The sudden cold snap brought the birds out like crazy this morning, and I believe I saw more blue herons in the park today than I have ever seen before.

There was a youngish-looking one having some success on the pond.

Another youngish-looking one seeming to take a break on the river below the falls.

Yet another youngish-looking one fishing intently above the falls.

A fourth, in full adult regalia, grabbing a little morsel between the islands.

Yet a fifth one, appearing to be a youngster again, just off the northern island and not having much luck, but it did give a nice demo of how to navigate water that gets too deep.

I hadn’t seen the ducklings on my first pass of the pond, so I stopped in again on my way back south, and Mrs. Wood Duck’s special friend is back and sharing a tender moment. These two are starting to make me feel like paparazzi.

While searching for the ducklings, I spotted a new kid in town, and I’m leaning towards a female hooded merganser, of whom we haven’t seen a bill nor feather since May on the river.

Meanwhile, the black duck and mallard hens are still hanging out.

Ah, and here comes Mrs. Wood Duck with four of her ducklings.

While the fifth stayed behind with who appears to be yet another mallard hen.

So that’s 10 ducks of 3 species and 1 merganser on the water at once. Holy Moly.

Then the excitement really began.

Yup, a Cooper’s hawk, whom we also haven’t seen for nearly a month, flew in looking for brunch.

The ducks quickly circled their wagons, as we saw before with the owl on the river.

And with my eye off it for a second, I lost track of the hawk, but I don’t believe it had any luck on the pond this morning, and I’m gonna call that enough excitement for one day.

This morning really got off to a slow start, and I’d be tempted to think that the heat had something to do with it, but who knows. I didn’t see anything on my way to the pond, and there I only saw the same regulars that we saw just yesterday, so I headed to the river, where I almost made it to the north end before I even turned my camera on. At last, the mallard hen with three ducklings led them through a pretty reflection of the trees on the island lit by the sun.

Then a youngish-looking blue heron was fishing off the southern tip of the northern island, so things were starting to look up.

Overhead, this little cutie flew in to pose for a second, and after consulting with the experts at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, I’m gonna go with Acadian flycatcher (Empidonax virescens). Now we’re cookin’! We’re just inside the northwest corner of its range, but Donna, if you know a better fit, I’m sure you won’t hesitate to drop me a line.

As you can see, things had really started to turn around, and they just kept getting better. I had barely finish with the flycatcher, when this slightly faded beauty stopped in, our first red-spotted purple (Limenitis arthemis astyanax) for this season, and not a second too soon, either. Woo hoo! Last year it took me several tries to finally find one this obliging.

Well, since my luck had clearly turned around, I swung back by the pond, and look who was there.

Yup, one of the green herons that have really been giving me the slip lately. It was on quite the roly-poly little log and appeared to be having a heck of a time staying upright but not so much that it couldn’t snag a little fish anyway.

But still, it was roly.

Meanwhile, the American black duck hen and her best buddy the mallard hen were enjoying their morning preen together in the sun.

I didn’t see Mrs. Wood Duck’s new special friend, so she was giving the ducklings some attention, for a change. First, there was a winding cruise through the algal mats.

And then a short visit to the west lawn.

When she decided that it was time to go, one duckling had an opinion to share.

Finally, for the cherry on top, just as I was about to call it a morning, I heard the cry of this youngster perched on the WITI TV tower and probably demanding to be fed. My guess is that it’s a fledgling from the pair of peregrine falcons in the nesting box on the UWM EMS building, and that brings our bird-of-prey count to 7!

So Estabrook Park pulled through again for us, and you’d think that after all this time, I’d have learned to have a little more faith.

Oh, and before I forget, I heard a cicada singing already before 8am, so you know it’s gonna be a hot one. Stay cool out there!

It was a slow morning in Estabrook, after all the noise last evening, and the mammals seemed to be taking the day off. The greatest concentration of firework detritus was by the pond, so I was quite surprised to find all the usual avian denizens going about their morning routine as though nothing had happened.

The American black duck hen was still sticking like glue to her new friend the mallard hen.

And Mrs. Wood Duck was still enjoying the company of her new special friend…

While the kids foraged on their own in the yard.

At the river, the water is beginning to recede a bit, after all the rain we’ve had, and the killdeer are back on the exposed rocks. There were at least 3, and this one wanted all my attention.

When I opted not to give chase, however, it got back up and just watched me while a sandpiper began foraging in the background.

Eventually, the killdeer gave up on me and just flew off.

In the meadow, the only critter up this morning is this plush looking silver-spotted skipper.

I stopped by the pond again on my way south, and a green heron evaded me, while the ducklings settled down for their early morning nap.

Meanwhile, the adults settled down on the other end of the pond.

At the soccer fields, the wren was back to singing and keeping an eye on me.

On the next birch tree over, there was a woodpecker that looks like a female downy, but with grey feathers instead of white. She even has the couple of little black squares in the white stripe down the side of her tail. Curious. I don’t think it’s some effect caused by my camera because the birch bark is nice and white.

Julie Craves, supervisor of avian research at the Rouge River Bird Observatory at the University of Michigan Dearborn and research associate at the university’s Environmental Interpretive Center, explains that “woodpeckers’ white feathers are also susceptible to becoming gray and dirty from soot or other substances,” and maybe that’s what’s going on here.

Lastly, a sulfur was sipping its fill from the Canada thistle this time.

Oh, and before I forget, on our way home from our first in-person get together at Anne’s folk’s place yesterday (thanks Joanne and Don) in who knows how long, Anne spotted these two amazing creatures working a soybean field in the warm afternoon sun.

Them there are sandhill cranes, if’n you ain’t from around these parts.

Plus, I forgot to mention that I found my first park tequila yesterday. How fun is that?

On my walk to the pond this morning, I had one of those magical moments when a young deer who couldn’t figure out what to make of me. I’ve learned that the spell lasts longer if I sat down, so I did.

Once it seemed that I was no threat, hunger called, and the spell was broken.

At the pond, Mrs. Wood Duck’s special friend was back, and they were having their own magic moment while the ducklings foraged hither and yon on their own.

Meanwhile, the young blue heron was back and continuing to hone its fishing skills.

Then, as if all that wasn’t enough, a mallard hen flew in, and the American black duck hen immediately paddled right over and became her new best friend.

I eventually tore myself from all this amity and hiked down to the river.

I could see ripples on the water that the beaver were making, and as I tried to get closer, a red squirrel took great exception, which alerted the beaver, and they went back under cover. Oh well.

I saw no herons, muskrats, or otters on the river today, but on my way back south, I did spot a mallard hen with her three ducklings…

And a wood duck hen with her duckling.

Back by the mudflats, I got to see my first school of tiny bullheads for this summer.

Back up on the bluff, I spotted this pair of whitetail dragon flies still just getting acquainted.

Finally, in the weeds by the soccer fields, there were a few monarchs…

Yet another dragonfly, a female widow skimmer (Libellula luctuosa) this time, and …

A pretty little sulfur butterfly sharing a bull thistle blossom with an Agapostemon bicolored striped-sweat bee .

That’ll do it for today, and I hope you have a great 4th of July, maybe even with your friends and family!

It was forecast to get hot today, so I hit the park early, while it was still cool and dark, and I was happily surprised to run into this crew before I even reached the pond. Sure, the picture’s grainy, but it’s a miracle I managed to get an image at all. The streetlights were still on.

At the pond, a young blue heron was already fishing, and I’m pretty sure it’s got a crayfish here.

It’s nice to see the kids be successful once in a while, eh?

Meanwhile, the wood duck ducklings are becoming more independent. Here’s Mom with her friend and one duckling.

While the other four ducklings are running around on the lawn with the American black duck hen. I was lucky to even get 4 of those 5 in a single image.

Talk about “free-range” kids.

At the river, I could see the ripples made by beaver, but none came out to play today. Nor was there a heron fishing at the falls. There was, however, yet another rabbit enticing me to follow it up the trail. Okay. Let’s see what’s at the north end.

There were the usual contingent of geese and mallards on the water, and the waxwings were foraging over the water again, but the big surprise is this stunning creature.

I’m pretty confident that we have here a Halloween pennant dragonfly (Celithemis eponina), which I am pretty sure I have never seen before. The orange background on the wings is a little subdued, but that could be due to the lighting, the strong green behind the wings, and/or the vaguery of my camera’s color processing.

As I came back south, I stumbled upon another striking creature, which seems to be a Leconte’s haploa moth (Haploa lecontei). Well, it’s definitely a moth and probably in the Haploa genus. From there, Leconte’s appears to be the best fit. We saw one last summer, too.

But wait, there’s more, and this one I had to take with my phone, but it is still good enough to identify an aptly-named white slant-line moth (Tetracis cachexiata).

Okay, that’s enough bugs for one day.

At the soccer fields, the wren was still hopping in and out of its house.

And this little cutie with non-descript markings, which I don’t believe I’ve seen before, would hover low over the long grass for a moment and then dive down to catch something. Then it would pop back up, fly to a nearby low branch, and repeat.

The beak looks finch-like, but the colors don’t match any finch we should have. Instead, I suspect it’s a female or immature indigo bunting. I’ve been seeing a bright blue male singing at the top of the same tree but haven’t managed to capture a presentable image yet. I did get a nice picture of one back in May at the north end, however.

Okay, one last image. The Allegheny monkey flower (Mimulus ringens) is starting to bloom in various locations along the river.

This morning was sort of a mixed bag. The weather was beautiful, but the pictures got off to a slow start. There were even a few mallards at the pond, when I arrived, along with the wood duck hen and ducklings, but nobody was feeling very photogenic, so I let them be. There was also one male belted kingfisher, but they’re very skittish, and this is the best I could do. No raccoons again today.

At the river, I also missed the beaver, but when I reached the falls, our regular was already there, and it looked like it was going to try a good-sized fish someone had left behind.

It found the fish about 6-10 feet inland and walked it over to the water. I don’t know if that was to rinse it off, to wash it down, or it just has a rule that it can “only eat fish it takes out of the water.” In any case, after several false starts, it did eventually get the whole thing down, and I hope that works out. Oh sure, I’ll drink a park beer and enjoy a can of park beans when I can find one, but I draw the line at fish left behind.

Above the falls, I finally found a nice grouping of geese that shows off how far the goslings have come. The big one in the middle and keeping its eye on me is the adult.

As I neared the north end, I came across this pretty little moth that maybe got leaf tops and bottoms mixed up, happily for us, and it appears to be a large lace-border (Scopula limboundata).

At the north end, the water is still loaded with geese, mallards, and even a few sand pipers. Plus, there were several cedar waxwings hunting flying insects over the water, and here’s one that paused for a second.

Right below the waxwings, a young blue heron was trying to do the same with fish but wasn’t having much luck.

Keep practicing, buddy! You’ll get the hang of it.

Meanwhile, on shore, this finch seemed to be having a much easier time with the mulberries.

Back on the water, these mallard ducklings looked tuckered out from foraging and beyond ready for their nap.

On my way back south, I spotted a wood duck hen with her duckling crossing paths with a mallard hen with hers.

At the falls, the mature blue heron was still fishing, but Lisa said it hadn’t caught anything in 10 minutes, so I took this and kept moving.

Below the falls, the raspberries along the path are becoming ripe.

At the soccer fields, this wren kept popping in and out of this nesting hole in between verses of its song.

A blue jay stopped by.

Another goldfinch, a female this time, was feasting on a bull thistle blossom.

Lastly, as I was about to call it a morning, this beautiful black swallowtail stopped by to warmup in the sun, and I would say he’s a male, based on how “large and bright” his yellow spots are.

When I glanced out the window this morning, I was thrilled to see not a cloud in the pre-dawn sky, so I hustled out the door. I don’t know where the deer have gone, but I seldom see them anymore, unlike last summer when they seemed ubiquitous. Thus, I made it to the pond in record time, at which point a fog bank rolled in off the lake and I enjoyed a brief lake-effect shower.

The usual contingent of ducks and ducklings were about, but still no raccoons. Maybe they’re taking a little break from crayfish for breakfast. We did have one young blue heron, however, still experimenting with “hairstyles” it seems, up in one of the birch trees along the east shore.

At the river, I spotted just one beaver today, and I think that’s Ma or Pa.

And even before I reached the falls, I saw another blue heron, an adult this time, fishing in the small stream that drains the small pond on the west side into the river just below the old bridge abutment.

Above the falls, I was surprised to spot yet another brood of very fresh-looking mallard ducklings.

As I was taking their picture across the river, I accidentally spooked these three, older ducklings who then shot out onto the water on their own.

They quickly paddled over to the far shore as one intermittently chirped, as if calling for Mom.

One mallard hen, who was dabbling with some others near that far shore, approached, but they shied away from her.

Finally, Mom, who must have been off on an errand just a bit upstream, finally heard their call, and flew diagonally across the water to reunite with them.

Phew!

At the north end, there are a ton of geese about, and the goslings are starting to look all grown up, but I failed to capture a decent image.

On my way back south, a third blue heron was in the usual spot at the falls.

Meanwhile, the second one was still at the mouth of the stream when I went by, so I’m pretty sure there were at least 3 distinct blue herons in Estabrook this morning.

Finally, as I approached the weeds beside the soccer fields in hopes of a pretty butterfly, this busy little nuthatch reminded me that we haven’t seen much of them for a while, and we have a beautiful blue sky for a change.

At the weeds, sure enough, there were two monarchs. One flew off right away, but the second must have still been hungry for some of that sweet, sweet Canada thistle nectar.

Oh yeah! I almost forgot to mention that I heard my first cicada yesterday afternoon on my walk back from the grocery store. Happy July, everybody!

It was a nice enough morning in Estabrook, if a little humid at 87%, but not too warm, no rain for a change, a little bit of sun, and even some patches of blue sky. The critters, however, were not as cooperative as they’ve been lately, and perhaps it was all my gushing about the “amazing” turkey yesterday, but I barely saw a rabbit this morning, let alone a raccoon, a beaver, or even a deer.

The ducklings on the pond, at least, were unphased and up to their usual activities. Four were on break.

And the fifth was still on the hunt. As I tried to get a pretty picture, look what it caught. Yup, more crayfish. It took a little wrasslin’, but it eventually went down the pipe, and all in one piece.

As I was about to bid the pond adieu, this sweet little downy woodpecker stopped by to see me off.

If you’ve been near the pond lately, or maybe even a location near you, for that matter, I’m sure you’ve noticed a super sweet aroma in the air recently, and I think I’ve located the culprit: linden tree blossoms (or basswood in North America, supposedly). On a still day, wow that stuff gets thick.

I was told once upon a time, and just have confirmed on the interwebs, that in Ukraine, the month of July is named for these trees because “the smell of [linden tree] in the middle of the summer is everywhere.“

Anyway, I did eventually make it to the river, and the only action today, besides a trio of green herons that successfully evaded me several times, is our old buddy, the blue heron fishing at the falls. On my way north, it was actually taking a break to preen a bit in the morning sun on a downed tree just above the falls.

On my way back south, however, it was back to work, and this time, I finally got to see it catch something.

So maybe it does know what it’s doing.

After all that excitement, I took one more swing by the pond, just in case, and I’d have nothing new to show for it if it weren’t for a visit by this cute little catbird getting ready to sing his 10-minute song.

And that’s the show for today, Ladies and Gentlemen. Here’s hoping that the wild things come out to play tomorrow, eh?

That’s right, ladies and gentlemen, at long last my quest has borne fruit, and we now have photographs, such as they are, of a female wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) in Estabrook Park. I have searched high and low for over a year, and once thought I heard their call across the river, but never once have I spotted one until this morning when I came across this beauty calmly foraging for her breakfast on the lawn to the east of the pond.

If you live nearby, you might be wondering “What’s the big deal? Aren’t they everywhere?” Yes. Yes, they are, and one was even a nuisance to some on the UWM campus a few years ago, but still it’s nice to finally see them, or at least one, pay Estabrook a visit. I sure hope she finds it to her liking and stays a while. Maybe we’ll even get poults next spring. Can you even imagine!?!?

Meanwhile, on the pond, I didn’t see the raccoons this morning, but the ducks were out.

At the river, a pair of beaver were in their usual spot. One who appears smaller and younger was munching away until someone walked by on the path.

Then it appeared to tug a couple of fresh branches to a more-secluded location while another one, who appears to be larger and older, gave me this look.

At the falls, the blue heron was taking a break from fishing as I passed by.

While at the north end, I spotted another, younger one, without all the showy feathers, intently fishing in calmer waters.

By the time I made my way back south, the older one had resumed staring at the rushing water.

It was a slow morning for critters, boys and girls, and you know what that means? That’s right! It’s time for some flower pictures. Woo hoo!

First, we have this handsome little blossom growing along the river path, that looks like a strawberry, but grows at the end of a stem over a foot tall. Instead, it’s tall cinquefoil, prairie cinquefoil, or sticky cinquefoil (Drymocallis arguta), with up to 6 extra leaflets in addition to the 3 that look like strawberry leaves, and no red berries, tasty or otherwise, just seeds in a little pod. We saw its yellow cousin, common cinquefoil (Potentilla simplex), last summer.

Next, I wish this were American bellflower (Campanulastrum americanum), but it is probably the invasive creeping bellflower (Campanula rapunculoides). At least it’s pretty and seems much better behaved than garlic mustard or even dame’s rocket.

And lastly, here’s some nice, native, northern bush honeysuckle, low bush honeysuckle, dwarf bush honeysuckle, or even yellow-flowered upright honeysuckle (Diervilla lonicera), which is supposed to be an important source of nectar for bumblebees. Yay!

Then the rain came, I hid under an oak tree for a bit, and then I hurried home for some breakfast.

It was cool, still, and dark this morning, but dry for a change, so a perfect time to spot those critters who prefer not to be spotted, and sure enough, our little masked bandits at the pond did not disappoint. I’m guessing that’s fresh crayfish on the menu this morning. Tasty.

I only got a couple of glimpses before they slunk away, again, but this time as I tried to get some nice duckling pictures, they came back out. The possibility exists, based on a vast dataset of two anecdotes, that my dark grey long pants and long sleeves act as better camouflage than my lily white legs and arms sticking out of black short pants and a black t-shirt. Duly noted.

Junior even lingered for a better look after Mom decided that she had seen enough. “What is that thing?”

Anyway, here’s your duckling picture, and yes, it appears that now there are only five. Besides raccoons and possibly mink, there are a variety of raptors that we’ve seen, with mouths of their own to feed, and don’t forget that giant snapping turtle lurking under the surface. It’s tough out there, but Mom seems to take it all in stride.

As I began to make my way to the river, I was treated to this little show on the path into the woods at the north end of the pond.

Could they be any less unnerved by me? Yet, another anecdote supporting my camo theory.

At the river, I think we’ve got our best evidence yet, that there is a size and probably age difference among the beaver population. Here’s a smaller, younger one.

And here’s big ol’ Ma or Pa wondering “what you lookin’ at?”

Just the difference in their facial expressions speaks volumes to me, even if pure anthropomorphization on my part, and yes, I sure did have to look how to spell that one.

Anywho, you’ll never guess who was fishing at the falls again. I’d like to think that they would be excellent judges of how good the fishing is at any spot, but they sure seem to spend a lot of time staring at the rushing water and not much time gulping down fish, compared to what we’ve seen them do in still water.

North of the falls, I was thrilled to see this mallard hen with three ducklings in tow confidently steam right across the river right towards me. Perhaps they are the quartet we’ve seen several times at the north end, and she has concluded that I’m harmless.

No owls today, I’m sorry to say, but I sure bet the mallards prefer it that way.

Lastly, just as I reached the top of the bluff on my way home, this female oriole sure made it seem like I was harshing her mellow, but she still didn’t make it easy to take her picture.

Her behavior, though, reminded me of red-winged blackbirds, and a quick check revealed what you might think obvious: they are indeed cousins, and the Pedia of Wik explains:

“Icterids or New World blackbirds make up a family, the Icteridae, of small to medium-sized, often colorful, New World passerine birds. Most species have black as a predominant plumage color, often enlivened by yellow, orange, or red. The species in the family vary widely in size, shape, behavior, and coloration. The name, meaning “jaundiced ones” (from the prominent yellow feathers of many species) comes from the Ancient Greek ikteros via the Latin ictericus. This group includes the New World blackbirds, New World orioles, the bobolink, meadowlarks, grackles, cowbirds, oropendolas, and caciques.”

Well, that explains a lot.