It was a bit chilly this morning, and the only mammal I saw on my entire walk through Estabrook, to the north end and back, was this hapless little rodent that our new huntress had caught for her breakfast. I’m sure glad to see that she seems to be making herself at home. “Help yourself to whatever you find in the fridge, Sweetie, but the toaster oven has been on the fritz lately.”

Other than that, I didn’t even see a single gray squirrel venturing out into this cold, but there were plenty of birds up and about, and here’s a black-capped chickadee, …

a northern cardinal, …

a downy woodpecker, …

a house finch, …

and a goldfinch.

Meanwhile, on the water, there were just two groups of mallards, one at the top of the rapids, and one right above the falls. The gadwall drake was still with the first group, and I heard the kingfisher at the south end, but I couldn’t spot her this morning. Instead, there were about a half dozen pairs of common mergansers around, and here’s a hen fishing in the open water above the falls,…

and here’s a male showing off his iridescent green head feathers at the bottom of the mild rapids at the south end. I don’t see that from them nearly as much as I do from the mallards.

This cold snap is due to last another day, so perhaps all the ice forming upstream will send more eagles our way in search of open water. Keep your fingers crossed.

PS. Welcome aboard, Jordan!

The weather this morning was a real mixed bag. Not too cold, but a wind chill near zero. Blue skies and sun, but dropping temps and a gale warning. I did not expect to see much.

This little cutie, however, had other plans.

Yes, indeedy, our American kestrel was back and farther south into the park than last time. She and I have learned to get along better this time, and when I was willing to crawl on my belly in the snow, she was willing to let me take this much nicer portrait.

By then the wind was already picking up, and I hardly saw another bird all the way to the north end and back. When I returned to the top of the mild rapids, where the open water resumes, a large group of mallards had accumulated, and I found our gadwall drake among them again. His front defroster still looks problematic, but it clearly works well enough for him to stick around and continue to look healthy.

A bit farther south, there was a common merganser drake fishing all by his lonesome. I had seen two pair at the south end when I started, but there wasn’t much light yet, and I thought I’d have a better opportunity later. I thought wrong this time, however.

Instead, near the south end, just about where the rapids peter out, I spotted this amazing phenomenon. The ice has slowly built up in layers to create a dike at least a foot tall to hold back the running water.

Finally, since I took so few pictures today, I can at last show you the amazing shots long-time reader, Lisa, who also pointed out the pair of great horned owls a while back, has sent in. On December 20, before all the ice and snow came, she spotted a swan, I kid you not, on the Milwaukee River near the southern island at the north end of Estabrook Park, and here’s the evidence.

It’s bill certainly doesn’t look yellow, but it’s not quite black either, nor are the feathers particularly white, which suggests it is either a juvenile trumpeter swan or juvenile tundra (aka whistling) swan. Lisa only had her phone with her, so we don’t have enough resolution to see if it has pink at the base of its bill, which would confirm it to be a tundra juvenile.

A look at their range maps, however, suggests that it is either a migrating tundra swan or a vagrant trumpeter swan. In any case, it is one fantastic find. Thank you, Lisa!

I can hear the wind whipping outside as I type this, and the weather channel leads off its hourly forecast with “Gale Warning”, so maybe it’s just as well that I don’t have time to visit Estabrook today. Luckily, there’s been so much to see lately that I often haven’t been able to fit all the pictures in, so let me show you some that didn’t fit, instead.

Here’s a fun shot of a bunch of mallards and geese above the falls keeping their eyes on the sky from all the way back on Wednesday, December 22, soon after the eagles started showing up.

Here’s a male, hairy woodpecker from the same day.

Here’s another one of the three bluebirds at the north end from Monday, January 3.

Here’s another picture of the Bufflehead drake from Tuesday, January 4.

Here’s another picture of the white-breasted nuthatch at the north end from yesterday, Friday, January 7.

Finally, here are a couple shots of another black-capped chickadee at the south end from Friday, January 7, and this one is nibbling on a snack it has hauled up to that branch and is now grasping between its toes

And here it is taking a quick break to make sure I’m not getting any closer.

Lastly, I expect that I’ll be able to resume our regularly schedule program tomorrow, so see you all then.

It was another blue-sky morning in Estabrook with temps above 0°F. What more could I ask for? The thin layer of snow on the path along the river had a wonderfully crisp crunch underfoot this morning, so I wasn’t gonna be sneaking up on anybody today.

I saw the common mergansers again first thing, but it was still a bit dark out, and I thought I’d get better pictures later on my way back south. The hooded merganser hen was a little farther north and swimming with a pair of mallards this morning, which I didn’t expect to see again, so I took her picture while I could.

At the top of the southern rapids, I was surprised to hear the belted kingfisher, and I spotted her on the far shore after a quick search. She is one tough little bird, eh?

From there, the river is frozen over all the way to the falls, so not much to see there these days. Above the falls, I only saw mallards and one goose, so I continued to the far north end, where I found this one common goldeneye drake foraging all by himself. The relatively warm water was generating a thin layer of fog in the cold air, so these long shots were a bit problematic, but I think you can get the general idea. The good news is that there’s a goldeneye hen around somewhere.

After a few days of these temperatures, the ice along the east bank is pretty thick up there, plus the water is very shallow, just in case, so I came back south on the ice to keep the sun at my back as I searched for birds in the trees and brush on the riverbank.

I didn’t see any woodpeckers today, and perhaps they’ve all retired up river, where I hear the red-headed and pileated woodpeckers hang out. Instead, here’s a little nuthatch who just found itself a tasty-looking morsel.

Here’s a mourning dove hugging the ground to keep those toes out of the breeze as much as it can.

As I approached the falls again, I could hear a gull or two calling up ahead, and I soon glimpsed the source of their excitement: a bald eagle circling over the mallards in the open water above the falls. Before I could get close enough for a picture, however, it appeared for all the world that another raptor was suggesting to the eagle that “these aren’t the ducks you’re looking for.” By the time I finally arrived on the scene, all that remained was `this red-tailed hawk high up in a tree on the far shore. It’s not always the size of the bird in the fight that matters, but the size of the fight in the bird, I guess.

Farther south, at the top of the mild rapids, where the open water resumes, I spotted our gadwall drake with a slew of mallards again. “Hang in there, Buddy. Only about two more months of this to go.”

At the south end, I did have better light for capturing the common mergansers, and here’s a couple of drakes, a hen, and the hooded hen tagging along with them now. I find it fascinating to see which birds are “of a feather“, and which are not.

Finally, as I headed up the bluff and back home, look who I spotted leaving no nook or cranny unexplored: an energetic little black-capped chickadee.

Now that’s how you do it.

Sure, it was cold this morning, but there was much less cloud cover and wind than forecast, so my visit to Estabrook was far more pleasant than I anticipated. The birds seemed to enjoy it, too, because they were out in droves.

I had just walked past the common mergansers at the south end, whom we first saw yesterday, when I spotted another familiar face for the first time this winter, a common goldeneye hen, and she was in about the same place on the river as the one who hung out there for weeks last year. Perhaps she’s the same bird, and she found that spot works well for her.

As I was trying to get a better picture of her, and maybe also one of the common merganser drake she was hanging out with and you can see right behind her, there was suddenly a commotion up above.

A few crows were expressing their displeasure with the perches of one mature and one young bald eagle, both of whom soon headed back north. Happily, the mature one circled a couple of times before gliding out of sight.

Below the falls, I didn’t see the beaver today, but I did see the gadwall drake, and I’ll show you a better picture below, which I got on my way back south when the sun was a little higher in the sky. Above the falls, there were a couple of geese and a bunch of mallards, but no buffleheads today.

At the north end, the sun was finally warming things up, and a lot of little birds were either sunning themselves or already busy rustling up their breakfasts.

Here’s a black-capped chickadee pausing from its foraging for just a moment in the soft morning glow.

Here’s a mourning dove still soaking up the sun.

Here’s a male hairy woodpecker who thinks he’s found something…

And here’s the female, red-bellied woodpecker who swooped in to chase him off and grab the grub before I could even take a second shot. I have not seen that sort of pecking order between woodpeckers before.

Here’s another shot of the female after she opened her eyes to get a look at what she had just confiscated.

Finally, here’s a female downy woodpecker who steered clear of that whole power struggle.

On my way back south, I did get a better picture of the gadwall drake, as promised, and it looks as though his front defroster still doesn’t work as well as the ones all the mallards appear to have. Who among us hasn’t struggled through at least one winter with a bad front defroster, eh?

Lastly, just about at the south end again, I happened to capture this fascinating little scene of a diminutive female hooded merganser who surfaced right between a common merganser drake and hen. There appears to be honor, camaraderie, or at least tolerance among diving birds.

Just about all the winter birds have now arrived. The only hold out I can think of is the red-breasted merganser, but now that winter really seems to be here, I bet we’ll get to see one soon enough.

The weather was what one might call suboptimal for taking pictures this morning, with temps around 20°F, winds around 20 mph, heavy gray skies, and light snow, but these pictures aren’t going to take themselves, so off to the park I went to see if anyone was up and about. Holy Smokes! I’m sure glad I did.

Right off the bat, I got to say hello to our newest arrivals, a quartet of male common mergansers, and here’s three of them hovering around a lone hen.

Some of the males would jostle for position, periodically.

And one just opted out of that whole scene, preferring to snooze on the ice instead.

Farther north, but well below the falls, I spotted one of our beaver on the far shore still up having its version of a midnight snack before heading off to bed.

Then it came across to the east side and slowly made its way home.

As soon as I turned around after that last beaver shot, and before I could even take another step north, look who I found foraging at the water’s edge: our favorite little winter wren.

After that, I was finally able to continue north, and I didn’t see a thing until I got above the falls, where a slew of mallards were hunkering down for the storm.

And that’s it. At the far north end, I only saw one gull and one Canada goose, but by then it was snowing hard enough that I had no hope of taking a picture, so I turned around and hustled on home. I didn’t see our gadwall drake nor the pair of buffleheads today. Maybe tomorrow, eh?

This morning was a bit warmer, at 21°F, a bit cloudier, and a bit breezier than yesterday, so not quite as magical, but also not bad by any means.

I was glad to see that our gadwall drake was still here on the lower river and suffering from much less of an icing problem this morning.

Meanwhile, the sturdy mallards were going about their business as usual.

Above the falls, I was happy to see the pair of buffleheads, although they don’t quite seem to be sticking as close together, recently, as the pair did last winter. Maybe they just didn’t hit it off or one of them is holding, out for now, to see who else might fly in. With any luck, we’ll see soon enough.

I think I saw our kestrel rocket north over the water, and I had a hope of finding it again at the north end, but had no luck today. Maybe tomorrow. Instead, I did see the bald eagle yesterday morning in just about the same spot heading north at a more leisurely pace.

At the far north end, I didn’t see the mergansers or bluebirds this time, but there was a young ring-billed gull out on the ice, and it looks like this is its first winter. Welcome to Estabrook, Buddy. Try the fish.

On my way back south, just as I approached the falls again, a bunch of robins flew across the river to forage among the brush and leaves on the side of the bluff, and here’s one just taking in the view for a moment.

Further south, there was a nice male cardinal who didn’t want his picture taken today, so here’s a female from yesterday who was more than happy to oblige or was just too darn cold to move.

While I’m mining the leftover pictures from yesterday, here are a pair of mourning doves on the ice appearing to be getting a sip of water.

Finally, the beautiful morning sunlight yesterday even made this goldfinch’s drab winter coat look a bit more golden.

Well, the sun finally came out, and the wind was nice and calm, so 7°F seemed like a small price to pay for such a glorious morning. Some of the critters might probably prefer the opposite trade-off, but let’s hope that anyone not built to handle this weather has long since flown south.

Anyway, you’ll never believe who was perched high above the river to greet me soon after I got started at the south end, as if on cue.

Yup, one of the several bald eagles I’ve been seeing patrolling the river since the fall finally allowed me an audience. The sun was up, but still very low in the eastern sky, and you can see just a dabbling of that golden light filtering through the trees onto its white tail feathers. It eventually decided it wasn’t going to catch a fish there or that I had seen enough, and it glided right over me on its way farther south.

I didn’t get very far before I heard our belted kingfisher and found her hard at work already on the far shore.

At the top of the mild rapids, which keep the water mostly clear of ice, our gadwall drake was still foraging with the mallards, and his bill was still coated in a thick, protective layer of ice. By that point the river has turned west so the early morning sun can reach down to the surface and bathe everything in its beautiful glow.

Above the rapids, the river becomes wide and slow and so is completely frozen over, and there are no more ducks to see. Instead, two gray squirrels noisily burst out of their den in this tree, but a third one found the morning air just a tad too brisk, perhaps, and hung back in the entrance.

I didn’t see another bird until the north end, where I found our trio of bluebirds again…

A gaggle of geese resting on the ice…

A flock of mallards flying in…

And a pair of common mergansers busy fishing among the ice floes again.

On my way back south, I saw that the gadwall finally got his deicer working.

And back at the south end, a female downy woodpecker paused from her foraging just for a moment to confirm that I posed no threat.

And that’s not even all of it, but we’d better pace ourselves.

The snow did finally arrive, even though the sun stayed hidden until I got back home, so there was a nice change of scenery after all, and I’ll take it!

Our new gadwall drake was still on the lower river, and he appeared to be having icing issues that the mallards were not facing, but he seemed unfazed by the situation, thankfully.

Who knows. Maybe it’s a feature, not a flaw, and the ice acts as a protective layer, like on the sherbet in Mom’s freezer.

The river below the falls was so jammed up with ice and snow that it was backing up the water enough to make the falls almost disappear. I could not make an attractive picture of it this morning, despite my best efforts, so you’ll just have to use your imagination for now.

The water above the falls was similarly jammed up, but with Canada geese instead, which are far more photogenic, and here are a few napping on the ice.

Above the falls, I did not see our kestrel again, but at least three of the common mergansers from last year were back and fishing among the ice floes, and here are two of them catching their breath for a moment.

On my way back south, I thought I spotted a junco, which would have made a nice picture with the snow, but it didn’t take off right away, the way juncos usually do, and that’s because it was one of the trio of bluebirds from last year, instead. It was great to see all three again, eventually, but I could never get more than two in a single image.

This one, with subdued colors, looks like a female.

And the one on the right below, with the vibrant colors, looks like a male.

Finally, on my way home, this red-bellied woodpecker struck a pose, while sampling the snow, that I just couldn’t ignore.

Lastly, the forecast is for nice and cool temps for a while, so I have a hope that the snow will stick around for a bit.

Happy New Year! I hope yours is off to as nice a start as mine is. This morning looked like many recent mornings with low, dark skies, but as Forrest Gump always used to say, “Estabrook Park is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.”

This morning, I was thrilled to spot a new raptor in the park, “North America’s littlest falcon”, an American Kestrel (Falco sparverius), and the little bit of brown on the top of her head leads me to believe she is female.

She looked just like a mourning dove when I first spotted her at the north end, but when she didn’t take off right away as mourning doves tend to do, I took a closer look. What a treat!

Until I had spotted her, I was just trying to get something to show you at all. Thus, I already had another kingfisher picture from the south end…

A chickadee picture from farther north…

And a coy gray squirrel from just short of the north end.

On my way back south, I spotted the male bufflehead again hanging out with the mallards above the falls.

Finally, as I approached the south end again, I spotted a few mallards working their way upstream just offshore, and the one at the end of the line looked different. Sure enough, that’s because he’s a gadwall drake. Ha!

Long-time readers may remember that we had a gadwall hen hang around for weeks last spring, first on the pond, and then on the river, but I think this is our first sighting of a drake. How sweet is that?

The forecast looks pretty promising right now for some snow overnight, and the sun might even come up on partly-cloudy skies tomorrow, so we might finally get a break from all the gray. Keep your fingers crossed!