Signs of Life in Estabrook Park

One more trip around the sun…

This morning got off to a great start in Estabrook Park, with nearly clear skies, nearly still air, and nearly 50°F temps. It was almost balmy, and I skipped a poofy jacket for the first morning this year. The birds seemed to be digging it, too, because I could hear them singing their little heads off even before I crossed Wilson Drive.

Anyway, the first sight I thought worth a picture was our darling pied-billed grebe on the river in its usual spot, where the water gets wide and slow below the twin radio towers on the far shore.

Just upstream of the grebe, this red squirrel not only posed, but grabbed a tree branch with buds, bit off a piece, and proceeded to nibble all the buds off it. Remember to eat your vegetables!

The water around the islands above the falls was full of birds when I arrived. Besides all the geese jockeying for nesting spots on the upstream island and a few mallards, I was pleased to spot a pair of hooded mergansers, a common merganser hen, and a red-breasted merganser drake. Best of all, we got our first glimpse at wood ducks on the river and only our third sighting of them this year.

The horned grebe was still there, and it even had a buddy for the first time. Here’s a look at one of them while the sun was still shining.

Then the sky became overcast, the wind picked up and started blowing cold air off the lake, and it was time for me to head home. As I emerged from the river path beside the southern soccer fields, I found this brown creeper making its way up the side of a river birch that grows there.

Finally, the golden-crowned kinglets seemed to be everywhere this morning, and I counted over a dozen of them, but they’re about as fast as they are tiny, so pictures are not easy to come by. This little devil, on the other hand, was nearly daring me to take its picture as it continued performing its acrobatics on this ninebark bush as I stood there watching. How could I not oblige such an adorable face, right?

Lastly, today is the sixth anniversary of this project, and what an amazing trip it’s been. In the 2,191 days since I took my first wood duck picture and breathlessly emailed my family and friends about it, I’ve taken over 100,000 pictures, posted to you about them 1,725 times, and walked over 4,000 miles. So far, we’ve seen in Estabrook alone, 14 species of mammals, 174 of birds, 7 of reptiles, 2 of amphibians, 16 of fish, 116 of insects, and 7 of arachnids. What an absolute treat it has been, and thanks for coming along!

More new sights and sounds for the year…

It was a little warmer, a little less windy, and a little sunnier than yesterday in Estabrook Park this morning. Woo hoo! Baby steps.

I don’t know if it was the improving weather or just hunger, but one of the chipmunks I’ve been seeing for a few days finally relented and let me have a nice picture today, my first of the year. I read that they don’t actually hibernate, but they do mostly stay in their burrows for the winter to sleep and eat, like good little couch potatoes. Sounds like a great plan, doesn’t it?

My guess is that this one was compelled by hunger, because here it is, right after the pose above, furiously digging for something that must have smelled good enough to put up with my gaze.

Meanwhile, the juncos are getting really noisy, probably in hopes of getting a date to the prom before they head north, but the good news is that their call sounds like tiny dinner bells.

Similarly, the fox sparrows, whose numbers have multiplied in the past few weeks, are up to the same thing.

Finally, one bird that remained quiet this morning was this great blue heron that glided south over the pond. I was thrilled to finally get eyes on one, another first for the year, and I hope that they’ll soon start landing in Estabrook to fish in the river or the pond.

The weather is forecast to continue its slow improvement through tomorrow morning, so maybe a heron will fulfill my wish or someone new will appear. I can’t wait to find out which.

A morning of browns and grays…

The cold and wind in Estabrook Park this morning were about the same as yesterday, but the clouds were back with a vengeance, and the pretty blue sky we had was long gone. Nevertheless, this ain’t a portrait studio, and we’ve gotta take pictures with the light and backgrounds we’ve got, so here we go.

The mud on the river path is starting to dry out, so I followed it upstream from the far south end, but the river is high and fast right now, and most of the waterfowl that we’ve seen there over the winter are on their way back north.

Thus, I didn’t see anything of note until I reached the wide and slow part under the twin radio towers. There, I was pretty sure I caught a glimpse of the pied-billed grebe just as it dove, and as I scanned the water with my camera waiting for it to resurface, look who I spotted steaming upstream along the far riverbank: our old friend, the beaver.

Even better, it steamed right past another sight we haven’t seen in a while, the muskrat, who I had not noticed up on the far shore.

But wait, there’s more! Just about when it got even with me, it clambered out of the water to search for something to nibble on.

Sadly, it didn’t find anything it liked and headed back toward the water, but before it dove in, it had one more surprise. Now, I don’t know if it is sticking its tongue out at me or just yawning, but either way, that’s a face I have not seen before.

Anyway, with the beaver now out of sight, I could finally turn my attention back to the muskrat, who was still up on shore, where it sniffed around a bit, and then joined the beaver back in the water.

I eventually did find the grebe later in the morning, on my way back downstream, but the picture didn’t come out as nice as the one yesterday, so here’s a look at the non-breeding horned grebe between the upstream islands instead.

Finally, here’s my first decent picture of a male brown-headed cowbird for the year. I’ve been seeing one since Saturday, but it has managed to keep itself obscured by branches until today.

I realize they are not everyone’s favorite bird, but before you go all “boo hoo” about their brood parasitism, and its negative impact on some other bird that you do favor, remember that “expansion of agricultural areas and removal of forest cover have greatly benefited this species by providing more overall habitat and by giving cowbirds access to new host species that have not developed defensive strategies against nest parasitism,” and that, like many other issues, is mostly on us, isn’t it.

You win some, you lose some, and once in a while it’s a draw…

There was a little more wind this morning than I had been led to expect, but the sky was indeed clear, and the cold firmed up the muddy river trail nicely, so it was a fine morning for a wildlife walk in Estabrook Park. Eight hearty enthusiasts found their winter coats and came out to join me.

The clear skies coaxed me out the door before the sun rose, and on my way to the parking lot, I found the pied-billed grebe again before the sun had reached down to light up the river.

The bigger surprise was finding these northern shoveler drakes, two of a quartet, and the first ones we’ve seen this year, in the water just off the upstream island. As you can see, the sun was there in time to turn on the iridescent green in their head feathers. Nice!

Along with the shovelers, I found one red-breasted merganser drake, and I love when the water reflects both the clear blue sky above and the early morning sun behind me like this.

Then it was time to meet everyone in the beer garden parking lot, and we all hustled down to the river in time to see the shovelers before they disappeared. Phew! Then, on our way to the pond, we all thought this was our first savannah sparrow of the year, but the bad light was fooling us, and when I got home and cleaned up my best image, we can see it’s just an innocent white-throated sparrow, instead. Oh well, it’s still a pretty bird, and they’ll all be off to the north for the summer soon enough.

After the pond, we headed back to the river in hopes of seeing the pied-billed grebe again and one of the winter wrens that had been reported yesterday, but both eluded us. Then Jeff caught back up to the group and said he had just seen a winter wren at the pond. Ha! So, we hustled back up there and sure enough, it was right where Jeff had seen it, but it was in no mood for pictures today, and so here’s the best “first of the year” portrait the little stinker would let me have.

Finally, one bird who seemed not to mind the camera this morning was this female northern flicker on the sumac by the pond. She was probably just more focused on warming up in the sun.

The forecast for tomorrow morning looks similar to today’s but maybe a bit warmer and cloudier. Either way, I can’t wait to see who we see next.

The March weather rollercoaster continues…

In addition to a 35°F drop in temperature from the high of 70°F yesterday afternoon, the other big surprise in Estabrook Park this morning was our first eastern phoebe of the year at the pond. I watched it fly off that perch and return a couple of times, as if it was catching bugs, and I sure hope it was, but I’m a little skeptical that there were any out in this weather. If it can hold out till Tuesday, when temps return to the 50s, there should be plenty in the air then, so “Good luck, little cutie!”

A pair of wood ducks was back on the pond again this morning, but let me show you a nicer picture from Friday, when the sun was peeking through the clouds for a moment to light up the drake just right.

Now that I’ve broken the seal for today on using old pictures, here’s another look at the pair of blue-winged teals on Friday. That’s a significantly larger common merganser hen behind the diminutive teal hen on the left.

I never showed you the coot that I saw that same day, so here it is.

And, here’s another look at the non-breeding horned grebe from when it was letting me have better looks yesterday.

Finally, the weather was so nice yesterday afternoon that I rode down to the lakefront to see who might be around, and I found this gorgeous horned grebe in full breeding plumage right behind the art museum. What a stunner, eh?

Lastly, the current howling wind is forecast to back off to just 8 mph by sunrise, and the sun is supposed to be out, so the expected 27°F might not even feel as bad as this morning did, so dig your winter coat back out and come join our weekly wildlife walk tomorrow morning. I see that a pair of peregrine falcons, a winter wren, a white-crowned sparrow, and a swamp sparrow have all been reported after my visit this morning, so we’ll have a lot to look for.

Right on schedule…

It was a classic first full morning of astronomical spring in Estabrook Park with no sign of the warmth and sunshine that are forecast to blow in by this afternoon.

The first pleasant surprise of the morning was spotting this little cutie, our first pied-billed grebe of the year, on the river below the pair of radio towers over the far riverbank. “Welcome back, Sweetie!”

By happy coincidence, the horned grebe was still on the river around the islands above the falls, so today is the first time I’ve ever seen two different species of grebe in the park on the same day. Golly gee willikers!

Meanwhile, several of the winter waterfowl are still here, and we had one goldeneye drake, …

a couple of red-breasted merganser drakes, …

and a common merganser hen with a couple of drakes. We’d better enjoy them before they’ve all flown north for the summer.

I didn’t see the wood ducks at the pond today, but I’m sure we will see them again soon. Instead, the big news there was this gander chasing all other geese away while keeping a watch full eye on …

his goose, who has started tending her nest on the island. Hip hip hooray!

Despite the recent rollercoaster of Wisconsin spring weather, she’s right on schedule, and this morning is within a day of her average start date, based on the extensive data I’ve collected so far. We might expect to see goslings in 35 – 40 days, depending on exactly how many eggs she lays (4 to 9), the rate at which she lays them (1 every 1 or 2 days), and how warm she can keep them once she has laid them all (25 – 30 days).

How’s this for a warm welcome home?

Man, by the looks of things in Estabrook Park this morning, those of you who live around here must have really had some weather while Anne and I were galivanting around Europe. Trees are down and there’s snow on the ground, but spring is back again, and birds are really on the move.

The first big treat for me was not only seeing this secretive character, an American woodcock (Scolopax minor), but actually capturing an image of one on film for my very first time. Woo-hoo!

And then the treats just kept coming. Here’s our first horned grebe of the year. It sure isn’t as fancy as the one we saw last year, but it’s only the third one I’ve ever seen in Estabrook, so hooray!

In the water around the grebe, there were Canada geese and mallards, of course, but also common mergansers, a red-breasted merganser, and a coot, all of which we’ve already seen this year. The big surprise was a pair of blue-winged teals, another first for the year, and here’s the drake giving us his best show. Outstanding!

Meanwhile, the parade of newcomers continued back on shore with our first brown creeper of the year. Yippee!

Right below the creeper, a quartet of golden-crowned kinglets also foraged frantically for calories to ingest. Yeehaw!

Finally, I stopped by the pond, and look who had just arrived to check out the newly installed nesting boxes. Our first pair of wood ducks of the year. Hallelujah!

I couldn’t have cooked up a better welcome home if I tried.

Just one squirrel before I sleep.

As I mentioned already, our flight leaves before sunrise, so I’ve gotta get to sleep, but before I do, here’s a little cutie we saw on our hike up to Vaduz Castle overlooking the city yesterday. Despite the dark complexion, my sources assure me that this is a Eurasian red squirrel, like the one we just saw in Kraków last June. I read that “there are 23 recognized subspecies of the red squirrel,” and that probably explains the variation.

Okay. Now it is time for the sleeping.

A fine Liechtensteiner auf Wiedersehen!

Anne and I did ride trains clear across Switzerland today, which was very scenic, but before we left Vaduz this morning, I had time for one last look around. Skies were clear, for a change, so it was a little chilly, but the birds seemed undeterred.

As I hiked towards the Rhine River, I spotted this little shape at the top of a tree, and I could see the yellow once I zoomed in, and my first thought was “Yellowhammer!,” but yellowhammers don’t have white stripes down their side. The solution to this quandary, which seems obvious in hindsight, is that this is our first European serin (Serinus serinus), instead. How ’bout that?!?

Closer to the ground, I spotted a face that I know pretty well by now, a male black redstart, of which we saw plenty in the Balkans last year.

When I finally reached the Rhine, I was thrilled to see more white-throated dippers. Even better, I watched in amazement as one flew up to the bottom of the old-timey, wooden, covered bridge that crosses into Switzerland there. I read now that they build elaborate, domed nests under bridges, but this bridge is quite long, and I didn’t have much of a view out to their nesting site. Oh well. Next time, right?

Meanwhile, the real yellowhammers were up and at it again this morning, and here’s one giving us a much nicer look than yesterday.

The stonechats were also quite active along the riverbank, and this one gave us another nice look, if not necessarily better than the look we got yesterday. Good try, though.

Finally, the huge treat of the morning came as I was walking back toward town. I’ve been seeing quite a few red kites (Milvus milvus) here, which I have seen before but never managed to capture on film in any way worthy of showing you, until now. These two perched in the middle of a small field, and I almost missed them, but they somehow caught my eye, thank goodness. Even better, they seemed quite comfortable there and let me take all the pictures I wanted, so long as I stayed on the pavement. What magnificent creatures, eh?

I did keep up my end of the bargain, but they eventually took off anyway, and I hope it was simply time to find some breakfast. Nevertheless, it did give me a chance to capture the white patches under their wings and their distinctive forked tail.

Our flight leaves before sunrise tomorrow morning, so I certainly won’t have a chance to look for more wildlife, but I still have some recent pictures in my back pocket, so I’ll post something to tide you over until I can get back into Estabrook.

Lots of little surprises…

I didn’t give you much to go on in my last post, other than “back to the Alps”, so if you guessed “it’s gotta be Liechtenstein,” then you should definitely buy a lottery ticket. At just 62 square miles, it’s smaller than Washington, D.C., so you shouldn’t be too surprised to learn that neither Anne nor I have ever visited, and since we were already in the neighborhood, we thought we’d finally give it a try.

We’re staying in the capital, Vaduz, which has fewer than 6,000 residents, so it’s a pretty short walk to get “out into the countryside,” and the weather this morning was cool and partly cloudy, but not windy or rainy, so I was optimistic. As you will see, Liechtenstein did not disappoint.

The Rhine River flows through the valley, just over a kilometer west of our hotel, and it was chock full of little birds this morning. I saw white wagtails, grey wagtails, black redstarts, and this little cutie, only our second water pipit ever.

Another bird that seemed drawn to the stones that make up the river bottom was this gorgeous European stonechat, which we’ve also only seen once before, but not quite as nicely as this.

Almost as soon as I spotted the first stonechat, and before I even figured out what it was, I heard an incessant call from the top of the levee behind me, and it turned out to be from our very first yellowhammer (Emberiza citrinella). I had heard the call before, when we were waiting for hours to cross the boarding from Poland into Ukraine last June, but I was never able to get eyes on that one, and roaming into the woods was frowned upon at the time, so it sure was great to finally see the little stinker today.

Lastly, the Rhine is not the only waterway in Vaduz. Since they built such huge levees to stop the Rhine from flooding the valley, they had to build a canal, the “Liechtenstein inland canal,” that runs parallel to the Rhine to collect water from all the tributaries that used to flow into the Rhine.

There’s still plenty of snow on the mountains that surround the valley, so water in the canal was flowing pretty good this morning, and there are a few rocks sticking out, which made me think of “dippers!” Well, as luck would have it, my intuition was pretty spot on, this one time, and I didn’t have to follow the canal very far to find this stunning creature, our very first white-throated dipper (Cinclus cinclus). Hot diggity-dog!

I see that there are only five species in the genus Cinclus, which means we have only three more dippers to go! Woo hoo!

Anyway, Anne and I start our trek home tomorrow, first with a bus ride down to Sargans, Switzerland, then with a train back to Geneva, and eventually a flight back to Chicago. Wish us luck!