Signs of Life in Estabrook Park

Greetings from Namibia!

We flew from Johannesburg, South Africa to Windhoek, Namibia today, and when we got to our lodging at the Trans Kalahari Inn, there was still plenty of daylight, so we strolled around the grounds to see who else might be here.

Things were quiet at first, but eventually this character popped up to sing us a pretty little tune. If you’re thinking “bulbul“, you’re exactly right, and we’ve seen them plenty of times before. That red ring around its eye, however, makes it a black-fronted bulbul (Pycnonotus nigricans), aka red-eyed bulbul, which is only found here, in the southwestern corner of Africa. That pays for the trip right there, don’t you think?

As the sun got closer to the horizon, other birds started making noise, and the raucous “GWAAAAY” of this handsome devil makes him the onomatopoeically-named gray go-away-bird (Crinifer concolor). We saw a few in South Africa, but it was pretty rainy there during our stay, and the tufts on their heads weren’t quite as puffed up as this one.

We had a little time before we had to leave for the airport in Joburg this morning, so we strolled around the hotel grounds, as I do, and things got exciting when a flight of three African sacred ibises (Threskiornis aethiopicus) landed right on the hotel roof to preen. They’re a little spooky-looking, aren’t they?

Finally, here’s one more picture from Pilanesberg National Park. There’s a little lake in the middle, and someone spotted a turtle on a log pretty far out on the water. Thank goodness they didn’t have canoes for us to paddle out for a closer look, because THAT’S NOT A LOG! If you look closely, you can see that the left end of the “log” has the eyes and ears of a common hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius), the deadliest mammal in Africa. Oh, and the turtle is some type of terrapin, possibly a serrated hinged terrapin (Pelusios sinuatus).

Tomorrow, we drive north to Etosha National Park, which is famous for being just about the only source of water for wildlife in the area, so we should get to see some critters, if our luck holds.

Pilanesberg National Park!

This is gonna have to be quick, because it’s been a long day, it’s already late, and I am beat. As I mentioned yesterday, Anne booked us a safari for today at the fabulous Pilanesberg National Park, and it’s gonna take me days to sort through all the pictures I took, so here’s a tiny sample to give you just a taste of the place.

We saw both red-billed and yellow-billed hornbills, and this southern red-billed hornbill (Tockus rufirostris) let me have the nicer picture.

Mammals were pretty well represented there, and here’s one of several impala (Aepyceros melampus) we saw.

With all those mammals, I would have been surprised if we didn’t see any oxpeckers, and here’s one of the red-billed variety (Buphagus erythroryncha).

And, in case you don’t recognize the pattern on that “ox”, here’s a look at her face.

Finally, there were a lot of landfowl, including guinea fowl, spurfowl, and a francolin, but the one that impressed me the most was this kori bustard (Ardeotis kori), “the largest flying bird native to Africa.” The average weight of 20 males sampled in Namibia was 25 lb. “Yikes!”

Tomorrow’s another travel day, already, but I have a hope of finally getting to check out the hotel grounds before we head out in the morning. If I even have a fraction of the luck I had today, I won’t need you to wish me any.

Greetings from South Africa!

After 27 hours of travel, including stops at JFK and Nairobi, we finally arrived at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, South Africa this afternoon. Woo hoo! Even better, the area between the terminal and the shuttlebus zone was quite nicely landscaped with trees, plants, and a bit of lawn, so there was plenty to see while we waited for our hotel shuttle to arrive.

We spotted this little cutie before we had even reached the shuttlebus zone, and long-time readers might recognize it right away as a wagtail, but which one? I was thrilled to discover that it is my very first Cape wagtail (Motacilla capensis). Yippee!

By the time we found a spot to park for the wait, and I got my gear out, there was another little bird flitting around, who looked a bit like a house sparrow, but upon closer inspection, there’s more black on the head, face, and neck, and none of it is mottled, the way it is on a house sparrow’s neck, and that’s because this is my very first Cape sparrow (Passer melanurus). Hurray!

I eventually made it to the patch of lawn, where I actually took the two pictures above, and there was yet a third surprise also foraging there. The beak says “finch”, but it appears that they don’t make a “Cape finch”, so this one is my first ever red-headed finch (Amadina erythrocephala). Holy smokes!

I started to hear a little, high-pitched chirp in the tree growing above the lawn, and a brief search turned up this striking little foliage-gleaner, which resumes the parade of birds with “Cape” in their names, with Cape white-eye (Zosterops virens), a fourth first for me. Ach du Lieber!

Finally, I did manage to spot a bird I’ve shown you before, this common bulbul, which I first saw in Malawi. Phew!

Well, I’ve gotta wrap this up because Anne’s got us scheduled to leave for a safari in a nearby national park at 5:30 am, and I could sure as heck use some beauty sleep after that flight.

Here we go again…

It’s gonna be a long day of planes, trains, and automobiles, not necessarily in that order, so I’m afraid I won’t have any new pictures for you today, either. Instead, here are a couple of birds I hope to see again when we finally reach our destination.

Hamerkop

Violet-backed starling

My sister is joining us for this leg of the trip, so I’ve got two great spotters with me, and I’m thinking my chances will be pretty good.

Just enough to be better than nothin’, or so I hope…

Well, the wet weather we’ve been enjoying in Wisconsin lately must have followed us to Connecticut, because it rained on-and-off all morning here. If I were home and had dry shoes I could switch into, I would have gone out in it, but I’m traveling light, so that wasn’t an option.

Instead, Anne, my siblings, and I hiked up Sleeping Giant this afternoon, and we did hear a few birds, but they must have been waiting for their feathers to dry out before they came out of hiding, because I don’t think I saw a one.

Thus, I’m reduced to recycling this old picture from when I was out here in 2024. It’s a tufted titmouse, which you may not recognize because I’ve only ever managed to show you pictures of them when I’m traveling. One of these days, one of these little stinkers will let me have a look at them in Estabrook Park, and that will be glorious, but until that day comes, we’ll just have to suffer through with this.

Wheels-up again…

It looks as though it’ll be a nice enough morning in Estabrook Park, but I won’t be there to enjoy it today. Instead, Anne and I are off to Connecticut to visit my family for a couple of days. Luckily, I’ve had a couple of great outings lately that produced some backup pictures, so here they are.

First up is another look at the catbird from yesterday, as it picks a sumac seed out of the clump it is perched upon.

Here’s a female, red-bellied woodpecker in that big, beautiful oak tree by the picnic area northwest of the beer garden.

Here’s another look at the black-and-white warbler as it performs its best nuthatch impersonation.

Here’s another look at the white-eyed vireo from Wednesday, when it was looking our way but before it hopped out of the shadows.

Finally, here’s a closeup of one of the pelicans flying overhead yesterday. That bump on the top of its bill “is a fibrous growth known as the nuptial tubercle. This odd growth develops in both sexes during the breeding season and is thought to contribute to its mating displays and perhaps signal breeding fitness. The nuptial tubercle frays and splits as the season goes on, and eventually sheds off, to regrow the next year.” Seems as though there is no end to the odd little details I can learn.

Here’s hoping I can find some nice sights to show you tomorrow from Connecticut, and FWIW, I typed this on my phone at the airport, so you can blame all the typographical errors on my big, fat thumbs.

A soggy April makes a valiant effort to redeem itself…

It was a perfect morning in Estabrook Park. Sure, it was a little cool, a few degrees below the average low for this date, but the sky was crystal clear, and the air was nearly calm, so the sun warmed things up pretty quickly, and it was just a fabulous time to go looking for wildlife. With any luck, that could be our last frost of the season, too.

My first treat of the morning came when the gray catbird, which has been hiding out in the bushes at the far southwest corner of the softball field since Monday, finally relented and posed perfectly, atop a clump of sumac seeds and in the sun. “Hello, Gorgeous!”

Then, a green heron finally visited the pond. At first, it was nearly in front of the sun, so terribly backlit, but then it moved north a smidge to make the nicest green heron picture so far this year. “Thanks, Precious!”

When I strolled around the pond, I found the thrasher there again, making this my best thrasher year by far.

It was still too early to head home, so I hiked back toward the north end, and look who I found along the way, our first black-and-white warbler of the year. “Welcome back, Darling!”

Then it was finally time to head home, and as I passed the pollinator garden, I glimpsed a flash of blue. Happily, the flash didn’t go far, and it perched on a low branch of that big oak tree there, where it turned out to be this stunning male eastern bluebird. What a beauty, right?

Finally, as I was crossing the southern soccer fields toward the exit to Wilson Drive, I took one more look around to soak in a little bit more of the perfect weather, and look who I saw gliding right towards me: the very first American white pelicans I’ve ever been able to photograph in the park. What a way to wrap up the month, eh? I don’t know how it gets better than this.

Lastly, my presentation last evening seemed to go okay. At least they haven’t canceled the matinee for today, so if you’ve got nothing better to do, you might as well come out to the Shorewood Public Library at 2 this afternoon to see if you agree.

Oh, if you clicked on the link I provided yesterday to view that post on my website, and you found the pictures to be better that way, you can do that again today without me having to insert the link like that. Just click on the light-gray text in the upper right corner of this message that says “Read on blog“, and that should provide you with the same result.

One last April shower, or so we can hope…

Let’s try something new. Here’s a link directly to this post on my WordPress website, in case the images are not coming through correctly in your email client:
signsoflifeinestabrookpark.net/2026/04/29/one-last-april-shower-or-so-we-can-hope

It was cool, cloudy, and rainy this morning in Estabrook Park, but at least it wasn’t too windy. The main story today is that we have our first gosling of the year! There was just one, and it was up on our riverbank with Mom and Dad. The nest was probably on one of the islands, so it had already taken its maiden voyage across a river channel. Let’s hope there are plenty more to see soon.

Before I reached the gosling, I got eyes, and a lens, on our first northern waterthrush of the year. I’ve heard one at least twice before, already, but they kept themselves well hidden, until now.

Beyond the goslings, I also got eyes on my first white-eyed vireo of the year, which is early enough to be considered “rare”, and I wonder if it could be the same bird I just saw in Belize last fall. They sure look similar!

Up on the bluff, I spotted the pair of deer again, and this time I got a better look at his pedicles, so I’m pretty sure that he’s a he.

Meanwhile, she’s not a reindeer, so she’s got no sign of anything growing up there.

Finally, the prairie trillium (Trillium recurvatum) is already blossoming, and I just learned that they are not the same as the similar-looking toad shade (Trillium sessile). In fact, you can tell them apart by the trajectory of that little leaf (a sepal) just below the blossom. The ones on toad shade stick out instead of bending down like the one in the prairie trillium picture below. Ha! At this rate, I might have to start paying tuition!

Lastly, the first of my two talks at the Village Center, on the lower level of the Shorewood Library, is at 6:30 this evening, and the focus will be on the migrating birds in Estabrook Park, so come on out if you can. If you can’t, perhaps the matinee at 2 pm tomorrow will work for you.

If you’d rather see the birds live, consider Charles Hagner’s birdwalks in Estabrook on Saturday, May 2 at 6:30 am, 8:00 am, and 9:30 am. Registration is required.

If birds just aren’t your thing, it happens, then perhaps one of the Friends of Estabrook’s weedouts on Saturday, May 2nd and May 16th at 9 am will float your boat. Walk-ins are welcome, the garlic mustard is blossoming already, and I can hear it calling your name!

I learned a lot today…

It was cloudy and breezy in Estabrook Park this morning, but it felt a little warmer than yesterday, and it didn’t rain on me, so it was not a bad morning for April.

My first treat of the day was hearing and then finally seeing a brown thrasher again. This time it was by the skate park.

The learning started with another turkey sighting, back on our side of the river and just east of the boat ramp. First, I learned that it can be tricky telling males from females from just a picture like this. This one has more of a red wattle on the neck than the hen from last week, but not as much as the tom she was with. So, it could be a young male, which I’ve also just learned are called “jakes“. This one also has more of a “snood“, an entirely new word for me, hanging over its beak than the hen from last week, but not one so long as the tom she was with.

This next picture looks mostly the same, but it has one small difference. Can you spot it? Well, it turns out that turkeys can do this with their snoods, and it suggests that this is a jake who I am making nervous. “Sorry, Buddy! I’ll leave you alone so you can relax.”

After that, I stopped by the pond, where this wood duck drake did not require me to learn any new terminology.

I did hear an eastern towhee again today by the pond, and it sounded pretty deep into the woods, so here’s one that is also in the woods from one week ago, but wasn’t quite as deep.

Finally, it appears that all our little dark-eyed juncos have flown north for the summer, I haven’t seen one in nearly a week, so here’s the last picture I captured of one, on the 19th. “See you next fall!”

Lastly, I see that the date on the village website is now correct for my presentation tomorrow, but the start time is still a little early. The correct time is 6:30pm. Baby steps, right? At least now you’ll arrive on the right day, and if you’re early, we’ll have time to chat while I set things up.

The extra eyes really helped today…

Well, the rain is back, but at least it held off until the end of our wildlife walk this morning, so that’s something. We had a good turnout today, with four 7-am-ers, and five 8-am-ers. Our first stop was the pond, but we didn’t see much, so we headed for the river in search of the oriole I showed you yesterday. Before we could get across the softball field, however, Karen spotted the first red-headed woodpecker I’ve seen since September 2025. Outstanding!

It flushed across the river as we approached the edge of the bluff, and we hadn’t seen the oriole yet, so we took stairway seven down to the river path in hopes of better luck. There, another bird bolted but didn’t go far, and I was halfway through explaining how the white checks on its black back made it a towhee, before I got my binoculars on it to see clearly that it is instead our first rose-breasted grosbeak of the year. Hot dang! Now we’re cookin’!

We did find the red-head again, and there turned out to be two of them, but the crowd also spotted this handsome kingfisher and patiently coached me through where it was perched. “Thanks, team!”

In all the excitement, I can’t recall if we did see the oriole in the first hour, but when I went back to the parking lot to greet the 8-am squad, there it was, perched right over the path from the parking lot to the beer garden. This is still far from a portrait, but I think we can all agree that it’s a big improvement over yesterday’s image.

As we headed upstream to connect with the first group, Peggy alerted me to this great blue heron perched high over the first island. They still don’t seem very comfortable in the park, but it’s still early, and we have all summer.

After that, the pictures mostly dried up. We did see the sandpiper at the river, and Dan did get eyes on the catbird I had heard earlier, another first for the year, but it dove for cover before I could catch a glimpse. Perhaps it, and the rest of the critters, could feel the coming rain and had the good sense to hunker down. The silver lining is that this leaves room for the pretty northern flicker I saw yesterday, when the sky was blue.

Finally, after the beaver scolded me for being by the river yesterday, it continued up stream along the far riverbank anyway.

The front that’s passing through today should be mostly gone by tomorrow morning, so conditions should be back to about what we had today, and maybe I’ll have as much good luck.

In other news, in case you’ve been wanting to question my shutter-speed choices in front of a live audience, this could be your big chance. I’ve got two presentations coming up later this week, both in the Shorewood Village Center, in the lower level of the Shorewood Public Library, first on Wednesday, April 29 at 6:30 pm and again on Thursday, April 30 at 2:00.