Signs of Life in Estabrook Park
A look at the wildlife living in, on, and beside the Milwaukee River in Shorewood, WI
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
Sorry about missing yesterday. I did visit Estabrook, but only for a couple of hours, during which time I didn’t see much, and then I had to ditch my camera and grab my gripper for the Milwaukee Riverkeeper Cleanup, which apparently set some kind of record. My buddy Mike joined me again, and we hauled out three large garbage bags full and one more tire from beside the river. After that, it was already after noon, and I was shot, but one highlight was seeing my first spotted sandpiper of the year. I only had my phone with me at that point, but woo hoo anyway.
This morning, the weather was about the same as yesterday, cool and cloudy, but a little less breezy and still no rain. The critters, on the other hand, were a lot more visible today. Maybe they were enjoying the newly squeaky-clean park, or they were reasserting their ownership of it after the crowd of volunteers yesterday. Either way, my first treat was spotting this cutie right at the bottom of the stairway from the beer garden. Given all the traffic yesterday, it must not have bothered her enough to move.
Above the falls, beside the downstream island, this beaver let me know, more than once, that it would like a little less traffic. “Noted! And sorry, Honey!”
Meanwhile, the tom turkey looked on from the far shore and seemed instead to want attention, from someone at least.
I eventually continued upstream, and when I turned the corner in the little path that runs beside the river, I was greeted by this tranquil scene. I can’t tell for sure just from this image, but those might be the start of antlers just in front of the ears.
I did my best to leave the deer undisturbed and pressed on. Along the way, I glimpsed the sandpiper a couple of times again, but it had recovered from the exhausted stupor it appeared to be in yesterday, and it flitted off as soon as it saw me. On my way back to the falls, it flew again but this time must have finally felt comfortable enough with the distance it had put between us, to sit for our first sandpiper picture of the year. Yippee!
Farther downstream, this chipmunk opted to stand its ground, at least until I had the best image I figured I was going to get through the leaves and sticks and continued on my way.
Finally, I had heard this guy singing yesterday morning high over the far shore just below the falls, but he bolted before I could even get my binoculars on him. He flitted a couple of times today, as well, but on my third try I was able to sneak our first Baltimore oriole picture of the year from about 100 yards away. “Welcome back to Estabrook, Handsome!”
Lastly, the forecast for our weekly wildlife walk tomorrow morning doesn’t look great, but the expected showers aren’t scheduled to start until 11am, long after we should be finished, so come on out to see the oriole, the sandpiper, or any of the several other new arrivals that have been spotted in Milwaukee County over the weekend.
Given that sunrise is now before 6am, and the breeze is supposed to increase a bit as the morning wears on, let’s revive the 7am start for those of you who are up for it. Don’t worry! You can still come at 8, and someone will swing by the parking lot to collect you, but if you want an early start, I’ll see you at 7.
The last time I was in Portage County, in hopes of spotting greater prairie chickens, it was a frozen snowscape, and we caught glimpses of the birds at a great distance. This morning, on the other hand, it was much warmer, the snow was long gone, the grass was greening up, and we got to see the birds performing their mating “lek” from a cozy little blind only about 30 feet away. A cherry on top was that the forecast rain never materialized. Phew!
We arrived at the blinds at around 5am, well before first light, and we heard the first “booms” at about 5:25. I counted a dozen males and at least two hens. Our guide had asked us to please stay in the blind until all the females had moved on, and she said that’s been happening by about 7:30 or 8:00 at the latest. Well, this morning, the hens took their sweet time inspecting the males, and we didn’t get out of the blinds till about 8:30. Sheesh!
In that time, though, we got to see the males perform their display and make the booming sound. With a dozen males, the sound was pretty continuous.
Here’s a video I captured, which doesn’t have the greatest focus, but does show the mating display and provides a sample of the sound.
There was also plenty of this alternate display, which I think was intended to intimidate the other males.
Sometimes a second male accepted the challenge, and here’s a pair of them squaring off.
Sometimes one or the other would back off, but sometimes there was quite the physical altercation. Once in a while, some feathers flew.
Here’s one of the two hens I saw, strolling through the performance to see if any male caught her fancy.
Here are a couple of males doing their best to impress.
In the three hours we had to observe this amazing spectacle, I took over 700 pictures, so I’ve only had time today to scan through them quickly to pick out a few representative examples. I expect that I’ll have a few more to show you in the coming days, so be forewarned.
All-in-all, I would rate the experience as “magical”, and I hope you get a chance to see it in person someday. I’d like to thank Donna, of Milwaukee Birders, for arranging the whole thing, and Dave for letting me ride along with him and listen to his crazy music all the way up and back.
The weather was beautiful this morning in Estabrook Park, and things got off to a great start when I spotted a great blue heron at the river.
But then the sightings really dried up. I did see the beaver again, but it was going away from me this time, and I was able to ID plenty of birds by sounds or from glimpses, but several fewer than yesterday. Folks who participated in the Urban Ecology Center bird walk in Riverside Park reported a similar lack of abundance. Let’s hope it’s just a short-term glitch.
By the time I was coming back downstream from the far north end, I hadn’t heard a nuthatch yet, so I swung by the tree they had been on a week ago, and sure enough, the pair was there. Even better, they were actively carrying nesting material into that hole in the tree. Yippee!
Here it is on its way out of the hole to go get another beak full. I watched it go in and out at least three times before I could time my shot to catch it just as it went in and just as it came out, so they are hard at work.
And that’s it for today, I’m sad to say. Luckily, I still have some shots left over from the past week, so here’s another look at the rusty blackbird from Sunday.
Here’s the thrasher at the pond, also on Sunday, but I didn’t show you until Monday.
Finally, here’s a second look at the sedge wren from yesterday.
Now I’ve gotta get some sleep because we’re supposed to be out the door at 3:55am tomorrow to go watch the Greater Prairie Chicken Booming. I sure hope the rain we’re due to get overnight is done by showtime.
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park