Signs of Life in Estabrook Park

Don’t forget to insert title here…

Our current deep freeze remains quite persistent, and the weather this morning in Estabrook Park was nearly the same as yesterday. Things were pretty quiet along the river, and on my way upstream I saw a couple of goldeneyes, a few common mergansers, and a few mallards, but no pictures I felt compelled to take.

The excitement started, however, on my way to the pond, when a pair of coyotes crossed the paved path on their way to the river. I wasn’t walking with camera in hand, so I missed the first one, but I was ready when the second one trotted by. I don’t think it even glanced my way.

At the pond, things were also quiet at first, and I had a hope of spotting a Cooper’s hawk, but that didn’t pan out. Instead, the little birds slowly started chirping as I walked around, and the first one to pose was this male red-bellied woodpecker.

As I checked the sparrows to see if any were not house sparrows, I did see a couple of white-throated, but this American tree sparrow gazing into the distance, and perhaps dreaming of warmer days, made the nicer picture.

There were also a couple of downy woodpeckers, and here’s a male, pausing briefly from his work on that little hole to check for predators.

Back at the river, I noticed for the first time that the two goldeneyes do not have the same orange tip on their bills. The best information I can find is that that they are both females and the orange tip is simply optional.

The big surprise, on the other hand, is that there was a third goldeneye today, and this one is clearly showing the beginnings of breeding male plumage. His flanks are turning white, and the white patch on his cheek is beginning to appear. I suspect that the odd kink in the top of his bill, similar to that of scoters, is simply some ice accumulation, and I suppose he could be a hybrid, but goldeneye-scoter hybrids are said to be “exceedingly rare.” Maybe if the slight warming trend we’re experiencing continues, this ice will melt, and we’ll get a better look. Meanwhile, if you have a better idea, please don’t hesitate to share it with me!

Finally, I’ll be taking a little field trip tomorrow morning, if things go right, but I’ll definitely be back in time to show some pictures at the Friends of Estabrook Annual Meeting. The weather is supposed to be just about the same again, so I hope you can join us.

It was a beautiful, if chilly, sunny morning in Estabrook Park, and the early light let me get to work nice and early today. What a great way to start the week.

On my way upstream to meet the weekly wildlife walkers, I heard first, and then soon spotted, the one mammal I saw all morning: this little red squirrel busily gnawing a black walnut shell open.

When 8 am rolled around, I was happy to have two crazy people join me. One was crazy enough for about 20 minutes at the pond, and the other was good for at least an hour and a walk along the river all the way from the Port Washington Bridge downstream to the pair of radio towers. As we passed back through the parking lot on the way to the river, we found four crows appearing to be warming up in the sun, and here’s one stretching its wings before turning around to warm up the other side.

Below the falls, the river is now completely frozen over, and someone has even left cross-country sky tracks in the snow up the middle of it. When we got to where the river ice opens back up again, just a bit downstream from the towers, there was quite a congregation of birds on the water, which comprised at least a dozen common mergansers, including this handsome drake, …

a goldeneye hen, …

and the bufflehead drake we first saw just yesterday. It’s nice to catch a glimpse of the colors that the sun brings out of the dark feathers on his head.

Even better, I accidentally managed to get them all in one picture, which gives you some sense of the bird density, although I was aiming at the bufflehead, so he’s the only one in focus.

Finally, I didn’t see the beaver again, but here’s one more picture from our extensive photo shoot yesterday. If you were wondering, as I did, how they manage to digest the cellulose in the bark they eat, I read that “fermentation by intestinal microorganisms allows beavers to digest thirty percent of the cellulose they ingest.” Good to know!

Lastly, our fearless leader at the Friends of Estabrook Park, Harold Schmidt, is currently stuck in Boston due to the huge weekend storm, but he’s expecting to be back home by Tuesday, so we’ve decided to forge ahead with our annual meeting on Wednesday, and they’ve even sent out a final email reminder to members.

To sweeten the deal, besides refreshments, snacks, and door prices, we’re even gonna try to get into the building early to give the furnace a chance to warm the place up for you. So come on out, if you can, member or not, to see pictures of the new wildlife spotted in 2025, Kenneth Gass talking about the Milwaukee Formation, and Peter Bratt explaining the repair and proposed usage of the old Maintenance Building.

It’s amazing what a little warmup can do…

Before I get into today’s post let me tell you about the Friends of Estabrook Park Annual Meeting, which is open to everyone, member or not, on this Wednesday, January 28 at 7pm in the Blatz Pavilion at Lincoln Park. I’m on the schedule to show some wildlife pictures, so if you’ve always wanted to grill me on my species identifications or my camera settings in front of a live audience, and you haven’t yet made it to one of my talks, this is your next big chance!

Okay, on with today’s post. As promised, it was above zero at sunrise this morning, for the first time in days, the winds weren’t too bad, and we were getting a nice fresh coat of lake effect snow. It was quite nice, but the snow really limits my picture taking, and it lingered till almost 9am, so I didn’t head out till then.

As I walked upstream beside the river, I kept my eyes on the water to see if the mergansers and goldeneyes were still with us, and they are, but look who else I found: our first bufflehead in the park this winter! Yee Haw! I can’t say I knew they would come, but I sure did hope they would.

Anyway, Estabrook Park is being considered as an International Union of Geological Sciences Heritage Site, and Kenneth Gass, Honorary Curator at the Milwaukee Public Museum, will join us Wednesday evening to walk us through the significance of the Milwaukee Formation, the richest and most diverse Devonian fossil site in America. I expect that to be fascinating.

I did see a red-tailed hawk at the north end, who did not allow pictures today, and a Cooper’s hawk at the pond, who did allow a couple poor shots at long range, and then I headed back downstream along the river. It was then that I noticed a large dark shape on the ice up ahead, and as I tried to get a picture, it stood up! Say “hello” to our first beaver of the year! Woo Hoo!

Back to Wednesday evening, Peter Bratt, the Milwaukee County Parks Facilities Director, will also join us to report on the repair and proposed usage of the beautiful old Maintenance Building by the middle parking lot in Estabrook Park. Boy, it sure would be nice to have a year-round indoor meeting space right in our own park, wouldn’t it? I don’t know yet if that is in the plans, but one can dream, eh?

Anyway, the beaver finally did manage to grab a stick and proceeded to gnaw the bark off of it.

Finally, as far as Wednesday evening goes, Harold Schmidt, founder and president of the Friends of Estabrook Park, says “warm up with some hot apple cider and homemade cookies. Or have beer and savory snacks. Or both! Enter the drawing for door prizes. And more! Don’t miss this wonderful yearly event.”

Back at the river, before I could get a better shot of the beaver, it slipped into the water, and before disappointment could even register in my brain, I saw why: our first Coyotes of the year were trotting down the trail on the far riverbank! Holy Moly!

The coyotes either didn’t see the beaver, they simply weren’t interested, or they knew better than risking getting wet in today’s weather, because they kept right on loping down the trail, and the beaver soon clambered back up onto the ice.

It didn’t stay long, however, and was soon swimming upstream, perhaps to look for more bark to gnaw or just to go sleep off breakfast in its burrow.

Finally, the bufflehead had not moved much, and it let me get a nicer picture on my second pass. “Thanks, little buddy!”

Lastly, I had the good fortune to represent Friends of Estabrook Park at the Milwaukee County Parks “Friends Summit” yesterday in the Boerner Botanical Gardens yesterday. It was a fabulous experience, I learned a ton, and I made some great connections, so I’d like to thank Julien Phifer, the North Region Community Engagement Coordinator for Milwaukee County Parks, and the rest of the Parks team for hosting such a helpful event.

PS. I see we’re forecast to be back below zero tomorrow morning, but only by a bit, and the wind shouldn’t be too bad, plus the sun is supposed to be out, so I will definitely be back in the park. With weather like that, though, I can certainly understand if you can’t join me for a wild life walk, but I will swing by the beer garden parking lot at 8am, just in case anyone is crazy enough to try.

A fond look back on Utah in 2025…

Somehow yesterday I thought it would be warmer this morning, and it is a little bit. But the thermometer’s only at -11°F, and the breeze is pushing the wind chill down into the negative twenties, so when I asked my camera if this was warm enough, it wouldn’t even answer me. Thus, I have one more excuse to revisit a warmer time and place from 2025.

After our time in Arizona, which I recapped yesterday, we headed up to Monticello, Utah for the night, and there were some pretty birds around, but none that we haven’t seen before, so the highlight of the next morning has to be this little darling, my very first Hopi chipmunk (Neotamias rufus).

After visiting the spectacular Arches National Park later that day, we stopped for the night in Loa, Utah, and the first big treat of the next morning was our very first sage thrasher (Oreoscoptes montanus), who was quite persistent in getting his message out.

This next bird also look brand new to me, but then we discovered that house finches, of which we see plenty right in Estabrook Park, can be yellow “where natural foods are low in some … carotenoids.” Who knew? I sure didn’t.

Then we headed to the magnificent Bryce Canyon National Park, and on our way, we drove by Otter Creek Reservoir, which was full of water birds. We stopped, of course, and a bunch of those birds turned out to be western grebes (Aechmophorus occidentalis), which was a wonderful surprise. What amazing beauties!

Even better, at least for me, there were a few common loons (Gavia immer), which look anything but common.

Our last stop in Utah was the breathtaking Zion National Park, where this Anna’s hummingbird kept coming back to the same perch, probably to watch for interlopers into its territory, but also to give me more chances of a decent picture. We have seen one before in Sedona, but that was a female or immature male, and this handsome devil is an adult male in all his breeding finery.

The star of the show, however, at least for my sister and me, was this American Dipper (Cinclus mexicanus), “North America’s only truly aquatic songbird.” What made it even sweeter was the fact that we had already spent a bunch of time earlier that morning chasing one by sound at the creek behind our hotel without getting even a single glimpse.

So as we hiked along the Virgin River that runs through the park, I scanned almost every rock along the way, but my sister hit pay dirt first at the very far end of the Riverside Walk. I realize that it may not look like all that much, but wait until you see it in action, because dippers hunt for their food like no other bird I know.

Check out this video, which I miraculously thought to capture, of it repeatedly jumping into the rushing water to snatch insect larvae from the rocks on the bottom. Astounding!

This time the forecast calls for temperatures above zero tomorrow morning, so my camera and I will be back in Estabrook for sure. Mark my words!

A look back to a warmer time and place…

Well, the forecast extreme cold did arrive, and I’ve been out in colder, but I’ve noticed that my camera doesn’t like it much, so that’s my excuse for staying in this morning. Instead, let’s look back at another great trip to a warm place I had the good fortune to take in 2025: Arizona.

If you were following along then, you may recall that things got off to a great start when I found my first Costa’s hummingbird (Calypte costae), feeding from the plantings in the nice xeriscaping they added in front of the rental car center at Sky Harbor airport in Phoenix. How’s that for reinforcing my mantra of “always be birding!”

After we did the crazy hike that my sister, who had planned the whole trip, wanted to do in the canyon on day 2, we got my first good look at a pygmy nuthatch in the forest atop the southern rim.

Later that day we drove up to Page, AZ to visit Antelope Canyon the next day, but before we headed out on that adventure, we visited the golf course in town where we found dozens of gorgeous white-faced ibises (Plegadis chihi) frantically foraging for morsels in the grass.

Farther along the course, we spotted this darling black-chinned hummingbird, my first adult male.

Lastly, we eventually had to go for our scheduled slot-canyon tour, which was amazing, and when we emerged at the “upstream” end of the slot, look who was there to greet us, our very first lark sparrow (Chondestes grammacus). Ha!

Things are supposed to warm up a bit in Estabrook by morning, and the wind is supposed to die down a bit, so the wind chill should only be in the negative 20s. I’ll see if I can’t get my camera to cooperate, and I’ll let you know if I see anything pretty or interesting.

A nice day before temps fall off a cliff…

This morning in Estabrook Park was prettier than I had been led to expect. Temps and winds, however, were both in the low teens, so the windchill was right around 0°F, and there were not many critters out and about.

Sure, there were plenty of ducks on the river, including common goldeneye and merganser hens, but they can’t really pose in front of the nice blue sky, and we’ve seen them a lot lately. Instead, the one bird who had chosen a spot in which to hunker down that did make a nice picture was this American robin.

Finally, I see the forecast for tomorrow morning is down to -13°F, with winds at 15 mph, for a combined windchill of -36°F, but at least the sun should be out. If I can’t get any new pictures for you, however, I will be sure to dig up a couple from the archives. Don’t worry.

A rivalry on pause, likely due to cold…

It did snow again overnight, it did warm up into the twenties, and the wind did stay light, which was all very nice, but I sure could have used a little sun to coax the birds out to bask in its warmth.

On the other hand, I did get to see my first blue jay in Estabrook Park for the year, so the conditions were just right for something. The little “rascal”, since “sweetie” doesn’t quite sound right, given their reputation at the bird feeder, even perched right there for as long as it took for me to fiddle with my camera and focus in on it. That was likely due, however, to its having not yet shaken off the overnight cold, more than kindness, but I’ll take it!

By odd coincidence, given the many videos available of the two duking it out at feeders, this female red-bellied woodpecker, who also appeared a bit frozen, was parked nearly right above the jay.

And that’s all I captured on film this morning, so let me show you another look at the common merganser and the common goldeneye hens paddling together on the river yesterday, when the sun was shining beautifully.

Finally, here’s another look at the red-tailed hawk, also from yesterday. And yes, it is facing a slightly different direction, so it really is a different picture. You can check it yourself if you don’t trust me.

I see we’re due for a little more snow overnight and then a little more cold and a little more wind in the morning, but there might be more sun, and that’s a trade I’m willing to make.

About as nice as a day this cold can be…

This morning in Estabrook was just as cold as yesterday, but the breeze was much lighter, and the sky was just as blue, so it was a very nice morning for a walk in the park.

The common merganser hens are still with us, and either they are getting used to people walking up and down the riverbanks or the sun just felt too good to give up because they stayed parked on the ice for a change.

The surprise guests of the morning where these two Canada geese. Sure, the water around the islands will be full of them in a couple of months, as they vie for nesting spots, but they’ve been staying away for a while, and these are the first ones I’ve seen in Estabrook this year.

The pair of common goldeneye hens are still on the lower river, as well, and I’d love to get a nice picture of the two together, but the best I could manage this morning was one being photobombed by another merganser hen. At least it gives us a chance to see how similar their body plumage is. Fun, eh?

Finally, the biggest surprise of the morning was spotting my first red-tailed hawk in the park of the year. It was perched near the top of a pine tree at the north edge of the southern soccer fields, and I don’t believe I’ve ever seen one there before. Anyway, I’m also glad that somebody finally posed in front of that beautiful blue sky. Yay!

I see that we’re due for some more snow overnight and then it should warm up all the way into the twenties. A heat wave! Plus, the winds should stay light, and the sun might even show its face, so it could be another very pretty morning. Keep your fingers crossed!

A few familiar faces on a chilly day …

Well, it certainly was colder and windier than yesterday, with temps below zero and the wind chill in the negative twenties, but the sky was blue, and the sun was shining bright, so that was a very pleasant surprise. The critters were keeping close to the ground to keep out of the wind, which made eye-level shots easy, but that didn’t give me much of a chance to capture any of that pretty sky on film, unfortunately.

The first critter I found appearing to soak up a little of the warm sun was our red squirrel by the pond. I didn’t see any walnuts this time, so I sure hope it has more stashed somewhere.

There was also a female cardinal, and based on the strategic placement of that stick in front of her face, she could well be the same one we just saw on Wednesday.

On the other hand, this downy woodpecker was by the river, so it is unlikely to be the same one we saw on Saturday. You can almost see some blue sky in the background, at least.

Finally, the pair of common goldeneye hens were still on the river, and the nice light gave me an chance to get some new pictures with a prettier reflection on the water and some flecks of ice on their feathers.

I see we’re in for similar temps and skies tomorrow but with much less wind, so I’m looking forward to that, and I bet I’m not the only one.

More oddities from far, far away…

Temps were in the single digits this morning, with a nice breeze out of the west that pushed the “feels like” temperature down into the negative teens. I’d even call that “brisk”, if not necessarily “bad news”. This is the middle of January in Wisconsin, after all. The unambiguous good news, on the other hand, is that the sky was mostly clear, so there was plenty of light to work with, and the water looked a pretty blue instead of the steely gray we’ve been seeing lately.

Since things have been so slow in Estabrook recently, I opted to give it a rest today, and try my luck along the lake shore again, and my first stop was Lake Vista Park in Oak Creek, where rumor had it that a snowy owl (Bubo scandiacus) had been spotted just yesterday. I’m sure I glimpsed one once before beside the road on a drive up north, but I’ve never had the opportunity to photograph one before. The dark barring on this one marks it as “female/immature”, and we’re just inside the southern edge of their winter range, so they are merely considered “infrequent” here and not “rare”, but they sure do get folks excited.

This isn’t a portrait, by any means, but a crowd was already gathering at 7:15am, and I didn’t want to be “that guy” or even one of “those guys”, so I took a few shots from across the field, about 200 yards away, and high-tailed it out of there. I’m sure I’ll get a better chance someday, but this will do for now.

From there, I moved north to Grant Park, in hopes of spotting the titmouse that had been reported there yesterday, but I had no luck. Instead, I did find the mute swan reported at the South Shore Yacht Club. I had glimpsed it in the distance on my previous visit, and I hoped to get a picture today, but the bird wasn’t really in a cooperative mood. We’ve seen them in Connecticut and South Holland, of course, but this is my first one in the Milwaukee area.

Finally, I stopped in at Lakeshore State Park, and as I was trying to count the goldeneyes and scaups in the lagoon, one duck was not like the others. That’s because it is our first redhead of the season. Woo hoo, and I sure hope we get to see one in Estabrook Park soon!

I see that the weather tomorrow is supposed to be colder, windier, and cloudier. Brrrr. That’s not the best news ever, but at least it won’t be raining!