Signs of Life in Estabrook Park

Utah 2025, Day 3

Zion was the most crowded park we visited on this trip, based on the ratio of cars to parking spaces, but we had the luck we needed where it counted, thankfully. The weather was nice, the scenery was beautiful, and the critters were bountiful.

The first little cutie who would pose for me was this tiny black phoebe on a branch over the Virgin River. I haven’t seen one since Anne took me to Big Bend National Park back in 2023.

On the other side of the path, I was thrilled when a Anna’s hummingbird kept coming back to the same perch 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.

There were yellow butterflies around, and they appeared to be tiger swallowtails, but I never saw one land. Fortunately, this yucca giant skipper (Megathymus yuccae) was happy to sun on a rock in the Virgin river at the north end of the valley.

Back on shore, this is one of several very bold rock squirrels (Otospermophilus variegatus) scurrying around looking for snacks that tourists accidentally dropped.

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,” in the Virgin River at the far end of the Riverside Walk. I know it may not look like all that much, but dippers hunt for their food like no other bird I know, and check out this video I took of it repeatedly jumping into the rushing water to snatch insect larvae from the rocks.

We had heard one earlier in the morning as we looked for birds along the stream that ran behind our motel, but we had failed to lay eyes on it. So I was checking nearly every rock in the Virgin River, in hopes of getting my first glance, but it was my sister who found this amazing creature first. What a treat!

In case you are video averse, here’s a still image of it diving in headfirst.

Finally, your blossom of the day is this single desert columbine (Aquilegia desertorum) growing beside the trail. With any luck, we’ll see a similar sight in Estabrook Park soon enough.

Tomorrow we drive to Las Vegas to catch flights home. Wish us luck.

Utah 2025, Day 2

After Arches National Park yesterday, we stayed overnight in the tiny town of Loa, Utah, and this morning, before the kids got up, my sister and I went out to see who might be around. It was below freezing, for the first time this trip, at sunrise, and it took a while for the local critters to get going, but once they did, they put on a nice show for us.

The first big treat was this sage thrasher (Oreoscoptes montanus), our very first, who was quite persistent in getting his message out.

There were also vesper sparrows, lark sparrows, bluebirds, and yellow-rumped-warblers, but the biggest surprise was this yellow cutie. You may be as stunned to learn as I was that house finches, yup, the grey or red birds we see in Estabrook all winter long, can be yellow! I now read that “yellow house finches are frequently seen in the southwest and Hawaii where natural foods are low in some … carotenoids.“

Then it was time to get some breakfast and drive down to Bryce Canyon National Park. On the way, we were passing by a large body of water, Otter Creek Reservoir, and I was trying to make out the birds on the water, when my sister pointed out two large birds in the air, which looked for all the world like pelicans. Wow!

So, we stopped when the road got close to the water, and I hopped out. Sure enough there were a few American white pelicans on the water, which we’ve seen before at Kohler-Andrae State Park. Instead, the bigger surprise was our very first western grebes (Aechmophorus occidentalis). What amazing beauties!

Even better, there were a few common loons (Gavia immer), which look anything but common. I once glimpsed them from afar on a canoe trip decades ago, but I’ve never had a chance to photograph one until today. Outstanding!

We eventually had to get back on the road, but the thrills weren’t over yet because just before we rolled into Bryce Canyon City, this darling pronghorn was standing beside the road. Thankfully, my sister, who was driving at the time, saw it first and had the wherewithal to pull over quickly so I could get you this picture. “Thanks, Deb!”

Bryce Canyon was cool, and the scenery is really something to see, but the icing on the cake for me was getting yet another chance at a pygmy nuthatch picture.

Finally, what’s a visit to Bryce Canyon without getting to see a golden-mantled ground squirrel (Callospermophilus lateralis)? Right?

Lastly, your blossom of the day is this curious sight, which I believe is dwarf lousewort (Pedicularis centranthera).

Tomorrow we’re off to Zion National Park, so wish us luck!

Utah 2025, Day 1

After Antelope Canyon yesterday, my sister said “we’ve come all this way, we might as well see Utah, too,” so we drove up to Monticello yesterday afternoon to stay on the outskirts of town in a geodesic dome under a very dark and very stary sky. Not surprisingly, it was quite cold this morning, but the clear skies also let the sun warm things up quickly.

One of the birds out taking advantage of the nice morning was this stunning mountain bluebird (Sialia currucoides), who I first saw in Big Bend National Park back in 2023, but I didn’t realize it at the time. In any case, it was my sister’s first.

Another was this western meadowlark, who we just saw in Lakeshore State Park, amazingly enough, but who my sister hasn’t seen until today.

I’ve been seeing mule deer nearly everywhere we go, but this morning was the first time I managed to get a nice picture of one.

From Monticello, we drove up to Arches National Park, which turned out to be worth the drive, and one of the sights that made it so was this plateau fence lizard (Sceloporus tristichus).

Another elusive rascal we’ve been seeing since the Grand Canyon is this black-throated sparrow, and today one finally relented.

We also saw a chipmunk at the Grand Canyon, specifically a cliff chipmunk, but they apparently have different ones up here, and this is my very first Hopi chipmunk (Neotamias rufus).

Finally, your blossom of the day is this gorgeous Mojave kingcup cactus (Echinocereus triglochidiatus ssp. mojavensis)

Arizona, 2025, Day 4

After a fabulous time at the Grand Canyon, we drove up to Page, AZ yesterday afternoon so that we could have an early visit to Antelope Canyon this morning. Our scheduled visit time wasn’t crazy early, however, so my sister and I had time to go out looking for wildlife on the golf course in town beforehand.

As we approached the course just a bit before the sun came over the high horizon in the east, we noticed that it was covered with dark shapes. Once we got close enough and the sun finally crested the ridge, look who made up about 2/3rds of those dark shapes: white-faced ibises (Plegadis chihi)! Holy smokes! They are our first ever, and they were frantically foraging for morsels in the grass just as I see ring-billed gulls forage on the southern soccer fields in Estabrook Park. As soon as one found something, all its nearby buddies hurried over to help.

The other 1/3rd of the dark shapes turned out to be mountain cottontails (Sylvilagus nuttallii).

Above the grass, and making a bit of a racket, was a trio of darling western kingbirds (Tyrannus verticalis), another first for us.

In the natural growth beside the fairway, we found my sister’s first rock wren;

at the edge of a rock outcropping, we spotted her first greater roadrunner;

and in the tall bushes overhead, we found her first black-chinned hummingbird, and my first adult male.

Then we 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!

Finally, your blossoms of the day are these gorgeous buds on what I believe is a smallflower fishhook cactus (Sclerocactus parviflorus)

We’re now in Utah and planning to visit Arches National Park tomorrow, which I hear is nice, but before we get to that, I can’t wait to see who’s around when the sun comes up.

Arizona, 2025, Day 3

My sister had this crazy idea that we should hike down to the Colorado River and back up to the rim yesterday, day 2, so we set out before sunrise and did that. I managed to get some interesting pictures with my phone, but I did not haul my camera along on that hike, so those can wait for another day. This morning, however, my sister and I went out to see who we could see before we got on the road, and there were plenty of faces new and old.

This first beauty is our very first black-throated grey warbler (Setophaga nigrescens), whose natural range does not extend east of New Mexico, so you’ve gotta come out west to see them.

Another westerner is this ash-throated flycatcher (Myiarchus cinerascens), another first for me, and a bird whose appearance and behavior reminded me of the great crested flycatchers we’ll be seeing arrive in Estabrook soon.

It wouldn’t be a visit to the Grand Canyon without seeing a cliff chipmunk, it seems, so here you go.

Similarly, this western bluebird came out to welcome me back with another fine portrait opportunity. I wish the eastern bluebirds we see in Estabrook would be so kind.

This pygmy nuthatch, on the other hand, gave me a much better look than I got last time.

There were plenty of these around, and at first the glossy males made me think they might be grackles of some kind, but the short beak and grayish-brown females helped me identify them as our first Brewer’s blackbirds (Euphagus cyanocephalus).

Finally, your flower of the day is this tiny common stork’s-bill (Erodium cicutarium).

I’m still a bit exhausted from yesterday, and we’re hiking again tomorrow, so I’ve gotta let you go, and I’ll be back with more tomorrow.

Arizona, 2025, Day 1

While waiting for the rest of my party to arrive, I strolled out into the nice xeriscaping they added in front of the rental car center at Sky Harbor airport in Phoenix. I know that may not sound like much, but it was quite nice, and wait till you see who I found there.

First, there were a few Eurasian collared doves, which we’ve seen a few times, most recently in Albania.

Then, I caught a glimpse of a verdin, which we saw when I was in Sedona.

But the star of the show was this stunning and hungry Costa’s hummingbird (Calypte costae), my first ever, who kept coming back to this flowering bush for more helpings of nectar.

Even better, it only retreated a little ways to a taller bush, where I managed to get this slightly better picture. For the full effect, however, do yourself a favor and check out the photo gallery on AllAboutBirds. You won’t regret it.

Finally, your blossom of the day is this saguaro cactus (Carnegiea gigantea).

See? I told you it was nicer than it sounded.

Page two…

As I mentioned yesterday, I’ll be waiting for my flight to Arizona when the sun comes up this morning, so I won’t be able to make it to Estabrook today, and I haven’t even checked the weather. Luckily, the wildlife yesterday was so abundant, that I still have plenty of pictures left over.

Since so many of you wrote in asking about the goslings, here they are, up on the west lawn by the pond and napping under Mom’s protective wing. If you look closely, you can see that she’s keeping one eye on me, and Dad is standing at the ready just out of frame.

As I was checking on the cardinal chicks at the river, I was thrilled to hear the familiar call of sandpipers, and even more excited when I saw then dash by and land at the water’s edge just a ways upstream. So, I did my best slow and steady hustle up there to sneak a peek, and this is what I managed to capture, our first spotted sandpiper of the year. “Welcome back, Darling!”

Then I turned to head back downstream, and look who I spotted perched as high as possible over the upstream island, an American kestrel. In fact, there were two of them, and the second was nearly as high in the other tall tree left standing. As I was taking their pictures, one flew toward the other one, and I held my breath in hopes that they would perch together, but they both just took off to continue their hunt. Oh well. “Good luck, Cuties!”

There was a pair of blue-winged teals on the water, but they stayed pretty far off shore, and there was a pair of tree swallows hunting over the water, but I didn’t have time to try for pictures of swallows in flight, so I headed back to the pond. There, I found our recently arrived green heron still hanging around. Yay!

The warm temps also brought a couple of painted turtles back out of the water in search of some sun, and here’s the most photogenic one.

While I was working on a turtle picture, there was a call I haven’t heard in a while coming from the woods behind me, and the singer was shy, so it took me a while to find him, but here he is. He’s a young white-crowned sparrow whose white crown is still coming in. Perhaps he’s the youngster who’s been with us for much of the winter, and his prom suit is finally arriving.

Finally, as the sun came out for a bit, and the morning warmed up, it was time for a family swim.

With any luck, my next post will come from the Grand Canyon State, so wish me some. Adios, amigos.

Gotta remember to add a title…

This morning in Estabrook Park the weather was similar to yesterday, but warmer, a tad breezier, and a tad sunnier, sometimes. The wildlife appeared to be loving it.

Before we get to that, however, take a look at these beauties, our first ever American avocets (Recurvirostra americana), taking a breather on the Lake Michigan shoreline at McKinley Beach early yesterday afternoon. They have been spotted in Milwaukee County before, from time to time, but we are way out of their natural range, so they are considered rare for here, and they drew a crowd. As soon as I heard they were there, I jumped on my bike and hustled on down, and that’s why my post was so late yesterday, but I think it was completely worth it.

I realize this picture isn’t the greatest. I and a bunch of other enthusiasts were all trying to leave the birds enough room to feel comfortable, and you should have seen the absolute cannon the guy next to me had, but if you click on the image, or this link, to look at a copy of the full image in flickr, you can zoom in to see that it does have some nice detail anyway, despite the heat distortion and my meager equipment.

Now, back to our regularly scheduled program. We have yet another new arrival this morning, and it was this male Baltimore oriole, whom we last saw in Guatemala, of all places, and who was already busy announcing his arrival in song.

As I was trying to get a picture of the oriole, without scaring it off, there was quite a ruckus down the bluff, and when I was finally able to go check it out, there was just this one character left. Its adversary must have moved on by then.

As I was trying to get a shot at the racoon without scaring it off, I could already hear this eastern towhee calling me to come take its picture.

I stopped by the pond, and the geese and goslings are all doing fine, but how many gosling pictures do you need, right? Instead, check out this action over the islands in the river above the falls. That’s our first osprey of the year. Woo hoo!

Okay, okay. If it’s babies you really want, cast your eyes upon these two hot chicks, literally. It’s a bit hard to count, but there are at least two northern cardinal chicks in the nest we saw just Monday, and they are supposed to run at 106°F. That’s 2° hotter than the maximum safe hot tub temperature. Don’t worry, when I went back by, 5 minutes later, Mom was already back on the job. She must have just needed a little break.

Finally, your new blossoms of the day are these precious Dutchman’s breeches (Dicentra cucullaria) opening right beside the river path at the far northwest end.

I actually saw quite a bit more this morning, but I’ve got a plane to catch at 7:35 tomorrow morning, so I’m saving the rest to tide you over until I can get some pictures in Arizona. Wish me luck!

Not all new arrivals come by air…

I found the forecast last evening for the weather this morning to be very exciting. Sure, it was going to be cloudy, and it might even sprinkle, but the temps were supposed to be seasonably cool, not cold, and winds were supposed to be dead still, so just perfect conditions for bugs to waft into the air and for me to hear the warblers twittering amongst themselves as they gobbled them up.

The first interesting twitter I heard, however, was from this rusty blackbird, one of a pair, high in the oak tree at the north end of the soccer fields. We haven’t seen one since back in March.

The river was quiet at the midpoint, and on my way to the pond, the screech-owl was, too.

The main story of the day, though, has got to be the hatching of seven (7!) darling goslings. Here they are with Mom and Dad up on the lawn on the west side of the pond. Boy, she’s gotta be thrilled to stretch her legs and get something to eat, for a change. Right? I had gotten a tip from a reader yesterday afternoon, who had gone looking for that purple finch, but found goslings instead. A fine consolation prize indeed.

Careful readers with a good memory may recall that just 28 days ago, when I first spotted Mom on her nest, I said “we’ve got just 32 to 48 days to wait.” Now, either these eggs hatched early, or she had been on her nest while I was in Colorado, and was taking a short break when I stopped by the pond on the 25th. I suspect the latter scenario is the more-likely.

Here’s a closeup of one of the hungry little rascals.

Back at the river, and at the north end, I found one more pair of blue-winged teals, and here’s the drake pausing for a quick preening.

Back on shore, I did eventually hear a lot of warblers, but they were almost all yellow-rumped, and the still air let them stay up nice and high in the trees, which I had obviously failed to anticipate. Luckily, there were a few palm warblers around, as well, and they often seem to be a lot more comfortable with the camera, so here’s our first palm warbler picture of the year.

Finally, the new blossom of the day is this white trout lily.

The influx gathers steam…

It was cool and pretty cloudy this morning in Estabrook Park, but the wind and rain were on pause for a moment, so I brought the rain cover for my camera and headed out to see who was new today.

My first treat came at the pond, where I found this handsome devil, my first male purple finch. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen a female before, and I’ve mistakenly thought I’ve seen a male once or twice, but this is the first unmistakably “raspberry red” finch I believe I’ve ever set eyes on. As I was told would happen, once I saw it, I knew exactly what it was and why all the others simply weren’t.

I couldn’t find a grebe or heron at the pond today, so I headed to the river, where the great horned owl was also absent, but this white-throated sparrow, in full breeding plumage, was kind enough to let me sneak a closeup through the sticks while it was taking a break from singing and foraging.

All the fancy ducks appear to have moved on, at least for today, and the next interesting sight at the river was this pair of pigeon chicks on their nest under the Port Washington Bridge. You may recall that we saw the mom on her nest back on the first day of spring, and this is what she has to show for the effort.

On my way back downstream, I managed to catch a ruby-crowned kinglet, seemingly in a moment of repose, but it was only a moment before it bolted off to gobble down its next bug. They’ve begun singing energetically throughout the park, so it was nice to get a picture to go with the song.

I continued past the islands, and that’s where I caught this glimpse of our first northern waterthrush of the year. In the past, they haven’t been too shy, so I have a hope of getting a nicer picture for you soon.

The biggest surprise of the day, however, was spotting this stunner as I tried to keep tabs on the waterthrush. This is our first ever prothonotary warbler (Protonotaria citrea), and it was also darting from branch to branch, right over the water and behind all this sticks, so I’m thrilled to have gotten a picture even this good. What an absolute beauty, eh?

I read that “it is named for its plumage, which resembles the yellow robes once worn by papal clerks (named prothonotaries) in the Roman Catholic Church,” and it is “the only eastern warbler that nests in natural or artificial cavities.” How about that?

Finally, as soon as I lost sight of the warbler, it started to sprinkle, so I turned towards home. I stopped by the pond one more time on my way, and there I found this pair of wood ducks working hard to make more.

Lastly, I see that the Milwaukee Birders are visiting Lion’s Den Gorge on Sunday, and I’d love to go with them, but my sister is dragging me to Arizona instead 😉, so I’ll have to miss it. If you go in my place, see me something good, would ya?