Signs of Life in Estabrook Park
A look at the wildlife living in, on, and beside the Milwaukee River in Shorewood, WI
Things are not quite going according to plan here in Connecticut. I had an errand to run first thing this morning, and by the time I got down to the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail, where I’ve had some great luck in the past, I couldn’t find a decent picture to take. Oh well. Let’s hope for better luck tomorrow, and enjoy one last look at the black swallowtail on the Mexican sunflower at the pollinator garden in Estabrook Park.
I couldn’t make it into Estabrook Park this morning because we’re off to Connecticut to see my folks, and I doubt very much that I’ll have a chance to get any pictures there today, so here are a few leftovers from the amazing August we’ve been having so far.
If not top of the list, then surely on the podium at least, has got to be the river otter who came to eat our crayfish back on August 8th. As I mentioned that day, I got to watch it catch and eat crayfish for a full ten minutes, and in that time, I did manage to capture one more image in which you can tell the subject is a river otter. Plus, look how white its teeth are.
I wish I also had a leftover cormorant image from the 7th, but I used them all up that same day. Instead, here’s another look at the cute little house wren by the beer garden I saw afterwards.
Here’s an interesting glimpse at the ruby-throated hummingbird on the 11th as it turned to check for threats just before taking off to go sip some more nectar from the cup plants.
Of the two magnificent garden spiders we saw on Thursday, I could only find the one in the meadow at the north end yesterday, and it somehow avoided collecting any dew this time.
As I was searching for butterflies at the pollinator garden yesterday, something shot up and perched in a tree above. I hoped it might be a butterfly, but it took me a while to find it, and when I eventually did, here’s what I got for my efforts. In case you don’t recognize it, that’s one of the hundreds of northern dog-day cicadas that have been filling the air with their melodic call all month.
Finally, the spectacular black swallowtail yesterday was very particular about which flowers it would visit, and besides the purple cone flower in yesterday’s picture, the only other one it liked was this bright orange Mexican sunflower, aka tithonia, which I read is of the “torch” variety. Either way, it sure makes for a nice picture, eh?
With any luck, I’ll have some new, east coast content for you on Sunday. Wish me luck!
It was a nice morning in Estabrook Park, and things are starting to look a little closer to normal at the river. The sand bags placed to allow work on our side of the falls are just starting to poke through the water, and it is now possible to walk along the river trail from the falls to the north end while only getting muddy but not wet, and the mud isn’t deep, just slippery.
As I was carefully making my way north along that river path, I finally captured this image, such as it is, of a northern waterthrush on its way back south.
At the north end, at least one belted kingfisher is back to catching fish out of the river.
At the flowers behind the dog park, I finally got a picture of a red admiral. In previous years, they have been one of the most plentiful butterflies in the park, but they have been oddly scarce this year.
There were the usual three or four red-spotted purples and four or five hackberry emperors, but here’s one of several silver-spotted skippers that I’ve been ignoring.
At the pollinator garden, I was happy to see that at least one pearl crescent has arrived.
The main attraction, however, has got to be this male black swallowtail, quite possibly the same one that we saw on Wednesday.
With all the competition lately, the monarchs have had to up their game, and this one did just that.
Finally, at the weeds beside the southern soccer fields, this critter gave me a bit of cognitive dissonance as it clearly looked like a moth, but it also scampered around the blossoms in broad daylight like a butterfly.
It would even pause on a blossom, as though it were feeding, but I could never spot a proboscis, so I don’t know how it was getting any nectar. Anyway, it turns out to be our very first corn earworm moth (Helicoverpa zea), and I read that “the larvae … [are] a major agricultural pest. Since it feeds on many different plants [it] has been given many different common names, including the cotton bollworm and the tomato fruitworm.”
Lastly, the goldfinch are starting to pick apart the pods of thistle seeds.
It was nearly a picture-perfect day in Estabrook, and the clear skies let me get into the park nice and early. I don’t know if we were there before the guy who runs his German shepherd loose over the soccer fields every morning, or if the deer have just learned to wait until he and his dog are gone, and I just got lucky with my timing, but I sure did enjoy the rare treat of watching them mosey across the fields and stop at this fruit tree on the other side of the parkway to grab some sweets. The bucks antlers are asymmetrical, and I wonder if he’s the same one we’ve seen before.
Just a bit farther norther, where the bluff squeezes the paved path up against the parkway, look who I found on the osprey’s lamp post, the first kestrel we’ve seen in a while.
At the pond, I found eight wood ducks, only one hooded merganser, and no belted kingfishers or green herons. Thank goodness this young great blue heron gave me a picture to take.
At the river, it appears that the water has finally receded another foot, after seeming to hold steady since Monday, and more of the river path was accessible for a change. I don’t know if that is why this pair of kingfishers were back at the upstream island, or if they just needed a break from all the commotion on the pond, but here they are.
In the wild flower meadow, the big new arrival is this stunning yellow garden spider with its trademarked zig-zag stabilimenta. It appears bejeweled because it is still soaked with dew. What a sight, eh? If it looks less than impressive in your email client or on my website, you know what to do.
At the stand of cup plants and joe-pye weed behind the dog park, the red-spotted purples keep getting thicker, and I believe I could count six today. Here’s one posing perfectly, …
and here are a couple more paying more attention to each other than to me. You can even see part of a fourth one in the bottom of the image and behind the focal plane.
Meanwhile, hackberry emperors were doing nearly the same thing at the pollinator garden. They’re a little smaller and flit a little faster, so I had a harder time counting them, but I’m sure there were at least six, …
and some of them also paired up. I find it wild that I didn’t see my first one until the summer of 2023, I didn’t see one at all in 2024 and had to make do with a tawny emperor, but this summer they are thick as thieves. The red-spotted purples haven’t been quite as scarce in the past, but their increase in numbers this summer is equally remarkable.
The odd coincidences just kept coming because I found only my second yellow garden spider of the year in the weeds beside the soccer fields, and it has had enough morning sun by then to be all dried out, but this image will also improve with magnification.
Finally, if the spiders creep you out, here’s a nice tiger swallowtail to cleanse your palette. The color scheme is similar, but somehow arranged in a less-scary pattern. Anyway, this one doesn’t have the fancy row of blue blotches along the trailing edge of its hind wings, so it’s a male, and the one we saw on Monday was a female.
We had a nice turnout for the Friends of Estabrook Park picnic yesterday afternoon, and our reward, besides the free beer, good music, and great company, was this amazing rainbow after a light shower rolled through.
The weather was back to being beautiful by this morning with mild temps, nearly still air, and clear blue skies. This great blue heron surprised me and a couple of other onlookers when it landed in a tree right over the beer garden. Sadly, it was about 12 hours too late for the free beer, but honestly, it probably wasn’t there for the beer.
Meanwhile, this green heron was intently fishing on the pond.
Oddly enough, this wood duck hen was the only bird who I saw have some good luck with fishing this morning. I’ve seen them catch and eat tadpoles, but I did not know that they will do the same with crayfish.
Here it is again providing us with another look at its catch.
The most interesting sight in the meadow at the north end was this gone-by Queen Anne’s lace blossom hosting both a sleeping golden northern bumble bee, on the right and which we have seen before, and a twice-stabbed stink bug (Cosmopepla lintneriana), on the left and which I didn’t even know existed until today.
In the flowers at the southwest corner of the dog park, the red-spotted purples have gotten so thick (I counted at least three) that they’ve resorted to sharing blossoms.
The monarchs were also thick, but they somehow managed to keep just one to a blossom.
Finally, the star of the show, for me at least, was this pristine-looking black swallowtail in the pollinator garden. It stayed stationary the whole time I was there, which made me think it might be letting its wings dry in the sun after just emerging from its chrysalis. “Welcome to Estabrook, Gorgeous!”
Well, the river is still crazy high, and it’s raining again this morning, so even though I did wander around in Estabrook for a while between showers, we’re gonna hafta go to the archives for some images this morning. Luckily, the pond and pollinator gardens were pretty fruitful yesterday, so we don’t have to go back too far.
When the hooded mergansers were not busy fishing crayfish off the bottom of the pond, they spent some time drying off and preening, and here’s one sharing a log with a pair of wood ducks.
The great blue heron struck a couple of nice poses, and here’s another one.
As I mentioned, the sun poked through the clouds once in a while, and here’s a belted kingfisher caught in a sunbeam for a moment.
And here’s another look at that display I kept seeing them perform. I read that “both members of the pair will vigorously defend their territory by chasing away approaching trespassers while calling out loudly,” and “along with this they may spread their wings, raise the patches of white feathers next to their eyes, and scream,” so that could explain what the three were up to yesterday, but I wonder which one was the trespasser.
Here’s one more look at the female ruby-throated hummingbird at the cup plant blossoms behind the dog park. I don’t know why the WordPress rendering of some pictures looks so much worse than others, but this is one of those cases, and you know what to do.
I did see a couple of pearl crescent butterflies in the meadow at the north end again yesterday, but I was glad to find one finally in the pollinator garden as well.
Here’s another look at the hackberry emperor, but of the top/in/dorsal side of its wings this time.
Finally, there were red-spotted purples at both stands of cup plant, and this is one from the pollinator garden.
I’d love to tell you that the weather is going to be beautiful for the Friends of Estabrook Park picnic in the beer garden this afternoon, but I don’t want you to think of me as a fibber. Instead, let me just say that temps are predicted to be only in the high 70s, the chance of showers is under 50%, and they do have a lot of covered tables, so that’s pretty good, given the recent past. Plus, the most recent invite I received explicitly states “Feel free to bring new friends! We are usually seated in the southeast corner,” so I hope to see you there.
Compared to the heat waves and torrential downpours we’ve had already this summer, the weather was pretty nice in Estabrook Park this morning. The partly cloudy skies even let the sun through once in a while, which lit up this young great blue heron fishing on the pond very nicely.
The two hooded mergansers were on the pond again, and one caught a nice big crayfish while I was there, …
and gulped it down in short order.
I couldn’t find the green heron, but after Jenny, Kathy, and Lisa joined me for this week’s wildlife walk, they quickly found it for me. Thanks!
The main event at the pond, however, was the appearance of a third belted kingfisher and the response it elicited from the other two. There was a lot of shouting and flitting around, …
but my favorite was when one perched and spread its wings while shouting at another, which happened several times. It was quite the display!
The river was down about three or four feet, and the boardwalk, which had been under water yesterday morning, was now drying out, but the water was still rushing by just below it, and we didn’t see a bird on or in it, even when John and Dave joined us in the 8 a.m. wave.
After eventually calling it a morning, I headed home, and on my way, I stopped at the stand of flowers at the southwest corner of the dog park, and I was happy to find the eastern tiger swallowtail still there. This time it even let us have a look at the upper/inner/dorsal side of its wings.
There were also a couple red-spotted purples and a monarch, but the big surprise was catching a glimpse of this ruby-throated hummingbird sampling the same cup plant blossoms as we’ve seen the butterflies on.
Even better, it perched so I could slow my shutter way down, and the background gave us a bit of a break from the bright gray sky. This image came out especially nice, despite what WordPress is showing you, and if you want to see all the detail, you know the drill.
After a short break, it resumed feeding, and this time I was a little better prepared to capture the scene, even if the background didn’t really cooperate.
With a bounce in my step, I continued south to the pollinator garden, and there I found our first hackberry emperor butterfly of the month.
Finally, here’s a fresh-looking male monarch on a fresh-looking blossom.
Lastly, if you were affected by the recent flooding, I hope you didn’t lose anything irreplaceable and that you can dry out or replace whatever did get wet. If you can join us for the Friends of Estabrook Picnic in the beer garden from 5-7:30 tomorrow afternoon, I’ll buy you a beer.
Wow! It rained a lot last night. It had poured at least three times before I went to bed, and once I turned in, it seemed as though every time I rolled over, there was a new line of thunderstorms rolling through. There was even one more heavy shower this morning while I was in Estabrook, and here is where a lot of that water went.
You might not recognize the scene below in this condition, but that is where the Estabrook Falls usually are. The river water was so high when I visited earlier this morning that it reached the railing along the boardwalk. In the background, you can see all the heavy equipment the workers left parked high-and-dry, now up to their axles in water on the far shore. I will be fascinated to learn, eventually, how all those big white bags full of gravel made out, and you can check Friday’s post for a reminder of how it looked just twenty-four hours ago.
So, even getting to the river was difficult, let alone finding anyone to photograph there, but luckily, Estabrook Park also has a pond. The water was up at least a foot there, as well, but it was still nice and calm, and here are the birds that found shelter in and on it.
The pair of hooded mergansers was there, …
and one even caught itself some breakfast.
There were a bunch of wood ducks, and here’s a hen letting her feathers dry out, …
two more, …
and a half dozen.
I heard a great blue heron squawking over the river, and it sounded frustrated, perhaps by the lack of any place to perch and fish, but then again, they always sound like that. I don’t know if this is the same bird, but this one got right to fishing and kept quiet about it.
There was also a green heron, looking surprisingly pulled together and also keeping quiet.
Finally, there were even a couple of belted kingfishers, and here’s a female.
Lastly, I don’t believe I saw a single butterfly today, so here’s another look at that eastern tiger swallowtail from yesterday, before the deluge.
I never made it to Bender Park this morning, so the shorebirds will just have to wait for another day.
We knew it couldn’t last forever, and today was the day that our recent streak of beautiful weather had a hiccup. The skies were still clear, but there was a stiff breeze out of the south, which added a layer of white noise to the soundscape in Estabrook Park. Oh well.
The mammals seemed to be taking the day off, but this green heron didn’t seem to mind too much, and it was back at the north end of the pond this morning. That red blob it appears to be contemplating is actually a leaf in the foreground, so not in front of its face at all, but it did take some adjusting for me to get even that much separation between them.
As I expected, the falls looked exactly the same today as they did yesterday, with the small exception of this solitary sandpiper who had joined the young spotted I’ve been seeing there, and it did one heck of a job blending in with the exposed river bottom.
At the north end, I did see a mature bald eagle, who gave me a flyby close enough that I could hear the air rushing past its wing feathers as it flapped, and a Cooper’s hawk, but the only presentable picture I managed, if you can call it that, is of this female ruby-throated hummingbird perched high over the meadow.
Speaking of the meadow, the Parks Department, in their infinite wisdom, have mowed it again, and this time they mowed a little more than last time, but still less than the first time, so it isn’t a complete disaster. At least there is enough chicory left to attract this pretty carrot seed moth (Sitochroa palealis), who I believe we are seeing for the very first time. In fact, I read that “in 2002 the first specimen was reported in the United States,” so “welcome to Estabrook, I guess.”
Another newbie, at least for us in Estabrook, is this wild indigo duskywing (Erynnis baptisiae), whom we have seen before, but only in Connecticut so far.
The, or a, red-spotted purple is still hanging around the cup plant blossoms at the southwest end of the dog park, and this time it lined its left wings up just right with the sun to give us an amazing look at the surface texture. It looks even better if you click on the image to see and zoom in on a full-resolution copy hosted by flickr.
Lastly, I stumbled upon the star of today’s show as I was trying to get a red-spotted purple picture. If you’ve been wondering, as I have, where the heck are the eastern tiger swallowtails, well, we don’t have to wonder any more. At least this one was also enjoying the cub plant blossoms by the dog park. By that point, the wind had picked up a bit, and the tall stalks were swaying back and forth like drunken sailors. But at least the light was good, I could crank up the shutter speed, and I think this one came out pretty okay.
Tomorrow morning, the Milwaukee Birders plan to visit Bender and Lake Vista Parks, where they intend to “focus on finding shorebirds,” and I hope to join them. So, come on out with us, and either way, wish me luck!
I could not believe my string of luck this morning when dawn broke on still air and clear skies yet again. Plus, it looks like the Canadian wildfire smoke has finally cleared out, at least for now, so I hustled into the park just around sunrise.
My first treat greeted me as I strolled down the path behind the middle playground toward the river. This American red squirrel seemed to think I had come to steal whatever morsel it had found, appeared to be quite upset about it, and loudly expressed its displeasure before it scampered farther up that fallen tree trunk to put some distance between us. “Sorry, sweetie! All I wanted was this picture.”
My next treat came as I approached the north end along the river, where I found these two, young, spotted sandpipers acting real friendly on a little strip of exposed river bottom between the two islands. “Get a room, you two love birds!”
As I was waiting for the sandpipers to make a nice pose together, I heard a little disturbance in the water just downstream from me, and when I turned to check on it, I could hardly believe my eyes. There was a river otter in the water not twenty feet away from me, it quickly turned to head downstream, and my heart sank into my shoes as I thought I had blown my one chance for a picture. Thank heavens, the otter had other plans and resurfaced perhaps just another twenty feet away.
Then it proceeded to catch and devour crayfish after crayfish in the most spectacular fashion. It would dive for not even a minute, and then it would swim to the shore of the island to gobble down its catch with what sure looked like glee. In the image below, you can see a crayfish claw hanging out of its mouth.
Here it is going back for another.
And here it is in a slightly different spot making sure it doesn’t lose a single crumb or drop.
Although once or twice a paw was required.
It even glanced my way every now and then, and I did my best to keep my prying eyes behind my camera and otherwise pretend as though I wasn’t even there. Nevertheless, it eventually ate its fill, or the supply was exhausted, because it returned at last to deeper water, and I didn’t see it again, no matter how long I waited. I took the first picture at 7:20 and the 78th picture at 7:30, so it had granted me ten full minutes of viewing. Wow! Be still my heart!
I almost went straight home right after that, but I am a professional after all, though not in any profession applicable to this situation, so I pressed on to keep up appearances, and as I was checking the mallards for any odd ducks who might be hiding among them, look who I spotted on the far riverbank. We’ve seen great blue herons flash us before, but never quite like this.
After that, I did start heading back south, and by then the sun had warmed up the wildflower meadow nicely, so it was abuzz with bugs. There were bees, wasps, dragonflies, damselflies, moths, and butterflies. I took plenty of pictures, but my single favorite has got to be this uncommonly gorgeous common buckeye letting us sneak a glimpse of the under/outer/ventral side of its left wings. This is one of those times when WordPress really lets us down, and you’ll be doing yourself a big favor if you click on the image so you can view a full-resolution copy on flickr and zoom in to see all the amazing details.
Between the otter and the butterflies, I had used up my full three hours before I even left the meadow, but it was such a beautiful morning, what’s a guy to do? Well, this guy stopped by the wide and slow spot in the river below the falls to see who else might be out, and my reward was finding this eastern amberwing dragonfly uncharacteristically perched on shore. I usually have to wait seemingly for ever for one to land, and it usually lands somewhere out on the water were I can’t get very close. But not today! I really should go buy a lottery ticket.
Finally, what’s a hike home without a stop at the weeds beside the southern soccer fields? Today’s treat was a look at yet another under/outer/ventral side of a pair of wings, this time belonging to a northern crescent butterfly. What a morning!
Lastly, the crew did move some rock in the riverbed above the falls yesterday, but I couldn’t detect any change in the actual falls themselves, and there appeared to be no work happening today. Maybe some expert has to come and inspect the progress before they can continue, and perhaps we’ll find out tomorrow.
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park