It was a cool, windy, and grey morning, and I had to go to school anyway, but I was afraid of missing something amazing, because there’s been so much going on lately, so I ran into the park for a quick visit to just the pond and the river at the north end.
The excitement began as I headed to the river and heard a little mewing sound from above. Look who I found in the branches overhead: a pair of wood ducks, perhaps looking for a nesting cavity.
Finding these little cuties high up in a tree hasn’t gotten old yet.
When I did finally reach the north end, I was surprised to find a pair of goldeneyes and a red-breasted merganser drake, but they were too far out on the water for presentable pictures.
As forecast, it was a perfect morning in Estabrook, and I stopped by the pond on my way to the north end to see who the nice weather might have brought out. The main attraction, however, was that the Canada goose was back on her nest this morning for the first time that I’ve seen this season.
Last year, you may recall that she lost her first clutch, and had to lay a second, so the whole process took even longer, but let’s all hope that doesn’t happen this year. Last year, there were also a lot more geese on the pond, including a couple with a nest at the north end of the island, and maybe that’s what jinxed it.
Anyway, a belted kingfisher was also visiting the pond this morning and looking for some breakfast, but I didn’t see her catch any this time.
Back at the river, a beaver swam by right in front of me, as if to say, “what’s with all the muskrats and deer lately?”
Winter wrens are still plentiful, and here’s one of them.
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.
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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
