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.

Yesterday afternoon was so beautiful, I couldn’t help but go to Estabrook a second time, and that’s what it took to finally capture some images of the killdeer that I’ve been hearing on the river.

I had an exam to proctor this morning, so I couldn’t go early, but I hurried home as soon as I could, and got out while the weather was still nice. I heard the killdeer again but didn’t see them. Instead, I was treated to this spectacle of eight (8!) buffleheads all swimming together. I could not believe my luck.

Finally, this male hairy woodpecker was uncharacteristically close to the ground for just long enough for me to take this portrait.

I also saw a pied-billed grebe in the distance, but it eluded me this time. Maybe next time.

It was a nice enough morning in Estabrook, but the air was a little foggy, so no good for long shots, and the birds were a little busy, so in no mood for portraits. Thus, I didn’t take many pictures and saved a lot on film.

I was happy to see again the great blue heron who’s been hanging around, and here’s one picture I did take.

All the regulars are still on the water at the north end: Canada geese, mallards, common goldeneyes, common mergansers, hooded mergansers, a pair of buffleheads, and even the solo scaup drake. One new-comer, whom I failed to capture, was a wood duck hen. We saw a couple of drakes back on March 2, but this is our first hen of the season.

I didn’t see our eagle this morning, but here are some pictures from Monday that I haven’t shown you yet. It seems that it had an itch to scratch.

I hope that felt as good as it looks, but it’s probably gotta be real careful with talons like those, right?

Anyway, another first for the season was the little chipmunk that scampered across the trail in front of me. It had no time for me or my camera, but this grey squirrel already had its morsal and was luxuriously munching on it beside the pond in a brief slice of sun. “Why don’t ya take a picture? It’ll last longer.” “Thanks! Will do!”

The ice continues to melt on the pond, and I’d guess the water is about 30% clear. There were two pair of mallards today, but the geese were up grazing on the lawn beside the road. I see we’re in for a real warm patch this afternoon, so here’s hoping that helps things along.

It was pretty dreary looking this morning, when the sun did finally come up, so I didn’t mind going to campus instead of the park. Plus, the sun started to burn through the clouds a bit later this morning, when I got back home from school.

There are still plenty of fancy water fowl around, but I didn’t see any scenes as pretty as yesterday’s, so here’s another look at a pair of hooded mergansers from yesterday that I didn’t use.

While I was checking out the birds on the water, look who showed up to join me. The location isn’t as pretty as yesterday, but it was over the east shore, so I was able to get a lot closer. My, what a big, sharp beak it has, eh?

Meanwhile, the pair of Canada geese were still on the pond, and one was even investigating the island. It shouldn’t be long now before there’s a nest with some eggs in it. Yay!

Back along the river, the song sparrows continue to be plentiful, and this one posed in nice bright light for a change.

Finally, I spotted our great blue heron again, but failed to get an image. Instead, here’s one from Sunday that I didn’t use.

Another hopeful sign that spring must really be on its way is that I did finally did see the killdeer I’ve heard a couple of times already. This time it made a couple of big figure-8s over the river and then flew off over the far shore.

The forecast looks nice for tomorrow morning, and I can’t wait to see if anyone else new shows up.

If you asked me to design the perfect mid-March morning, I don’t know what changes I would make to today’s specifications. It was cold enough overnight to firm up the trail, but in the mid-30s already when the sun came up, so I hardly needed gloves. Plus, the air was nearly still, and the sun even shown for a bit before the clouds rolled in.

Best of all, the birds responded in kind, and it sounded like an orchestra warming up in Estabrook this morning, and here’s one of the culprits, a song sparrow earning its name.

I was thrilled to see almost all of the usual crowd on the water above the falls. Even a greater scaup drake was back.

The goldeneyes seemed to have paired off, but this hen looks less than impressed with her drake today.

A few common mergansers are still around and here’s a drake looking anything but common.

The hooded mergansers still appear to be sorting things out.

The buffleheads haven’t taken off yet, either.

The cherry on top was the return of this mature bald eagle. The gulls and geese alerted me to its flyover as I was photographing the buffleheads, and I caught a glimpse of it through the trees and figured that was all I was going to get. When I finally continued north, however, I couldn’t believe my luck to spot it perched in a tree over the northern island.

Usually, as soon as one of these spots me coming up the trail, off they go, but this one seemed mesmerized by all the geese, ducks, and mergansers on the water below, like a kid reading the dollar menu at McDonalds.

Anyway, it eventually did take off and with a nice long branch in tow, so I headed over to the pond where I found this happy scene. A pair of geese were back on the ice, after taking a break for about a week, and they brought a pair of mallards with them this time.

Things are really picking up in Estabrook now.

It seemed as though it took a whole extra hour for dawn to come this morning, and it brought an extra surprise with it when it finally arrived. The great blue heron, however, whom we’ve been seeing on the river at the south end lately, did not appear to be as excited about one last burst of snow as I was. Hang in there, Buddy! I read it is supposed to reach into the high 40s this afternoon.

The mink still eludes me, and even teased me with a nice set of tracks this morning.

The change in weather got the red-winged blackbirds back to singing throughout the park, and this one by the pond was especially bold.

Back by the river, the song sparrows continue to be thick in the grass, and here’s one taking a short break from foraging.

Finally, by the time I got back to the south end, it had already warmed up quite a bit, and our heron had even found a new perch that got its toes out of the snow.

That’s gotta feel better, right?

I can’t wait to see what new arrivals the warmup will bring.

Wow, that was cold! The thermometer said 9°F this morning, but the stiff breeze out of the north made if feel as though it was well below zero. The sun rose right on schedule, at 6:09 AM, and I was out the door soon after that, but I didn’t even hear a cardinal singing until after 7, let alone a robin or a red-winged blackbird. Them birds was froze!

Nevertheless, our recent resident great blue heron was already on the river at the south end when I went by, and it was still there when the light was much better on my way back home. Here it is on the far shore and seeming to ask, “Where the heck did all this fresh ice come from?”

“Sorry, buddy, but you probably know better than I do just how darn fickle Mother Nature can be.”

At the far north end, I counted over 100 Canada geese sleeping on the ice around the northern island, along with a few mallards, goldeneyes, common mergansers, hooded mergansers, and even a pair of buffleheads all on the water. I didn’t want to disturb all those slumbering geese, so I didn’t really get close enough for any pictures.

Instead, back on shore, there was a pair of nuthatches chattering to each other in a tree over the path, and this male really liked the spot he had and was not going to give it up.

Finally, by the pond, this robin appears to have given up trying to pry any worms out of the frozen ground and was sampling the staghorn sumac for a change.

I know that’s not a lot of pictures, but my fingers couldn’t take much more today. The good news, however, is that in the 10-day forecast, I don’t see a low temperature below freezing, so this really could be winters last blast.

Our streak of nice weather continued this morning with nicely frozen trails and clear skies.

The great blue heron was up early and had found itself a nice sunny spot on the far shore.

Northern cardinals were singing to the heavens from seemingly every available perch.

Above the falls, one pair of buffleheads had extricated itself from their little pack.

Between the islands, I counted 10 common mergansers, more than I think I’ve ever seen, and here are the 5 closest together that I could capture.

The most interesting spectacle of the morning, however, were these three hooded merganser drakes vying for the attention of one hen. It appears that an important judging criterion is the size and fullness of the hood, which I guess isn’t very surprising given the fact that they have “hoods” at all.

It reminds me of one of those awards shows song and dance numbers with a female singer and a bunch of guys in tuxedoes. Best of luck, guys!

It’s getting light enough early enough for me to squeeze in a quick trip to Estabrook before I go to school, so that’s what I did this morning. The thermometer said 20°F, but the breeze was supposed to make it feel like 7°F, and the cloud cover was pretty thick, so it sure felt like winter.

As I’ve already mentioned, now that the river is clear of ice around the islands at the north end, the lower river is pretty quiet. Instead, I expected most of the action to be at the north end, and I didn’t have time to dawdle, so I stayed on the path as it skirts around the low grassy area down the bluff from the southern playground, where I had seen coyotes a few times back in January.

Well, wouldn’t you know it, this was the morning that one decided to reappear! Ha!

I spotted it out on the ice, and it appeared to be trying to cross to the other side, but a lot of the ice now is merely frozen foam that floats down from the falls and piles up into a thick mat. It turns out, however, that such a mat of frozen foam won’t even hold up a coyote, because this one fell right through. I was shooting through about 100 yards of trees and branches, so I couldn’t line up a gap until it had just fished itself back out, but you can still see the water draining out of its fur. Brrrrr! What a way to start the morning, right?

Here it is again, back safely on shore and already starting to look pretty puffy. Phew! I hope it dries out soon, and I wonder if and when it will try to cross again. It clearly knew I was there, so I gave it the friendliest wave I knew how. I stopped short of a thumbs-up, though.

Anyway, once the coyote was out of sight, I went down the bluff and onto the grassy lowland to check out some little birds I had spotted while watching the coyote. There were several song sparrows busily foraging away.

And at least one American tree sparrow mixed into the bunch.

After watching the coyote come south along the river, I didn’t expect to find anything bigger than a sparrow for a while, so I forged north and immediately startled the great blue heron standing on the shore. Dang! Sorry about that!

Luckily for us, it was really hungry, the fishing was really good, or there was just the right combination of the two, because it only moved a couple hundred yards upstream. This time, I knew to be stealthy, and it let me capture this image in return. That fresh mating season plumage sure is pretty, isn’t it?

Anyway, I did eventually make it to the north end where I counted at least 4 dozen geese, maybe 3 dozen mallards, 8 goldeneyes, 7 common mergansers, 6 hooded mergansers, 5 buffleheads, 2 greater scaup drakes, a couple of herring gulls, and one red-bellied merganser drake. I didn’t see any shots that were better than yesterday’s, and by then my time was up, so I hustled home, hopped on my bike, and rode to campus.

The forecast for tomorrow morning is a little warmer and a little sunnier, so I can’t wait to find out who we see next.