It was a pretty soggy morning in Estabrook Park, wetter than the forecast led me to expect, but it wasn’t too cold, the breeze was pretty light, and there were even times when no precipitation was falling, so it was a lot better than Thursday.
The river is up at least a foot since yesterday, and there were a few interesting birds on it. We’ve seen red-breasted mergansers in the park before, but I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen a pair together there, so here might be our first one.
The bigger surprise for me, however, was finding a pair of buffleheads at this late date. Sadly, they didn’t bunch up as nicely as the mergansers, so here’s the drake on his own, and the hen is just out of frame.
We’ve already seen blue-winged teals this year, but these are our first for the month. They did bunch up better than the buffleheads, but my long lens has a very short depth of field, especially when wide open on a dark morning like we had today, so I had to pick one or the other to be in focus, and the drake won out again.
Finally, today’s new bird for the year is this female rusty blackbird. Woo hoo! She was foraging in the lawn near the beer garden with a couple of males, but they’re jet black, so even harder to photograph in the dim light. Maybe they’ll stick around until the sun comes out so we can really see how pretty they be in the right light.
Tomorrow morning is supposed to be colder, windier, drier, but just as cloudy, so who knows what we’ll get to see. I’ll keep you posted.
I did make it to Estabrook Park this morning for a little while, but then I had an opportunity, which I couldn’t pass up, to help family move, and then I went to UWM to help my students get their human powered vehicle back together so they can log some practice miles on it before they take it to competition in Texas on Thursday.
Thus, today got away from me, but I don’t want it to go completely by without you hearing a peep out of me, so there you are. This picture is from last April, but it is the yellow-rumped warbler I’ve been trying to capture on film this year for you, and they do make little peeps to keep in touch with their nearby comrades.
My schedule tomorrow has a lot less on it, so here’s hoping I can get you some fresh content, despite the damp forecast.
Thus, I have no choice but to revert to my side pocket, where I have a few pictures from my Tuesday afternoon ride home from that North Shore School for Seniors presentation I gave. Over the past week or so, a couple of kind readers have mentioned to me seeing interesting birds outside of the park, and since I was already on my bike and had my camera with me, I thought I’d take a stab at seeing them for myself.
This first sight is a pair of Cooper’s hawks that appear to have tried nesting once already this spring, but it didn’t work out. They are still hanging around together, however, so there is a hope that they will try again. Here’s one drying out after the rain, …
and here’s the other. I did a poor job of noting their relative size, so I can’t tell you which is the male and which is the female, but I’m sure they know. Let’s all hope they give it another try and have better luck the second time around. After all, “raptors play a critical role in maintaining ecosystem health.”
This next sight is even more exciting for me. I do get to see Cooper’s hawks semiregularly in Estabrook, but the great horned owl(s) I used to see all the time and who even raised an owlet, appear to have moved on, and perhaps this is the female trying to raise one or two more. “We’re all pulling for you, Honey!”
I’d sure hate to be sitting on a nest in this weather, but I’m not built for that, and they are. Nevertheless, I’m sure we all wouldn’t mind if the weather warmed up and dried out a bit to make their jobs a little easier. I see the forecast already calls for just that, and I’m not gonna jinx it again by asking you to try nudging it along.
Yikes! This month sure started out with a cold snap. It wasn’t raining, and the actual air temperature was only down to freezing, but the clouds were thick and the whipping wind out of the north pushed the wind chill down to 20°F. Brrrr! Good thing I hadn’t yet thrown away all my winter clothes!
I didn’t see many mammals, but the birds were mostly going about their business, and I thought this female cardinal at the pond looked appropriate for what we can only hope is winter’s last gasp.
The fox sparrows are still pretty numerous throughout the park, and here’s one pausing to decide where to forage next.
One of the sights I’ve been waiting for is this swamp sparrow, our first of the year. I’ve been hearing little peeps out of them for a couple of days, but they evaded my camera until this morning. “Welcome back, Cutie!”
Once again, I did see a couple of yellow-bellied sapsuckers today, but I still can’t beat the pictures I was able to get on Monday, so here’s one more. In this one, you can see the neat little holes they make in the bark to be able to sip the sap.
Finally, I did see a couple of yellow-rumped warblers by the pond, but they gave me the slip again, and the palm warbler has not yet resurfaced, so here’s one more look at the palm warbler from Sunday.
The rain that was forecast for this morning in Estabrook Park held off until after lunch, so I had a far nicer visit today than I had anticipated.
Better yet, the pied-billed grebe, who hasn’t let me take its picture since last Thursday, allowed me to take this portrait.
Not only did the rain hold off, but the sky even cleared up long enough to let the sun light up this grackle by the river.
The blue skies didn’t last long, however, and by the time I got to the islands above the falls, this poor great blue heron had nothing but grey clouds for a background.
I can’t quite tell if the merganser on the left at the pond is the same one we saw on the river yesterday, but it does have the same yellow eye, black beak, and not-quite-yet male breeding plumage, so it might be. Either way, its companion appears to be also a male but one that is even further behind in its metamorphosis. “Time to get with the program, guys!”
Meanwhile, this wood duck drake completely understood the assignment and is now being paraded around by a hen who looks quite pleased with his efforts.
Finally, I did see a couple of yellow-bellied sapsuckers again today, but none put on a show anywhere close to this one yesterday. You can even see some of his namesake “yellow belly”.
Tomorrow is forecast to be cold and windy, but at least it should be dry again, so if there is a new arrival, I’ll have a hope of getting its picture. Keep your fingers crossed.
It was a gorgeous morning in Estabrook Park, and on my way upstream along the river to the beer garden parking lot, I finally saw my first great blue heron of the year that was not merely flying over. “Welcome back, Beautiful!”
I’m not sure which was the bigger draw, the weather or the promise of warblers, but we had a great turnout for our wildlife walk. Once we had the team assembled, we went first to check the water around the islands in the river, and it was teaming with waterfowl today. Here are five of the six blue-winged teals, and that’s the wing of a Canada goose over their heads in the background.
Back up on the bluff, a pair of yellow-bellied sap suckers, my firsts for the year, put on quite a show for us.
I’m sorry to say, however, that we could not find a single warbler. As a small consolation, let me give you a another look at the palm warbler from yesterday.
Finally, it turns out that wildlife walkers are not the only ones brought out by the warm weather today, and here’s the first butterfly I’ve seen in the park this year, a mourning cloak.
I hear that we’re in for some rain, but it looks like I might be able to sneak into Estabrook for a bit before it arrives, so wish me luck!
It was a bit warmer, a bit breezier, and a lot cloudier in Estabrook Park this morning. The big news, however, is that the geese in the tree are multiplying, and today it held three (3)! You can see the head and part of the back of the third one under the one on the left. Even odder, they were mostly just holding still, as though they were as surprised to find themselves there as I was to see them. What on earth they are doing up there is anybody’s guess.
The next big news is our monthly hermit thrush sighting, and hardly a day too soon, if we’re going to keep that record going.
I was happy to get another crack at a winter wren, but I didn’t do much better than last time, I’m afraid. One of these days…
Not to be outdone, the common merganser hen was there, too.
Things were quiet at the pond, with just the pair of geese and a mallard drake. I saw wood ducks flying over the river earlier, but there were none on the pond this morning. Instead, the fun sight was this white-throated sparrow, of whom we haven’t seen much in a while, except for that one who tricked us into thinking we had seen a savannah sparrow last Monday.
I saw my first warbler of the year today, a couple of yellow-rumped warblers by the river, and try as I might, neither one would let me get them on film. After the pond, I even hiked all the way back south along the river in hopes of having a third chance, and I did see quite a few golden-crowned kinglets, but I had no luck with the butter-butts.
When I finally emerged from the woods beside the southern soccer fields, I could feel that the morning had warmed up a bit, and I saw my first small cloud of lake flies, which is perfect timing for the freshly-arrived warblers. Yay!
That encouraged me to give it one more try and patrol the line of bushes, mostly buckthorn, unfortunately, along the crest of the bluff, in case one had come up there in search of bugs. As I approached the little patch of lawn between the path and the bluff at the north end of those soccer fields, I saw a bird or two hopping around on the grass, and I figured they were song sparrows, which are plentiful lately, but I gave them a look with my binoculars anyway, just in case there was a white-crowned sparrow foraging with them.
Well, I didn’t see a white-crowned sparrow, but lo and behold who I did see instead: our first palm warbler of the season! Hallelujah! Not only are they the best posers of all the warblers, in my opinion, but they are still considered rare in Milwaukee County at this early date, and this is the first one anyone has reported seeing this year. “Hello, Gorgeous!”
What is unusual, and a sight I rarely see, is a Canada goose up in a tree. Maybe it was just taking a break from the fray below as nesting sites are still being sorted out on the upstream island. I didn’t see any of the fancy winter waterfowl we’ve been enjoying on the river lately, but I see that a red-breasted merganser was spotted there today after I had moved on.
At the pond, there were three pairs of wood ducks, and they were making excursions up onto land for the first time I’ve seen this year. Here’s a drake, …
and here’s one of two hens that were nearby.
Another bird on the lawn for the first time I’ve seen this year was this male northern flicker. He was furiously digging into the frozen ground for ants, but I don’t know if he found any, nor if frozen ants taste as good as fresh.
Meanwhile, the red-winged blackbird males are still jockeying for nesting sites, in hopes that the ladies will be impressed when they arrive. The date they arrived last year is just one week away, so it’s time for the guys to start their full court presses.
Back on the lawn, the American robins have been busy, and I see as many as two dozen at one time on the big fields these days. This one appeared to be on break and might have been just enjoying the warmth of the sun for a moment.
Another bird that appeared to be soaking up some of that same sun was this European starling. Sure, they are an aggressive invasive species, but I’ll give you one guess as to who is to blame for them being here, and it’s not them.
Finally, I was pleasantly surprised to find that some violets are already in bloom.
It was a surprisingly nice morning in Estabrook Park, considering that the weather forecast just last evening had pretty confidently called for rain. Sure, it was cool, with the air temperature just below freezing, and the cloud cover was pretty thick, but the wind was light, and not a raindrop fell, so I call that a win!
My second big surprise was seeing the beaver again so soon, and this time it was heading upstream along the near shore, but I sure could have used a little more light.
Anyway, at the islands above the falls, we still have a couple of stragglers who have not yet flown north, and here’s a common merganser hen. I’d like to think she’s taking a good look around and thinking to herself, “I’m gonna miss this place when I go.”
One of the two horned grebes is also still with us, but it was keeping an eye on me and did not appear to be enjoying a similar contemplative moment. “Sorry, Sweetie!”
The surprise of the morning, at least at the islands, was this belted kingfisher putting in another, but still infrequent, visit. I sure hope he can find a she soon and settle down for the summer.
And, in case you are unimpressed with my attempt above to blend nature and urban art, here’s another phoebe posing in front of a perfectly natural background of last year’s dried grasses and forbs.
Finally, the wood ducks on the pond have also been an on-again-off-again sighting recently, and here’s a pair flipping that switch back on again this morning. I have not yet seen any indication that they have even noticed the newly reinstalled nesting boxes on the island, let alone have an opinion about their desirability, sorry Gene, but there’s still plenty of time for that.
Lastly, thanks for all the congratulatory messages in response to yesterday’s 6th anniversary announcement. There’s a distinct possibility that I’d be spending as much time in the park even without your positive feedback, simply because I enjoy it so much, but your “atta boys” sure do sweeten the deal!
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?
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 