It was a beautiful morning in Estabrook, warmer than last time, but still cool enough, with the crystal-clear skies overnight, to frost the grass. My outing got off to an exciting start when this buck darted across the parkway and then kindly paused in the brush for me to catch up.

I didn’t see a soul at the pond, so continued straight to the river, where a few mallards were taking advantage of the lack of fishermen at the falls for a change.

In fact, mallards were the only birds I could find on the water today. No geese, mergansers, or other odd ducks. As I searched, however, this hawk, a young Cooper’s hawk I think, looked as though it made a try for one of the mallards. At least they reacted that way, but the hawk had no luck and perched on this branch to consider its next move.

As I made my way back south along the riverbank for a closer look and a better picture, it took off again and ended up chasing a kingfisher down river, but I was not able to see how that turned out.

Instead, I found this little puff-ball of a white-throated sparrow with breakfast still on its beak.

From there, I took one more swing by the pond, and this time the little birds, at least, were up and about. Here’s a female cardinal keeping an eye on me.

Here’s a goldfinch feasting on what look like seeds from a speckled alder (Alnus incana).

Here’s a young-looking robin striking a dramatic pose.

Finally, here’s a cedar waxwing taking a break from picking berries on the island. We’re in their year-round range, so maybe we’ll get to see more of them over the winter.

The forecast for tomorrow morning is just as nice as today and even a bit warmer, so let’s all hope we see some fun sights before I have to start getting up an hour earlier.

We had another cold morning today, but I had to go to school, so here’s more of the story from yesterday morning.

The cold snap helped loosen many of the leaves that had still been clinging to their branches, and they were raining down all over the place. There was a little stream of bright yellow leaves from a maple tree on the southern island steadily flowing down the middle of the river surface. In other spots, they gave the impression of one of those snow flurries we sometimes get with huge flakes falling slowly.

Here’s one of the few mallards enjoying the open water on the pond while it lasts.

The little junco I showed you yesterday wasn’t sure which pose it liked best and tried several. Here’s a nice profile shot.

The river deer did check out the northern island briefly but must have found it wanting because they soon wandered back to the eastern shore. Here they are checking to see if I’m still watching them, and yes, yes I am.

Here’s the hawk just before it glided across the river to a tree on that same island. I must have gotten too close and/or it must have felt warm enough. Let’s hope for the latter, eh?

Here’s another look at one of the killdeer on some freshly fallen leaves instead of fresh ice.

Here’s one of the rusty blackbirds doing that thing where they pick up leaves to see who’s hiding under them. I hope they don’t mind frozen food.

Finally, here’s that blue heron again on the same branch as when I went by on my way north. I must have successfully kept sufficient distance and/or it was still just too damn cold to move. I’m hoping for the former!

The forecast is for above-freezing temps and bright sun tomorrow morning, so I’m looking forward to seeing some pretty sights. Wish me luck!

The air temperature was below freezing in Estabrook this morning, and November is starting to act like it’s gonna stick around for a while. There was plenty of frost on the ground, the puddles were frozen over, the pond had ice around the edge, and there was even some ice along the riverbanks where the water flows slowly. Here’s a maple leaf frozen into some of that river ice.

Here’s a blue heron on the east side of the river warming its bones in the bright morning sun.

A pair of river deer were back checking out the shallow water between the northern island and the eastern shore. Apparently their toes don’t mind freezing water.

Mallards are ubiquitous and the drakes are all in full plumage now. Here’s a drake keeping an eye on me while his hen, or the hen that allows him to swim around with her for now, continues foraging. Gotta love that iridescent green, eh?

The dark-eyed juncos have also made themselves at home, and I keep coming across large groups of them foraging together. Here’s one taking a break to look at the camera.

At the north end, in the tall trees between the meadow and the river, I spotted two big, light-colored shapes. One turned out to be the sun-bleached wood of a barkless stump of a branch, and the other turned out to be the white belly feathers of this red-tailed hawk, perhaps also warming itself in the sun. Notice a theme?

On the river, a bunch of rusty blackbirds were back, and here’s one striding through the shallow water like it’s a deer. We’re right at the northern edge of their winter range, so it’s possible the ones we saw back in October have stuck around, and I just haven’t seen them for a while, or this is a new batch that just arrived from the north side of Lake Superior. They wouldn’t tell me which, however.

Finally, the killdeer are still here, mixing it up on the river with the rusty blackbirds, and here’s one standing on some of that river ice. It appears they only have to fly to the southern half of Illinois to reach their winter range, so maybe they’re just waiting for prices to come down.

I find it comforting to see that somethings still work the way they’re supposed to. The weather gets cold as the year comes to an end, the leaves fall off the trees, and the birds fly south: some from here, some through here, and some to here. I hope you do, too.

I won’t have time to visit Estabrook this morning, and now I can blame it on the crazy late sunrise, at 7:28 am, so here are a couple of mysteries we can finally solve, instead. I’m sure they’ve been gnawing at you just as much as they have at me.

The first mystery is this wren from way back on October 15 that I couldn’t quite pin down any further. As is often the case, Greg O. on Instagram pitched in and pointed out that it looks like a marsh wren, maybe even the one we saw at Kohler-Andrae back in July, taking a break in Estabrook on its way to the Gulf coast. I wonder how far it has gotten by now.

The second mystery is this little cutie from Saturday, who turns out to be yet another red-eyed vireo, whom we have seen many times before, but just more poofed up that I’m used to seeing, I guess.

Finally, one I got right. Phew! The experts have weighed in, and they all agree that this visitor from yesterday really is an American wigeon. Yay! It’s always exciting to spot an odd duck.

Well, that’s the mystery roundup for today, and the current weather forecast is for 30° and sunny with light winds for tomorrow morning, so I’m looking forward to another great outing.

It was literally a frosty morning in Estabrook. Temperatures didn’t get below the mid-thirties overnight, but the crystal clear skies allowed for enough radiant cooling for a nice coating of hoar frost to form on the grass and leaves. That’s our first frost for the season, I believe.

Our resident osprey was in one of its favorite spots again, on a tree overlooking the river where the path is separate from the parkway by just a guardrail.

There were a few mallards on the pond, but I may have overexposed them yesterday, so we’ll give them a pass today and let the river do the heavy lifting instead. Besides dozens of more mallards and a pair of geese, I saw up to six kill deer foraging together, and these three were kind enough to arrange themselves for this portrait.

I am also thrilled to report that we seem to have another new guest, and I believe she is an American widgeon hen (Mareca americana). Her plumage looks right, with a “warm brown body and a dark smudge around the eye“, and we’re in her migratory range. My only hesitation is that her bill doesn’t look light enough above the dark tip, but perhaps that’s just due to the lighting on the river this morning. This picture, from Bird Watch Daily, matches our visitor better.

She stuck close to the mallards, but she was super shy and would take off as I approached the shore while the mallards would barely even bother to look my way.

I soon left her and the rest of the birds on the river alone and headed back south. Just north of the falls, this herring gull was far less shy for the camera.

The river valley provided a nice respite from the brisk breeze out of the west, so I continued south along the eastern bank, and this blue heron, who may have been thinking the same thing, provided one more pleasant surprise.

Lastly, as I exited the park, I saw that the parks department has opened the barricades on the parkway, so it appears the “active streets” program has come to an end, at least for the season, which is a shame. Worse, I heard a rumor that they may not close it again for next summer, so watch this space for a chance to sign my new petition urging them to close it again next spring.

You may have heard that there was a chance that the aurora borealis would be visible in Milwaukee last evening, and the skies were crystal clear, so Anne and I took a stroll through Estabrook to look for them. We didn’t see the northern lights, I am sorry to say, but we did see a deer or two calmly strolling across the soccer fields instead, which was almost as eerie.

It was a happy omen, however, because the skies were pretty clear still this morning, and when I got to the park nice and early, I was greeted by three deer right at the end of the southern parking lot. They looked perhaps like a doe and two young ones. Best of all, I was on my bike for a change, which I believe allowed me to roll up closer than I could have gotten on foot, and they seemed quite unperturbed. The background was the parkway, so not very pretty, but this close-up of Mom keeping her eyes on me came out nice.

I was able to roll away leaving them in peace.

A little further north, where the park gets real narrow and there’s a guardrail between the parkway and the path, I had to stop again. This time for an osprey in a tall tree on our side of the river.

I was able to capture a couple of images through the branches, but by the time I was able to line up a big enough gap for a clear image, it had had enough of me and glided to another perch over the far shore. It was a much longer shot, but the background was much nicer. Either way, that is one fierce looking bird, eh?

When I finally got to the pond, I could only see a half dozen mallards, but long-time reader Lisa soon stopped by, and she pointed out the kingfisher and thought she heard a bluebird. I was unable to line up either in my viewfinder, however, so I told her about the osprey and headed for the river.

Just as I got to the stairway down to the falls, the osprey came gliding north at about treetop level with what looked like a small fish in its talons, and I just enjoyed the sight. Then, as I approached the north end, I could see it on the water in the middle of the river again, but by then it was onto all my tricks, and I couldn’t get close before it retired to a branch on the far shore.

The consolation prize is that as I came to the clearing beside the northern island, Lisa was already there, having wisely skipped the wild goose chase I had suggested, and so I was able to point out the osprey in person.

We didn’t see anyone else there besides a slew of mallards and a few geese, so I headed back south. Since I had parked my bike by the beer garden, it was easy to make one last swing by the pond, where I was surprised to find a quartet of geese. We haven’t seen the likes of them on the pond since May.

At that point, the sun was out, and the water was pretty, so I took a couple of mallard pictures, too. I figured, “what’s the harm, right?”

Nope. No harm at all.

I hope you have a safe Halloween, and I’ll see you in November.

It still looked dark as midnight out at 7am this morning, but the sun did eventually rise and poke through the clouds a bit, so I headed over to Estabrook to see if there was anyone around.

I am happy to report that there sure was! It seemed that all the little birds forced to lay low by the recent wind and rain were making up for lost time this morning.

The first one I saw, along the river, is another mystery bird, whom I suspect was just passing through. It was about the size of a warbler or kinglet and flitting around as they do, but without wing bars or a crown, and with two distinctive black stripes across and over the eye for which I cannot yet find a match. Please let me know if you can.

Here’s another brown creeper giving itself away on some bright green moss.

The goldfinch were thick in the gone-by flowers at the north end, and here’s one in its drab, juvenile plumage.

And here’s an uncharacteristically bold dark-eyed junco beside the beer garden.

On my way north, there were a couple pair of mallards on the pond.

At the river, there were more mallards and some geese between the islands, but I was surprised to find no one north of the islands, and a quick scan revealed the likely cause, a big raptor, probably a red-tailed hawk, in a tree on the far shore. Sadly, it was too far away, and the lighting was no good to capture a presentable image, so you’ll just have to take my word on that one.

I figured I was done for the morning and headed back south only to find a blue heron resting in the sun on the pond. What a pleasant surprise.

The forecast looks nice for tomorrow morning, if about 10° cooler, so here’s hoping I’ll be so lucky again.

I didn’t make it to Estabrook before the rain started this morning, but I do have one more nice image from Wednesday. After capturing all I could of the osprey, I looked around on shore a bit and spotted a few golden-crowned kinglets foraging closer to the ground than usual. They were still just as acrobatic as ever, but I managed to catch this one nearly motionless for just an instant.

For scale, that appears to be little more than a dried-out blade of tall grass it is perched on. It appears that we are just inside the northern edge of their winter range, so maybe we’ll get to see them for a while.

The current forecast for tomorrow morning is dryer and might even include some sun, so keep your fingers crossed.

Sorry that I’ve been away. My time and attention have been needed elsewhere.

It seems that quite a few birds made like trees and leaved since the last time I’ve been in Estabrook. I saw a blue heron glide overhead as I approached the pond, but if it had stopped in, it would have been the only one there. All the wood ducks appear to have moved on, even though we are supposed to be in their “year-round” region.

The river was quieter, too, but not empty, thank goodness. There were no geese, wood ducks, mergansers, or any of the visitors we see once in a while, but the kingfishers are still flitting from tree to tree, the killdeer are still foraging on the sandbars, and mallards are still dabbling just about everywhere.

Happily for us, however, there was one brand new bird in town.

In case you don’t immediately recognize that handsome face, our new hunter is an osprey (Pandion haliaetus) with the nice big fish it just caught and on some rocks exposed by the low water between the two islands at the north end.

I tried to give it enough room to feel comfortable, but it definitely saw me on the shore and soon took off for a branch on the far shore where it could continue working on that fish.

I had heard of Osprey sightings in Estabrook recently, and I might have even glimpsed one myself already, as it flew upstream, but I am really glad I got to see this one for sure with my own eyes before they all headed to the Gulf Coast for the winter.

And that’s all I’ve got for you today. I doubt that I can be back fulltime yet, but I’ll do my best and post when I can.

I had a hope of a little sliver of sun light this morning, so I hit the park nice and early to take advantage of it, if and when it came.

When I got to the pond, I was pleasantly surprised to find a blue heron and a quartet of mallards, but no sun yet.

There are still a few wood ducks around, but far fewer than earlier this week.

As I circled around to the north end of the pond, the sun made an effort to come out, which provided a nice background for the blue heron.

I didn’t see anything else interesting, so I went to check on the river. On my way, this white-throated sparrow posed as if in a painting. All that was missing was a little sunlight.

When I did reach the river, this little wren finally got the royal treatment from Old Man Sol.

The trick, however, is I can’t tell what kind of wren it is. Northern house wrens are greyer and have much less of a light stripe through the eye. The browner house wrens don’t come this far north and don’t have a light eye stripe either. Winter wrens are brown and do have the eye stripe, but also have short tails and barring on the belly, which our mystery wren does not. Carolina wrens are reddish-brown and do have a bright white eye stripe, but also have a long, “decurved” bill. Does anyone out there know their wrens?

Update: Thanks to Greg O., math professor and self-described “bird nerd”, who pointed me towards the marsh wren (Cistothorus palustris), which we’ve seen before, but only at Kohler-Andae State Park.

A short ways north along the river, there’s a little sandy beach that fishermen like to use, so I stopped to see if they had left anything behind for me. While giving the shore a quick scan, I was lucky enough to spot this critter on the far side and a bit upstream.

I couldn’t tell right away who it was, but it soon showed me a bit more profile, which looks a lot like the beaver we’ve seen in that area.

Best of all, it soon clambered up the tiny waterfall where the stream from the so-called “blue hole” drains into the river. Ta Da! That’s our beaver, all right.

There was nothing new to see at the north end, the sun disappeared, and the crew reconstructing the “Westabrook-MATC Trail” on the west side was running some compacting equipment that made quite a racket, so I quickly headed back south.

Happily, there was one more friendly face to greet me before I headed home. This cute little yellow-rumped warbler.

The forecast for tomorrow morning is 45° and nothing but sun! Woo hoo! I’m happy to accept the former to get the latter.