike their brood down to the river, which they’ve done on almost the same day every year I’ve been observing them. All that was left was a couple of mallards, a few wood ducks, some turtles, and a whole lot of red-winged blackbirds.

I headed to the river myself, and soon found at least two families of Canada geese. Perhaps one of them is our family of cuties from the pond.

A bit north of the geese, I could hear a bunch of little birds peeping incessantly, but I couldn’t spot them until I looked down to find this fresh-looking brood of mallard ducklings all by their lonesome!

I am sure you will be as relieved as I was to learn that Mom was just down river a bit, perhaps to take care of some unfinished business, and once they spotted her, they made a beeline.

Here’s the happy reunion, although one duckling looks maybe a little miffed about the whole affair.

Anyway, as I was watching that heart-warming scene unfold, another mom came paddling over with her ducklings safely in tow, and here she is with one of them.

I had hardly gone another 100 yards when I heard a different kind of baby cry. This time, they were raccoons, and there was an adult with at least two little ones, probably three, scattered from the treetops, …

through eye-level, …

to the ground. Maybe a little one fell out of the tree and had to be retrieved.

Whoever is in charge of this bunch has sure got their paws full.

Lastly, all that toad action we saw almost three weeks ago has already paid off!

There were too many pollywogs to count!

Finally, these aren’t strictly baby pictures, but they’re closely related, so here you go.

First, here’s a pair of tree swallows working on making more. It took him a few tries, but he finally stuck the landing.

Here’s a pair of Baltimore orioles collecting nesting materials. Well, at least she is. Maybe he’s keeping watch.

And here’s a great blue heron who just couldn’t seem to decide on which stick to keep. This short, crooked one?

Or maybe this long, straight one.

I took a bunch of other pictures, too, but this post is already too long, and they’ll just have to wait for a rainy day…

The weather was perfect for my last morning out east; 46°F, dry, still, and sunny; and this time my sister and I tried the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail in Cheshire to see who we could find.

There is a big, shallow pond beside the stretch we sampled, and I was sure we’d find a heron of some kind fishing in there somewhere, but it took my sister’s keen eye to find this great blue heron at the edge of a low island in the middle.

We are certainly in the range of green herons, too, but we couldn’t find one today. Instead, back on land, this magnificent creature was crossing the path from the pond to the swamp on the other side.

I would say it is smaller than the giant in the pond at Estabrook, but bigger than the one I saw at the Milwaukee River last summer. It does have the same pretty eyes, however.

Snapping turtles weren’t the only critters with pretty eyes on the trail this morning, and here’s an eastern cottontail doing its best statue imitation in the golden, early morning light.

There were plenty of other birds about, as well, and many were making a racket, but the trees are pretty leafed-out here already, and so we couldn’t get a clear view of most of them. This eastern phoebe, however, perched perfectly on a bare branch over the remains of the old Farmington Canal.

And that’s a wrap for my east-coast tour. With any luck, I’ll be back in Estabrook tomorrow.

I’m still out east, and this morning my sister took me hiking on the Quinnipiac River Gorge Trail from the Cheshire town line to Hanover Pond in Meriden. What a great outing. I’ve probably been there a half dozen times before over the years, but I don’t recall ever seeing a bird on the river. Today, however, we first spotted a few mallards, and here’s the one hen. She’s even got a ankle bracelet, which we last saw on an eagle in Estabrook.

Then there was a pair of common mergansers.

When we got to Hanover Pond, we were greeted by a Canada goose on land, and this double-crested cormorant in the water.

Across the water, we could make out a great egret and eight swans, probably mute, but they were all too far away for pictures. Sorry. Instead, as we started back up the trail along the river, this family of Canada geese came with us.

Further up the trail, a Cooper’s hawk, whom we had probably seen earlier, seemed to be more concerned with breakfast than with us.

All along the trail, we could hear red-bellied woodpeckers, and here’s one that showed himself just outside his nesting cavity.

There were a lot of catbirds, too, and here’s one more focused on continuing his song than on us.

Along the way, we also saw a female ruby-throated hummingbird sipping water from the side of a siltstone cliff, but the light was to low for me to have any change of an image.

Finally, as we neared the end of the trail, the feathers on this grackle caught the sunlight just right.

And that’s my report from the Quinnipiac River Gorge Trail. Check it out if you get the chance.

I’m visiting my folks in Connecticut this weekend, and my sister’s son and his wife suggested that we go hiking in Talcott Mountain State Park this afternoon, and boy, oh boy, did that turn out to be a great idea. We could hear a lot of favorites on the hike up the mountain, scarlet tanagers, red-eyed vireos, blue-gray gnatcatchers, and more, but we couldn’t find them in the treetops. After hiking through a brief shower, we reached the summit, and we finally found someone willing to come down to our level, this darling eastern phoebe drying itself out.

As we started back down, we came across a bunch of these amazing native orchids in blossom: pink lady’s slippers (Cypripedium acaule Ait.).

Soon after that, my nephew spotted my first Connecticut mourning cloak butterfly, and this time I had more than just my phone.

Finally, halfway back down the mountain, my sister spotted an odd, black tube lying on a log. As we looked closer, it began to move. It turns out that she had spotted a giant, eastern ratsnake (Pantherophis alleghaniensis), the “largest snake found in Connecticut.”

Lastly, once I got back to my folk’s house, their new favorite visitor, this handsome tom turkey stopped by.

And that’s my update from the east coast so far.

Anne wanted to go for a bike ride early this morning, to beat the heat and traffic, so we both got up at 4:30 and were out the door at 5:30. Sweet! The weather was perfect again, and I had the park to myself for a while. This little cutie seemed to wonder what the heck I was doing there so early.

I soon became worried, however, that all the warblers had already continued their journey north, but I was happy and relieved to discover instead that perhaps they were just waiting for the sun to warm things up a bit. In the meantime, here’s a green heron already fishing on the pond.

Once the warblers did wake up, I saw my very first blackpoll warbler ever today, two of them, in fact, but I failed both times to get a picture. Sorry about that. Instead, here’s a female American redstart taking a bath in a tiny puddle right in the middle of the river path.

As I was trying to get a picture of her drying off on a nearby branch, look who else showed up: another scarlet tanager!

And a tree swallow perched for a moment in the sun right across the river.

Farther south along the river, a male American redstart posed for his portrait.

Which do you think is his better side? Left, or right?

Finally, the bumblebees are back at work, and here’s one on a white violet blossom. Thanks to everyone participating in No Mow May, Lois! Your lack of effort may be paying off already!

If only we could convince Milwaukee County Parks to join in the fun, but they were already mowing the wildflower meadow at the north end at 8am this morning. 😦

Anyway, I’ve been seeing butterflies lately, and yesterday evening I finally managed to catch one sitting down, if only with my phone, and here it is, a mourning cloak fresh out of hibernation.

Welp, I’m off to Connecticut this afternoon for a few days to see my folks before I depart for Delft, but I’ll bring my camera, and I hear a hike is already in the plans, so here’s hoping I can find something pretty to show you. It has happened before.

This morning was just as wonderful as yesterday, but I didn’t have as much time, and those rascally warblers were too busy filling up on fine Wisconsin bugs for me to get any pictures today. Instead, we’ll have to make do with the old tried-and-true, and first up is one of the two green herons hunting on the pond. Perhaps they were hoping to get a taste of some of that toad-a-palooza that’s been going on.

At the river, our great horned owl was both “out” and “up” but looking pretty sleepy.

At the north end, it appears that we have yet one more batch of goslings, on the east side this time, and here they are huddle around Mom as Dad gives me a stern look.

Here’s one of the little pipsqueaks checking me out, too.

On my way back south, this white-breasted nuthatch must have had Madonna on its mind because it sure was striking some poses.

As I neared the south end, I spotted a butterfly, probably just a cabbage white, but still it would have been my first butterfly picture of the year, and as I watched in hopes that it would find what it was searching for and settle down, look who I happened to notice across the parkway enjoying a nice fresh salad.

I crossed over to their side, and they mostly ignored me until I knelt down for a nicer picture. Then the younger one, on the right above, became fascinated by me, put its sensors of “full” and slowly approached. I will never tire of that.

Finally, as I was crossing the Oak Leaf Trail out of the park, a gray catbird, who seem to be everywhere now, paid me no never-mind and just kept singing its amazing song. (If you haven’t listened yet, do yourself a favor and give it a try.)

Lastly, here’s an image that I left out yesterday. I think these might be Mica Cap Mushroom (Coprinellus truncorum), but DO NOT TAKE MY WORD FOR IT!

I see the forecast for tomorrow morning is picture perfect, and I should have plenty of time, so let’s hope some of the warblers are still around and in the mood for pictures.

All our wishing must have worked because it was even warmer and stiller in Estabrook Park this morning than yesterday. Not only were the bugs out in swarms and the birds out in droves, but there was a chorus of toads singing at the riverbank for nearly the length of the park, and it was amazing for about three hours. Then, as if someone flipped a switch, it felt like a big bubble of warm, moist air boiled upwards, and a blast of cool, lake air blew in from the east. That’s just one of the treats of living beside Lake Michigan.

Anyway, before the weather changed, it was often difficult to keep track of all the different birds in one tree, and I’m sure I missed many of them, but here’s one that didn’t get away, a male ruby-throated hummingbird.

I know its “ruby” throat looks mighty dark, and I looked up the black-chinned hummingbird, but their range doesn’t extend east of the Rockies, so it must be just a trick of the light. In fact, the fine folks at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology suggest that “in some lights the throat of the adult male can appear black,” and we had “some” light this morning. In any case, here it is sipping nectar from tree blossoms, which I did not know they would do.

Next I spotted this female rose-breasted grosbeak, perhaps looking for those two dashing males we saw at the start of May.

I stopped by the pond, and the goslings were still fine, but I didn’t see anyone new, so I headed to the river where I found a solo blue-winged teal drake.

We’ve been lucky with teal sightings this spring, so the bigger surprise was spotting this toad in the river and taking a short break from singing.

On my way back south, I found make-out point with dozens of toads in the water jockeying for position.

Back up on the bluff and just before the cool wind blew in from the lake, I spotted this darling female chestnut-sided warbler. Her slim appearance, compared to this plump-looking male by the pond from last year, should give you some idea of how warm it was this morning.

Just across the path from Mrs Chestnut, I also spotted this striking, white-crowned sparrow.

Back in the treetops, here’s a Canada warbler, whom I first thought was a female magnolia warbler, but this is not the first time I’ve made that mistake. Ha! Someday I’ll learn, right?

Finally, after the weather changed, but before everyone fled, here’s a yellow-bellied flycatcher, whom I thought was another least flycatcher until I got home and took a look at its nice yellow belly in this picture.

In addition to all the birds and toads, this warm weather has also brought out a bunch of new blossoms, and here’s some white Trillium.

Here’s some yellow trout lily (Erythronium americanum), a distinct species from the slightly-smaller white trout lily (Erythronium albidum) that opened a week or two ago.

And finally, the Virginia bluebells are open.

Phew! I’d better charge up my camera battery real good after this morning, and I can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings.

Ahhhh, the wind has subsided at last, the little flying bugs were thick in the air, and it seemed as though a whole basketful of birds was dumped on Estabrook overnight. The treetops were alive with warblers.

The very first new arrival I spotted this morning was this very-shy indigo bunting, who only gave me two tries and then was gone like a flash.

This next picture is even worse, but I believe it shows our very first golden-winged warbler (Vermivora chrysoptera). You can at least see his golden wing patches, his jet-black throat, and his white belly. That’s one more for the record books.

At the pond, a green heron was back and hard at work.

And the great horned owl was out in the open again by the river this morning. Just as I brought my camera to my eye, but before I could squeeze off a shot, I saw it yawn, turn its head, and close its eyes. I’ll take that as the compliment it was meant to be.

Lastly, I found our first mourning dove nest.

And that’s it for this morning, I’m afraid. I didn’t have a lot of time, and probably won’t get back to the park until tomorrow. In the meantime, however, I have a couple of images from our visit to Anne’s Mom and Dad’s place out in the country on Sunday.

Here’s a great egret, which we get to see in Estabrook just once in a blue moon.

Best of all, this one appears to have caught two fish at once!

Finally, I was surprised to find a hooded merganser, the likes of which we haven’t seen since the start of April.

Keep your fingers crossed that the nice weather and bug supply last into tomorrow so the birds stick around, and I get another chance to see who the wind blew in.

We have been “enjoying” a wind out of the south, as advertised, and it does appear that some birds have hitched a ride on it, so we do have some new arrivals, but let’s start with the goslings.

At first, I didn’t see all six goslings at the pond this morning, and my heart sank, but I was soon relieved to find that I simply wasn’t looking hard enough. Once they came out into the open, all original six appeared to be hale, hearty, and hungry, and here are the five willing to squish together for a picture.

Meanwhile, across the river I spotted what appears to be a blended family, which we’ve seen before, with at least 12 goslings that I could count, and some are obviously smaller than others. Just look at those two right in the middle. The one on the left is nearly half the size as the one on the right.

Oh, and while I was at the river, I was thrilled to find our great horned owl awake and not quite as tucked away as usual. Yay!

Okay, on to the new arrivals, and first up is this great crested flycatcher with its creamy yellow belly, whitish neck, and brown head. There were two of them, and they’ve just arrived from the southern half of the Gulf of Mexico or even farther south.

Next, at the south end, I had a nice extended photo shoot with this beauty, a blue-headed vireo, who didn’t have to travel quite as far as the flycatchers.

As if that wasn’t enough, wait till you get a load of this guy! He’s our first male scarlet tanager for the season, and he’s come the farthest of the three, all the way from western South America. I read that “twice a year, [they] fly across the Gulf of Mexico,” and “usually at night!” Yikes!

Best of all, at least for me, I’ve saved the most amazing for last. We’ve seen all three of the birds above at least once before in Estabrook, but I’ve been searching for this next bird since I first learned two years ago that red-bellied woodpeckers are not these, despite their obvious, bright-red heads. At long last, here is the first red-headed woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus) that I’ve ever seen in Estabrook Park and maybe even anywhere.

Ta da! It was across the river and quite shy, so I consider myself lucky just to get these meager pictures.

Not a bad way to start a Monday morning, eh?