Signs of Life in Estabrook Park

A classic start to this holiday weekend…

Our recent cool snap in Estabrook Park continued this morning with temps right around 50° under a thick cloud cover, but at least the winds are starting to ease up.

My first treat of the morning came at the falls, where it appears a pair of northern rough-winged swallows may be nesting. I’ve seen them there for the past couple of days, and this morning one was perched on the railing and let me have a real nice look.

Farther upstream, an osprey was back and on a smaller perch than I would have guessed they were capable of.

Back at the boardwalk just below the falls, the white eyering on this warbler caught me off guard, but all my experts assure me that it is simply a northern yellow warbler.

This Canada warbler looks just as I expected and was in the same bush.

With the low light I had this morning, that’s all I was able to pull off, so let’s take a look at some pictures from earlier this week. On Thursday, when osprey, goslings, and killdeer took center stage, I also saw my first solitary sandpiper of the year, and here it is tossing back the tiniest of bugs it just caught.

On Friday, when the herons and more goslings had my attention, I also saw my first yellow-bellied flycatcher of the year.

Finally, I’ve been seeing this kingbird, yet another first of the year, beside the southern soccer fields all week, and here it is on Thursday putting some of the garlic mustard growing there to good use.

Despite the clouds letting some sun leak through this afternoon, I see they are forecast to thicken up again by sunrise tomorrow, and they might even drop some precipitation. On the other hand, the air is supposed to be almost still, so conditions will probably be a mixed bag once again, and there’s no telling what I might see, but I’ll be sure to keep you in the loop.

Glad to see it cranked to 11 again!

Once again, it was cool and dark in Estabrook Park this morning, but it didn’t feel as bad as the forecast led me to expect, and perhaps the weather even helped me see some of the wildlife I saw. The warblers continue to be thick as thieves, especially along the river, but there were plenty of other pretty sights, as well.

For example, here’s another rose-breasted grosbeak for the year, letting me sneak a slightly better picture than back in April. “Atta boy!”

I haven’t seen a great blue heron since I’ve been back in the park, so I was very glad to finally encounter one today.

As if one heron weren’t enough, this grumpy looking green heron came along just in time to help me out after I flubbed getting a picture of the first one I saw. “Thanks, Sweetie, and you’ve got a little spiderweb schmutz on your face.”

Somehow word must have gotten out that I was worried about a poor crop of goslings this year, because I came across three separate families on the stretch of river between the islands and the Port Washington Road bridge. One had five goslings, a second at eight, and this one went all the way to eleven! Outstanding!

After my goose encounter, I got a hot tip that a red-headed woodpecker, whom we don’t get to see very often, was recently spotted in the vicinity of the beer garden, so I hustled back down there, and sure enough, here it is. Man, oh man, do I hope a pair will take up residence in the park someday, but in the meantime, I’ll take what I can get and like it!

Finally, as I neared the south end, I heard the amazing song of a wood thrush again, which I had heard when I first arrived, and I thought I’d take another stab at getting eyes on it. Well, the little stinker was keeping itself well hidden, but as I scanned the trees overhead for thrush-sized birds, look who I found instead. Yup, you guessed it, our first scarlet tanager of the year. Hot diggity dog!

Lastly, since I have a little room left, here’s the latest look, from yesterday, of that buck we’ve seen starting to grow his antlers. I’d say they’ve more than doubled in size, wouldn’t you?

Despite the sun peeking through now, the forecast calls for cloudy skies again tomorrow morning, but the air should be a little warmer, and the breeze should be a little lighter, so at least I’ll be a little more comfortable as I try taking pictures in the dark. Ha!

Not the show I expected today…

Despite the chill and the breeze, or perhaps because of it, the wildlife viewing in Estabrook Park this morning was amazing. The clear skies we had for a couple of hours were an added bonus.

Things got off to a stupendous start when I spotted this beauty just as I looked down the trail toward the river at the far south end. It appeared to be in a bit of a hurry to get out of sight, so I’m extra thankful that it glanced back for a second to let me have a nice look. I haven’t seen a coyote since there was snow on the ground.

With the breeze out of the northeast, most of the little birdies were in the trees and bushes beside the river and below the bluff, but the sun took its sweet time climbing high enough to reach down to the river path. Thus, the next sight that was big and slow enough for me to capture on film was this pair of goslings grazing beside the river under the watchful eyes of Mom and Dad. I suspect that the rainy April we’ve had has really goofed things up for the geese, because we’d have goslings coming out of the woodwork by now in a normal year, so I’m thrilled to see even these two.

Just after I passed the falls, I caught sight through the trees of a large bird flying downstream over the river, so I hustled back to an opening, and this was my reward, our first osprey of the year. Awesome!

Even better, by the time I reached the islands, two more osprey had arrived, and they put on quite an airshow. One seemed to stay perched and just cried, while the other two circled and fished, but chicks aren’t even supposed to have hatched yet, so it sure wasn’t a fledgling pleading for its parents to feed it. Thus, what the three were doing together there today remains a mystery.

I had barely managed to capture a picture of an osprey in flight, when four killdeer arrived and started to circle the upstream island. They eventually landed, and I have a picture of three of them standing around together, but this one came out the best.

There was plenty more on the river to show you, but I don’t want this to get too long, so let’s move inland just a smidge to check out this acrobatic cedar waxwing pecking at something on that branch right over the boardwalk below the beer garden,

Finally, I found my first nesting blue jay a little farther downstream. As I’ve mentioned before, given their reputation at backyard bird feeders, they are remarkably shy in Estabrook Park, so it is no wonder that it has taken me six years to stumble upon this sight. “Good luck sweetie!”

It appears that we’re in for another morning of this cool and breezy weather, and without the sun next time, but if the wildlife responds again as they did this morning, I’ll allow it!

Ahhhh. That’s what I like to see…

The breeze was lighter and the clouds thinner in Estabrook Park this morning than the forecast had led me to fear, so nice images were a lot easier to find than yesterday.

Warblers get most of the press, for a variety of reasons, but they are far from the only pretty birds in the migration wave washing over us now, and here’s the first indigo bunting I’ve photographed this season. They seem to prefer being by the river, and I found this one at the edge of the clearing beside the islands, which has been a reliable place to find them.

I saw and even photographed a Blackburnian warbler yesterday, but I sure am glad now that I held off on using that dim and grainy picture so that I can show you this one today without repeating myself.

I’ve seen cottontails, gray squirrels, and red squirrels since I’ve gotten back, and this red squirrel munching on tree buds has made the nicest picture so far.

I glimpsed a couple magnolia warblers yesterday, but didn’t even get them on film, so it was great to capture this adult female today.

I spotted a Lincoln’s sparrow last month, but this shy little cutie at the crest of the bluff is the first one I’ve been able to show you this year.

Here’s one of the warblers that doesn’t have “warbler” in its name, a northern parula. Both “John James Audubon and Alexander Wilson called it a “blue yellow-backed warbler,”” but “Carl Linnaeus originally classified the bird as a type of titmouse (genus Parus),” so the American Ornithologists’ Union supposedly went with “parula” “to honor its history and distinctive appearance,” even after that misclassification was corrected.

Finally, the chimney swifts are also back, and here’s one of a couple dozen hunting insects over the Milwaukee River

The forecast for tomorrow calls for even cooler air and a bit more of a breeze but even more sun than today’s forecast did, so who knows, it might still be a nice morning.

What a difference a couple weeks can make…

The influx of migrating warblers, which was merely a trickle in Estabrook Park by the end of April, is now a flood. The bushes and trees were just crawling with them in spots, and I counted 18 species. I sure hope I get a nice sunny day to take pictures of them before they move on, but today was not that day. The breeze was stiff and the clouds were thick, but at least the rain never materialized.

Sunrise is nice and early now, so even with the cloud cover I was able to get into the park just after 5:30am, and the action was already well underway. I could hear warblers singing even before I crossed the Oak Leaf Trail. The only trick was laying eyes on them, and the breeze helped a bit by pushing the available bugs closer to the ground.

Here’s a gorgeous male bay-breasted warbler searching for insects to gobble up, right at eye level.

And here’s a male chestnut sided multitasking right beside the paved path along the crest of the bluff. Even though he was flitting about as much as any other warbler I saw this morning, that barely added some pauses to his song.

I hear that the pond was quite active during the wildlife walk yesterday, but it was a chance to take a breather this morning and see some bigger and slower birds. The pair of geese are still there, along with a pair of mallards and at least one green heron, but the big surprise was finding this lone female blue-winged teal. I don’t know how long she’s been there, but she has certainly gotten the hang of life on the pond. As I picked up some left-over fishing tackle on the west lawn, she came right over with the pair of mallards and started to preen. I have not seen that level of comfort with people from a teal before.

Other warblers along the bluff this morning include yellows, black-throated greens, magnolias, Blackburnians, redstarts, and common yellowthroats, to name a few, but the best looks I managed to get today were of this blackpoll, …

and this, ever reliable, palm warbler.

Since I have room for one more picture, here’s a stunning Black-collared Barbet (Lybius torquatus) from the Korsman Bird Sanctuary, who was no more interested in sitting for a picture than the Crested Barbet had been the morning before. Maybe that’s why they’re called “bar bets”. Almost no one ever sees one, so it’s likely that someone at a bar would take the bet that you haven’t seen one either because such an unusual looking bird can’t possibly be real. It’d be like stealing free drinks from a baby.

I see that the wind should die down a bit by tomorrow, but the clouds are scheduled to stick around, so it won’t be the morning I’m dreaming about, but maybe it will be just good enough. Time will tell.

Back home again…

Anne, Deb, and I all made it home safely today, I am happy to say, but I haven’t made it back to Estabrook Park just yet. Instead, here are a few more pictures of the amazing wildlife we got to see in Namibia.

Along with the Violet-eared Waxbill that I already showed you, there was also a more-numerous Black-faced Waxbill (Brunhilda erythronotos) feasting on seeds of the tall grasses that grow on the grounds of the Trans Kalahari Inn.

In addition to the Yellow Mongoose at Etosha National Park that I already showed you, we saw a whole family of these Banded Mongooses (Mungos mungo), and here’s a curious youngster checking me out while Mom was all business.

Besides the Kori Bustard that I already showed you at Pilanesberg National Park, we saw quite a few of these White-quilled Bustard (Afrotis afraoides) there and at Etosha.

Finally, on top of the impalas that we saw in both parks, here’s a much larger gemsbok (Oryx gazella), or South African oryx that was all by its lonesome in Etosha.

I see that it is forecast to be a little breezy tomorrow morning, but there’s not much chance of rain, so there is a good possibility that I’ll get into Estabrook at some point, and if I see anything, I’ll let you know.

South Africa says “Sala kahle!”

I had a few nice pictures from Namibia all lined up for today, but our outing to the fabulous Korsman Bird Sanctuary this morning went so well, I’ll save those others for another day. I don’t have a lot of time left to use the hotel wifi, so here are just a couple to whet your appetite.

As you might hope for a “bird sanctuary” in the middle of suburban housing, the space is well fenced off, to keep people and their pets out. That also means there is quite a bit of tall grasses and reads, which appears to be perfect habitat for the Levaillant’s Cisticola (Cisticola tinniens), of which there were plenty. At first, they were a little shy, but as the morning warmed up or they got used to our faces pressed against the fence, they started to come out and go about their day, and here’s one of the little cuties between verses of his song.

There are plenty of other pictures that I will eventually show you, but one of the prettiest has got to be this African Swamphen (Porphyrio madagascariensis). I’ve never seen one before, so it was especially kind to give me a perfect look in warm morning sunlight. Aren’t those colors just stupendous?!?!

Okay, now I’ve gotta jump in the shower, get my stuff packed up, and hustle down to the airport shuttle before Anne and Deb leave me behind.

Back in Joburg again…

We did indeed make it back to Johannesburg late yesterday afternoon, and we did get out to look around this morning, but before I start showing you those sights, let me continue chipping away at the backlog I left when I started showing you sights from Namibia.

This first handsome creature is a Blacksmith Lapwing (Vanellus armatus) that we saw at the fabulous Pilanesberg National Park. Although you may be tempted to assume that “blacksmith” is a reference to its white, black, and grey color scheme, as I was, I read that it is instead a reference to the “loud ringing “tink-tink-tink” call is uttered in series, like a blacksmith hammering on an anvil.”

I’ve been able to show you this next bird, a Helmeted Guineafowl (Numida meleagris), once before, from the Tongole Lodge in the Nkotakhota Wildlife Reserve in Malawi, but the ones here seem a little more use to people ogling their amazing appearance.

Back at the Holiday Inn, we did see one of these this morning, a Fiscal Flycatcher (Sigelus silens), but this particular one from our previous visit let me take a much nicer portrait.

Similarly, we saw a couple of these Hadada Ibises (Bostrychia hagedash) this morning, but this one, digging worms out of the lawn in front of the O. R. Tambo International Airport terminal, let me have a better look.

Finally, the most amazing new sight this morning had to be this Crested Barbet (Trachyphonus vaillantii). It’s my first barbet ever, and now that we’re acquainted, I hope it won’t be my last.

We start our flight home tomorrow, but it doesn’t leave until later in the day, so we’ve made plans to visit a nearby bird sanctuary early in the morning. Wish us luck!

But wait, there’s more…

When I wrote you last evening, I figured I’d get one more chance to stroll around the grounds of the Trans Kalahari Inn, before we headed off for the airport, but I also figured I’d seen most of what there was to see. It would appear that I was mistaken on the latter.

Almost as soon as Deb and I set out this morning we spotted this beauty perched high on an agave stalk. I figured it was yet another lilac-breasted roller, but upon closer inspection, it turns out to be my very first purple roller (Coracias naevius). Sweet!

I had actually seen this next little cutie the first time we stayed at the inn, but the picture wasn’t great, so it sure was a treat to get a second chance at a black-chested prinia (Prinia flavicans) portrait.

This was the first bird we saw when we drove into the place last time, a groundscraper thrush (Turdus litsitsirupa), so it was nice for it to reappear in time for our final departure.

After the way I gushed about the male Marico sunbird I showed you yesterday, is it any wonder that a female would show up today seeking equal time? She doesn’t have the high gloss that he does, for sure, but she’s still quite a pretty bird, don’t you think?

Finally, and now that the precedent of “equal time” has been established, here’s a male pririt batis. As with the belted kingfishers in Estabrook Park, it is the female of the species that wears the extra color on her breast.

Anne’s got some adventures lined up for us here in Johanesburg tomorrow, but I have a hope of strolling around the hotel grounds again before the festivities begin. If we find anything, I’ll be sure to let you know.

A fine Namibian sendoff…

We drove back to the Trans Kalahari Inn today from Omaruru, but before we got on the road this morning, Deb and I spent a couple of hours walking the dry Omaruru River bed, and we didn’t see much. Compared to the rest of this trip, it was a bit surprising, but I guess every outing can’t be a homerun.

Anyway, we’ve suspected that we’ve been catching glimpses of this bird for nearly the whole trip. It’s a red-billed spurfowl, and they are fast runners, despite their plump appearance. Yesterday near the Amieb Guesthouse, this individual relented and let us get a good look at it. Yup, it really is a red-billed spurfowl (Pternistis adspersus), and they don’t have a very big geographic distribution, but at least they seemed plentiful in the northwest corner of Namibia that we’ve seen.

Another fun sight at the Amieb Guesthouse was this black-faced impala (Aepyceros melampus ssp. petersi) and her calf. Deb picked up a fun pictorial bingo card of wildlife from the gift shop at Etosha National Park, and it took us until yesterday to check these off, but better late than never, right?

On the drive today, I started seeing large raptors standing atop the utility poles beside the road, and after the second one went by, I gave my passengers notice that I was going to stop for the third one, which I figured we would never see because I had just jinxed it. We must have stepped in something on our walk this morning because we hadn’t gone another 10 or 15 minutes before this beauty came into view and I hit the brakes. Happily, that didn’t spook the bird and I was able to get my first picture of a pale chanting-goshawk (Melierax canorus). Woo hoo!

After a short stop to check out downtown Windhoek, which felt like any small city, we arrived at the Trans Kalahari Inn in plenty of time for me to walk around and see if there might be anyone new since our last visit. We did catch a glimpse of this beauty, a violet-eared waxbill (Granatina granatina) last time, but I couldn’t get a picture good enough that I wouldn’t be embarrassed to show you, so thank goodness I had a second chance.

Finally, I may have caught a glimpse of this masterpiece last time, but it was just a black silhouette against the morning sky, so I can’t be sure. Anyway, I did get a good look this time, and this one turns out to be a Marico Sunbird (Cinnyris mariquensis). What a way to wrap up our visit to Namibia, eh?

Tomorrow, we drive back to the nearby airport, drop off the rental car, see how much we owe for the windshield and tire, and fly back to Joburg. Keep your fingers crossed.