Signs of Life in Estabrook Park

Old Man Winter ain’t done with us yet…

I could almost hear Old Man Winter chuckling to himself as I looked out the window this morning and sipped my coffee. It was snowing, although I’m sure most folks were glad we had almost no accumulation, the clouds were thick, the wind was stiff, and the cold was pretty bitter. He ain’t done with us yet.

Fortunately, the snow didn’t last long at all, the clouds blew out over the lake, and there are plenty of critters in Estabrook Park who are built for the cold and wind. Here are a pair of common merganser hens taking a break from fishing in the icy water to keep their feathers in tip-top shape.

Here’s a goldeneye drake catching his breath between dives to the river bottom for snails.

The huge surprise of the morning, however, was spotting this killdeer, who would normally still be in balmy southern Illinois, at least, but was now standing on the softball field and considering the error of its ways.

I’m sure it was as surprised to see me as I was to see it, but instead of fleeing, it opted merely to sink into the grass, like Homer Simpson retreating into his hedge.

I’m not exactly sure if it was escaping me, the wind, or both of us, but I was impressed by how far it could sink.

At the pond the house finches and house sparrows were thick in the bushes on the island again, after taking a week off during the thaw, but the funner sight for me was this opossum trotting across the ice.

Finally, this cardinal must have heard me grousing about the shy cardinal yesterday, and wanted to make sure I knew that some cardinals really are as bold as their plumage.

Lastly, the weather forecast for our weekly wildlife walk tomorrow morning is even colder than today, with temps in the teens and winds pushing the RealFeel® temps into single digits. Yikes! On the other hand, I have been having a string of “first of the year” sightings this week, at least for Estabrook, and maybe it will continue tomorrow. Thus, when you contemplate coming out to join us, you really have to ask yourself, “do I feel lucky?”

An odd duck we haven’t seen in a while…

It was a pretty nice late-February morning in Estabrook Park. Temps were in the mid-twenties, so the river path was nicely frozen back up, the winds were light, and the sun even peeked through the cloud deck once or twice.

The big surprise of the morning was finding this greater scaup drake on the river between the falls and the islands along with some mallards, a few common mergansers, and a common goldeneye. We see plenty scaups on the lake during the winter, and we’ve seen them in Estabrook before, but my records indicate not since 2022. So, “Welcome back, Buddy, and don’t be such a stranger!”

The next biggest surprise was that no one else wanted to show their face today. I only caught this guy, I suspect, because he thought he was well hidden. “Not so fast, you handsome devil, you!”

Finally, instead of me dredging up some more pictures from Nicaragua, I propose that we just have a short post today and try again tomorrow.

One more returnee and many more to go…

The rain and wind did arrive, but the rain moved out by sunrise, and we didn’t get any of the snow that was threatened, so it wasn’t too bad a morning to go looking for wildlife in Estabrook Park.

The river ice is really starting to disappear, and the geese, mallards, and common mergansers are making the best of all the newly open water, but the exciting return of the day was this male belted kingfisher staking out his territory around the upstream island. I glimpsed one in January, before the river froze over, but I haven’t gotten a picture of one for you since early December. “Welcome back, Buddy, and let’s all hope for a better picture soon, eh?”

That’s it for pictures today, I’m sad to say, but you’ll be thrilled to know that we still haven’t yet exhausted the supply of pictures from Nicaragua, and this first one is a familiar face that we can hope to see in Estabrook in April: a Baltimore oriole.

Similarly, here’s an orchard oriole, which we do get to see in Estabrook but much less often, and I once thought was “the other” oriole.

This shy bird, which I found lurking in the shadows over that little river in Granada, had the pointy beak and orange color of an oriole, but the black eye mask and long black beard do not look familiar.

Thankfully, he was kind enough to turn around to show us, not only the white streaks on his black wings, but also the orange streaks on his black back, and that makes him an aptly-named streak-backed oriole (Icterus pustulatus), a first for me.

Here he is in partial profile so we can see the eye mask, beard, and back streaks all together. Sadly, they are primarily Central American birds and are “very rare in [even] the southwestern U.S.,” so our chances of seeing them in Estabrook any time soon are “slim to none,” as the experts say. In any case, you may be just as stunned to learn as I was that there are thirty-two (32!) species in the Icterus genus, the new world orioles. Good heavens, it’s gonna take some work to collect them all. Right?

Finally, every morning in Granada, when Deb and I would go up onto the roof-top patio to check for birds enjoying the bougainvillea growing in the neighbors courtyard, we would see blue-gray tanagers. I first saw them in Brazil, but this may have been Deb’s first exposure, and she was quite taken with them. This particular individual was taking a break from the bougainvillea, which you can see in the orchard oriole picture above, and was chillin’ instead on some nearby rebar sticking out the top of some structure, which is a common sight in Latin America.

I see that it is supposed to cool off further by tomorrow morning, but the wind is supposed to back down, and the sun might even peek through the clouds a bit, so it should be a pretty good mid-February morning in Estabrook Park. I can’t wait to see who shows up next!

Some early signs of the spring to come…

It was a gorgeous morning in Estabrook Park, with seasonably mild temps, mostly clear skies, and nearly still air. Not only could I hear a pin drop, but I could also finally identify the call I had just barely heard yesterday (the track from Ohio, May 12, 1980) over the roar of the wind in the radio towers. The red-winged blackbirds have returned, and I counted four along the river this morning, including this handsome devil. In 2025, I didn’t see one till March 1, but in 2024 they arrived by February 21, so they are just about right on schedule.

The next big surprise came on the river between the two islands, where I spotted these two beauties, our first hooded mergansers of the year. We haven’t seen one since that hen on the pond last October.

Meanwhile, there were at least a dozen common mergansers, and here are three hens all lined up as if to ask, “What are we, chopped liver now?” “Certainly not, Sweeties, but you’ve been in the spotlight for about twelve weeks already. It’s time to let someone else have a turn.”

Finally, a bald eagle was back over the river, and not only did it seem to ignore me, for a change, but the ducks seemed mostly to ignore it, too. I don’t know why, but I’ll take it!

It appears that we’re in for sloppy weather overnight and then for the wind to return tomorrow. Oh well. This brief respite was nice while it lasted, but I guess winter isn’t done with us just yet. At least there are no deep freezes in the long-range forecast,

Estabrook Park still surprises…

The rain did roll through during the wee hours of the morning, as advertised, and we even had a few claps of thunder before sunrise. The good news is that it kept right on rolling, and skies were nearly clear by the time the sun actually rose. It was quite windy, but it was also so warm that even the windchill was in the high forties. Pretty wild weather for February.

I don’t know if it was the crazy weather, or they were just busy making up for lost time, but I spotted two masked bandits at the pond when I arrived. They were quite skittish, as they are supposed to be, but I was able to catch one keeping its eyes on me from behind a bunch of sticks at the water’s edge.

Also at the pond, we had our first bunch of Canada geese checking out the place. I don’t know if our regular nesting pair was among them, but here’s one standing nice and still, just in case.

I saw the usual suspects at the river, but nothing especially film-worthy today, so I went back to the pond. The geese had already moved on, but look who had already found some open water under the bushes.

Then, as I was scanning the bushes and trees for an interesting sparrow, look who swooped in to do the same.

Finally, I took the path south of the dog park back down to the river for one last look around. The river path is very muddy right now, so I was avoiding it today and sneaking peeks from where I could access the river directly from inland. It’s still frozen all the way across there, so there wasn’t much to see, and I still had some time on the clock, so I did what I usually do when there’s not much to see, I’m bored, and it’s still too early to go home. I started picking up trash.

I had almost filled the bag I had picked up by the pond, and as I bent over for one more wrapper, I could hear a call from above, which sounded like turkeys, as much as anything. Listen to the track labeled “Flock calls (Western)”. I could not find the equivalent on YouTube. I glanced up just in time to spot through a gap in the trees a few large birds flying north, probably following the lakefront, and I got my camera on them just in time for only one shot. It’s not perfect, by any means, but it’s darn good enough to positively ID my first greater white-fronted geese (Anser albifrons) in North America, let along Estabrook Park. Yee Haw!

Long-time readers may recall that I saw plenty of them in South Holland a few years ago, and the fine folks at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology explain that this species “occurs across the [whole] Northern Hemisphere.” Their range map indicates that these birds are probably on their way to the northern half of continental Nunavut to make more geese on the arctic tundra. “Safe travels, you beauties!”

Lastly, I see we’re due for a cool-off, the skies should stay mostly clear, and the wind should wind down, so the river path might even firm up by tomorrow morning. Keep your fingers crossed!

Nicaragua to the rescue one more time…

Unlike the record-setting, warm and sunny day we had yesterday in Estabrook Park, today was cloudy, cool, and a little raw. Worse, nobody wanted their picture taken this morning, and I was reduced to capturing these two robins, who were intent on finishing their bath even if I was standing nearby. Oh, well.

Luckily, I haven’t yet reached the bottom of the Nicaragua barrel, so here are a few more sights. First up are a couple of white-nosed coati (Nasua narica) we saw on a hike around the rim of the Mombacho volcano caldera. They were probably tamed, so not my ideal wildlife photo subject, but they were completely unconfined and definitely native to the area, so I’ll take what I can get.

As we waited to board the ferry to Ometepe, I noticed these nests dangling from the fronds of a royal palm, and my sources tell me they are Montezuma oropendola nests. I figured I had to be near a similar colony in Granada, simply because of the number of birds I saw there and how frequently I saw them flying to and from a particular spot on the horizon. That spot was behind a chain link fence, however, so not really an option for me, since I prefer to stay out of jail, and these will just have to do.

Once we got to our cabin on the island, we found that it already had a guest. This is reported to be a Stauffer’s tree frog (Scinax staufferi), and I bet it could have sat comfortably on a US quarter, but it was on the back of our sink the morning I encountered it. The little rascal could really hop, and it took me a couple of tries, but I was eventually able to corral it and set it free to hunt for bugs in the great outdoors.

Visitor in our room, a Stauffer's Tree Frog

I’ve shown you several pictures already from the little mud puddle behind our cabin, but this gives you a better idea of the density it attracted. From left to right, that’s a little blue heron, a young jacana, a pair of common gallinules, a black-necked stilt, and another young jacana. Holy cow, right?

Little blue heron, northern jacana, Common Gallinules, Black-necked stilt common ga

Here’s another, zoomed-out look at the little colony of proboscis bats we saw roosting on the underside of a leaning tree during our kayak ride. They’re pretty well camouflaged against the tree bark, but I count eleven individuals.

Finally, here’s one more look at one of the gorgeous black-necked stilts that I saw every morning on that little river in Granada. In the low light, it was super handy that they would sometimes stand perfectly still.

I see were in for some rain overnight, but it is supposed to wrap up and clear out by sunrise, so here’s hoping that somebody will want to perch in the sun as they dry out tomorrow. I’ll keep you posted.

A nice, warm start to the week…

It was a little cloudy and a little breezy this morning in Estabrook Park, but it was also a glorious 40°F, so quite a welcome taste of the spring weather to come. I feared that the river path would be a mud bath, but it must have been just clear enough and just cool enough overnight for radiant cooling to do the rest, and the mud was nice and firm, at least for the first hour and a half.

The nice weather and/or Presidents Day brought out a couple of walkers I haven’t seen in a while, so it was great to catch up as we headed for the river. The ice is melting, but much of it has a nice reflective layer of snow on top, so it’s taking its sweet time. In the widening gaps, we saw Canada geese, mallards, common mergansers, a few common goldeneyes, and here’s a hen of the latter.

The lone red-breasted merganser drake is still with us, as well, and here he is just about to hide behind a mallard pair.

The next most interesting critter we saw on our walk was a white-throated sparrow by the pond, but it evaded my camera, and then it was time for folks to get on with their day. I headed home, too, and on my way, this little red squirrel seemed to be quite upset with me. It scampered around for a bit and eventually ended up on this perch where it could shout down at me. “I’m not sure what I did, but I sure am sorry, sweetie! Oh, and you’ve got a little mud on your nose.”

Finally, as I neared the south end, I found this white-breasted nuthatch busily foraging away and far too busy to pay me no nevermind.

Since I’ve come up short on local pictures once again, here are a few second looks at some of the beauties we saw in Nicaragua. Here’s another look at the bare-throated tiger-heron pair, in which he looks like he’s shouting “Woo hoo! We’re looking for nesting sites!” while she appears to be contemplating the actual logistics of building a nest there and with this lunatic.

Here’s another look at the common squirrel-cuckoo at the Apoyo Lagoon Natural Reserve, which better shows its decurved cuckoo bill.

Lastly, here’s another look at the young black-crowned night-heron struggling to get a huge fish lined up to slide into its gullet.

It is supposed to be cooler and cloudier tomorrow, so who knows what I’ll find, but I’ll be sure to show you whatever it is. Oh, and before I forget, I’ve got a few new talks lined up, and I’ll be the only one on the agenda, at least for my allotted time slot, so if you still haven’t had a chance to grill me on camera settings before a live audience, check out these upcoming opportunities.

A sneak peek at sights to come…

The air was very mild and still this morning, but the sky was pretty full of clouds at sunrise, and some of them even leaked on me a bit, so the weather in Estabrook Park was sort of a mixed bag. I wanted to join the Milwaukee Birders for their visit to the Schlitz Audubon Nature Center, so I didn’t have a lot of time, and the most interesting sight I saw was this little cutie putting in a rare daytime appearance.

I read that opossums don’t hibernate, but they do stay in their dens during extreme cold, and after the winter we’ve been having so far, I bet this one was hungry. If you are not yet a fan of opossums, consider the fact that they eat small rodents and ticks, thereby helping to keep those populations in check.

Then it was time to get up to Schlitz. They had a great turnout, with at least a couple dozen folks, and the skies had cleared up by then, so the weather was just beautiful. If it wasn’t for this handsome, male bluebird, however, it would have been a shutout for me, picture wise. We heard plenty of birds, and I’m not sure why they kept mostly out of sight, but that’s just the way it goes sometimes.

Since I’ve still got plenty of room, and we haven’t yet exhausted my supply of Nicaragua pictures, if you can believe it, let me show you some of the birds we saw there that we might expect to see here in a month or three.

This little darling is a Philadelphia vireo, and we last saw one in Estabrook last May.

There were also rose-breasted grosbeaks, and here’s a male. We saw a female in Estabrook last September.

Probably the most common “northerner” we saw was the yellow warbler, and here’s a female.

Finally, in the little puddle behind our cabin on Ometepe, which was usually full of stilts, gallinules, lapwings, and jacanas, this pair of blue-winged teal hens put in a brief appearance. One was even kind enough to flash us that teal wing patch. We saw a pair of drakes just last March, so these two better get a move on.

Tomorrow morning is forecast to be even warmer than today, and just as still, but maybe the clouds won’t clear out quite as nicely. It will be crazy nice weather for mid-February, anyway, so if you’ve wanted to come out for our wildlife walk, but the cold has been holding you back, this is your big chance. Look for me in the beer garden parking lot at 8am.

Some sights we don’t get to see often…

I had reason to run out to the Wehr Nature Center this morning, and the event was at 9am, so I figured I should get there before the sun rose. That way I could spend my daylight looking for wildlife there instead of while sitting in my car. Anyway, this is who I found.

I hadn’t even left the parking lot when I heard the now-familiar call of a bluebird. It turns out that there were at least two, and this is the one I could catch sitting still enough for a picture in the low light. We’ve seen them during the winter in Estabrook before, but not yet this winter.

When I finally did get out of the parking lot, I found a small herd of deer in the fields beside the road into the lot, and here’s the buck that was with them keeping a wary eye on me.

Meanwhile, a flock of wild turkeys was taking over the bird feeders, and they had more than one tom with them. It was a fairly small and crowded space for such large birds, but here’s a tom I could catch by himself for a moment. That gray arc across his belly is the little chain they have put up to demark the feeder area. We do get to see turkeys in Estabrook from time to time, but not yet this year and not yet a tom that I know of. Man, that morning sun was really lighting him up, eh? I sure hope the hens appreciate the effort he’s making.

The turkeys were not the only birds at the feeders, and on a second pass, there were at least six pine siskins flitting about in the trees above it. We do see them in Estabrook, but not even as often as turkeys, and I’ve only ever seen one at a time there. It was fun for me to hear them chattering amongst themselves.

While walking around the pond, I heard a tufted titmouse nice and clear, but I could not put eyes on the little stinker. Instead, I had a momentary sense of elation when I spotted the tuft on the head of this beauty, but this is a cedar waxwing, of course. We get to see them in Estabrook even more frequently than turkeys, but the titmice there have also managed to elude my gaze. Someday, My Loves!

Finally, I attended the event and headed for home, but it was a beautiful day, and I already had the car out, so how could I not stop at the lakefront on my way home, right? You know I like a good, cold winter as much as the next guy, and maybe a bit more, but I was happy to see some open water already, nevertheless. I couldn’t find any curiosities in it, however, just the usual suspects: geese, mallards, mergansers, goldeneyes, scaups, and buffleheads. The most interesting sight turned out to be raptors on a breakwater about a mile NNE of the South Shore Yacht Club. You can just make out eight of them perched on the icy concrete and two in the air, and I caught one of them flying close enough to shore for me to positively id it as a young bald eagle. They appeared to be having a regular Valentine’s Day mixer out on the lake! Ha! Good for them!

For the curious, that looming white rectangular shape in the far background is Milwaukee’s Linnwood Water Treatment Plant north of Bradford Beach, and it was about five miles away. Oh, and the Wehr Nature Center was fabulous. I hope you get a chance to visit it.

Lastly, I hope you have as good a time today as these eagles seemed to.

Finally, enough local content for a whole post…

As promised, it was a gorgeous morning in Estabrook Park, with seasonably mild temps, a very light breeze, and plenty of blue sky and sunshine. Happily, for me at least, it was well below freezing overnight so the unpaved path along the river was all frozen back up after thawing a bit yesterday afternoon.

The first exciting sight of the morning was this common merganser hen with a nice big fish in the open water just above the falls. There were a couple of other hens and a drake in that same water, and each offered to help her with that fish, some multiple times, but she did her best to handle it on her own.

I don’t know if it was the relative warmth or just lucky timing, but the red-breasted merganser drake at the far north end was finally off the ice and looking for fish. I didn’t see him have any luck, though.

Maybe it was just TGIF vibes, but another thrilling sight was this pair of mature-looking bald eagles high over the far riverbank. If I had to guess, the one on the right looks a little smaller and so is probably the male. The larger one, on the left, is probably the female, and she appears to have some dark streaks still in her white feathers, but I don’t know if that’s an indication of young age or just a slight variation on the theme.

The biggest surprise of the day, at least according to the ebird website, which considers it “rare” here for this time of year, is this hermit thrush foraging in the freshly exposed leaf litter with the robins. If I were a bettin’ man, I’d bet this is the same bird I saw nearby in January.

The biggest surprise for me, on the other hand, was finally seeing a great horned owl again. My last sighting was all the way back at the beginning of December! Welcome back, you magnificent creature!

Back at the south end, I finally found someone willing to pose for the camera in full, warm sun with that nice blue sky behind it, and in case that red cap it is wearing trips you up, that’s a male red-bellied woodpecker. Thanks, Sweetie!

Finally, back on the river and almost in the shadow of the Capitol Ave bridge, the one common goldeneye I saw today was this handsome drake, and you can even see some of the green sheen his head feathers have.

The gradual warming trend is supposed to continue into tomorrow, so I can’t wait to see who else it brings out.