Signs of Life in Estabrook Park

They just keep on arriving…

Despite the wind and partly cloudy skies, the mild temps made it a very pleasant morning for a stroll through Estabrook Park. Ten folks came out to join me for our weekly wildlife walk, and I recorded us seeing 40 bird species, including a few first-of-the-year tree swallows mixed in with a few bank swallows over the river and the upstream island.

The screech-owl was home for my first approach to the pond, but it made itself scarce after that, as usual.

Robins have begun nesting, and here’s one above the crest of the bluff at the far north end.

Yellow-bellied sapsuckers are still with us, and we saw a few today. Here’s a male on a birch tree on the east side of the pond.

Yellow-rumped warblers are becoming more plentiful, both at the pond and the river, and here’s one from beside the river.

One of the nice surprises of the morning was getting another look at the male American kestrel, this time perched high above the upstream island.

Right after we saw the kestrel, a male belted kingfisher swooped in to perch just off the downstream tip of the same island, and when I tried to time my shot with the bobbing of its tail, I also caught it with its beak open as an unexpected bonus.

Another nice surprise of the morning was finding the largest group of blue-winged teals that I’ve ever seen. It started with just two on the pond, and then eight on the river, but by the time the whole group reached the river, I counted at least 15, and there may have been as many as 20. The uncertainty was caused by their near constant motion, so that every time we counted, we got a different number.

Finally, a new blossom has begun to open in the park, this violet, probably (Viola odorata), which I read is called any of “wood violet, sweet violet, English violet, common violet, florist’s violet, or garden violet.“

A wild morning at the lakeshore…

Temps were pretty mild this morning, but the clouds were thick, and the breeze was strong, so it might not seem like an ideal morning to visit Lakefront State Park with the Milwaukee Birders. The wildlife was amazing, however, and I was lucky enough to have packed the right clothing, so I had a fantastic time.

On my bike ride down to the park, I stopped at Juneau Park Lagoon, and as I scanned the water for birds, look who I found on the far shore checking on the Canada geese. It was still pretty dark out, so the picture is grainy as heck, but I believe you can still make out one handsome coyote, and it appeared to be kindly checking on the geese to make sure they were all okay.

Once I made it into the park, I was greeted by the sight of this ring-billed gull devouring a crayfish that it had just caught. Yum! We eventually found dozens of claws scattered around the park, so crayfish appears to be a popular menu item.

The “quiet water basin” was quite full of ducks, perhaps because the wind was kicking up quite a chop out in the harbor, and these three bufflehead drakes were among them.

The most obvious new arrival, however, were the dozens of tree swallows, which were either zooming over the water and the lawn hunting for bugs, or tussling over which couple got to nest in which nesting box. It was quite a show, and I took a ton of pictures, but I got lucky with just this one to catch the meager light hitting the feathers just right for some beautiful iridescence.

Another species out on the basin was the blue-winged teal, and here’s a drake up out of the water for a moment to preen and give us a sneak peek at his namesake teal speculum feathers.

Not to be outdone, here’s a red-breasted merganser drake doing his best crazy-person impression.

The park has prescribed-burned the tall grass and wildflowers, in an effort to preserve the prairie biome, and here’s our first savannah sparrow of the year gleaning seeds out of the ashes.

We eventually spotted 28 to 30 species, depending on who was counting, and then it was time to make my way back north. As I went by Juneau Park Lagoon again, I stopped to see if there was anyone unusual swimming with the Canada geese, and I could barely believe my eyes when the white bird, which I had assumed was a gull, turned out to be only my second Ross’s goose ever. Holy Smokes!

As I stood on the east shore of the lagoon trying to capture the essence of the goose, it and the Canada geese naturally drifted towards the west side, so I decided to hustle over to that side in hopes of a better shot. As I pushed through the bushes that grow there, I inadvertently spooked a bird that must have been perched in the trees above, and look who it turned out to be: our first black-crowned night heron of the year. Sometimes, when it rains, it really does pour!

Well, you’ll be happy to know that I was careful not to clean my shoes when I got home so that some of the magic I must have stepped in this morning might still be on them for our weekly wildlife walk at 8am tomorrow morning. I see that a bank swallow and a Caspian turn was reported in Estabrook today, so come on out, if you are able, to help us find them again.

Not many perfect pictures despite a picture-perfect day.

It was a gorgeous morning in Estabrook Park with seasonably cool temps, crystal-clear skies, and nice-calm air. I was a bit surprised to find that the critters were laying low, however, perhaps in anticipation of the throngs of runners and spectators of the Milwaukee Marathon, but who knows.

One critter who was out and about was this eastern cottontail, who perhaps thought it could sneak in just a few more groceries before start time.

The screech-owl was in, and farther than usual, actually, but you can just make out its beak and plenty of its belly.

At the north end, most of the exotics have moved on, but the pied-billed grebe was still around. In fact, Dave said he saw two of them a bit downstream of me, so there might even have been three in total.

I didn’t see anything else that I could capture on film at the river, so I headed back over to the pond. There I plopped down on the bench on the west lawn, and once the gander climbed up to join me, on the lawn, not the bench, at least not yet, the wood ducks felt emboldened to come over to see if I was one of the old dudes that feeds the ducks. Well, I’m not, because it is supposed to be bad for them, but I did get some nice pictures before they realized their mistake. Do yourself a favor and click on this wood duck image so you can zoom to see all the fine detail in his face.

To whet your appetite, I’ve cropped the image, but wordpress still shows a lesser copy. When I view it in flickr, which you can, too, if you click on the image, it looks a lot sharper, and the rainbow of colors in his cheek feathers is worth the hassle. Trust me.

Meanwhile, a mallard drake gave me a look that seemed to say, “Big whoop, he’s got a little purple on his cheek. Sheesh, my whole head turns purple in the right light. Where’s my closeup?” With an attitude like that, Buddy, you’re lucky to get a picture at all.

Anyway, the forecast is for clouds and breeze tomorrow, but I believe I will head down to Lakeshore State Park to meet up with the Milwaukee Birders at 8am anyway. Maybe I’ll see you there.

Grebes, grebes, and more grebes…

The sky was crystal clear at dawn this morning in Estabrook Park, and the winds were nearly calm, so I got in nice and early, despite it being cold enough to frost the grass.

At the wide and slow part of the river below the falls, I could see both kingfishers at once, which doesn’t happen often, and this time it was the male who made the better picture.

On my way to the pond, I was alone, so the screech-owl was in its nook.

I didn’t see anything at the pond, which seems to be the norm these days, so I headed back to the river, and here’s a red-bellied woodpecker watching the sun come over the top of the bluff to shine down into the river valley. Also, just look at that beautiful blue sky we had for a while.

One of the great horned owls put in a somewhat rare appearance, but its attention was elsewhere again, and so was that blue sky.

I couldn’t find any of the recent fancy waterfowl out on the water, but there were a pair of eastern phoebes hunting for bugs in and just above the grass back onshore, and here’s the one who struck the better pose.

The hermit thrushes are still here, and they’ve started to sing, which is an extra treat. They sound like a quiet robin, who is a thrush after all, but singing only the ethereal parts of its song.

On my way back south, I did finally spot the pied-billed grebe, who has been with us for a while.

On my second swing by the pond, I did get to see one more yellow-bellied sapsucker, and I just can’t resist these beauties.

Finally, as I was walking up to the pond, a couple jumped out of their car, and they turned out to be a couple who had just joined us for the wildlife walk on Monday. They had come looking for the horned grebe I saw yesterday, so gave them all the details I had, and I hoped them better luck than I did with it today.

But they also had just come from the lakeshore where they had seen the eared grebe (Podiceps nigricollis) that someone had reported seeing just yesterday, and which ebird considers to be “rare” for Milwaukee, because we are completely outside of its usual natural range. They said it was right where it had been reported and was easy to find, so I took a chance, hustled home, hopped on my bike, and rode down to the lakeshore to see if I would be as lucky.

Whelp, it was just as they said, and there were even a couple of other spectators already there to make it even easier to find. The only problem was that the water around the bird was reflecting a huge, bright, white spot in the sky where the sun was trying to burn through thin cloud cover. So I fiddled with the exposure, and this image didn’t come out too bad. You can clearly see the classic football-shaped grebe body covered in shaggy grebe feathers, a razor-sharp bill, and just a hint of its bright red eye and the golden feathers that fan out from behind it to form its namesake “ear”. “Welcome to Milwaukee, Dearie! We hope you like it here.”

Lastly, there was a whole flock of Bonaparte’s gulls feasting on something in the shallow water right at the shoreline. We’ve seen them before off the shore of the Shorewood Nature Preserve, but I have yet to see one in Estabrook. In fact, the last time someone reported seeing a Bonaparte’s gull in Estabrook was April 19, 1994, so perhaps we’re due. Keep your fingers crossed!

Even more color on an even grayer day

The clouds were so thick at sunrise this morning, that I could feel a slight mist leaking out of them, and I even put the rain cover over my camera as I entered Estabrook Park. I did not have great expectations for this outing, but I am happy to report that I had set my expectations a bit low.

The first new arrival of the day was this female brown-headed cowbird high above the pond. We’ve been seeing the two-tone males for a while, but this is the first female I’ve seen this year, so time to keep an eye on your nests, everyone!

The big excitement came on the river at the north end after I had already decided there was nothing to see and had started back south. When I reached the downstream island, there is a good view upstream, so I turned around for one last look, and I saw a small bird on the water in addition to all the geese. I quickly brought up my binoculars, and I could see the pied-billed grebe, who’s been around all month, but there was also another bird beside it that I thought might be a young or female red-breasted merganser, but I couldn’t be sure. So, I grabbed my camera, which can really zoom in on an image once I take it, and look who I found: our first common merganser, a female, since early in March. What a pleasant blast from the past.

While I was trying to get that picture, there was an uncommon call overhead, and when I was finally able to turn my attention to it, look who was making all that noise: our first American kestrel of the year and what a beauty, too!

With the merganser and kestrel now on film, I turned to try going downstream again, but I barely got by the downstream island before I noticed yet another small bird on the water, and what a looker this one is! Say hello to our first horned grebe of the year and only the second one I’ve ever seen in Estabrook Park. The first one was just over a year ago, and it appears to have been a “molting adult,” because it sure wasn’t this fancy. Wow, what a bird!

When I got to the falls, I took the stairs up to the beer garden, and the softball outfield appeared to be full of robins, as it has often been recently, but when I got out my binoculars to count them and check for killdeer, I was stunned to find that most of them were northern flickers instead, and I was able to count seventeen of them. Yikes!

Then, when I turned to continue south along the top of the bluff, I found one more flicker gobbling down sumac seeds. This handsome devil was even kind enough to give us a sneak peek at his namesake yellow feather shafts.

Here he is going after another seed.

And here he is with a seed dangling from the tip of his beak.

Finally, I did see a yellow-rumped warbler again today, but before I could get a nice picture, it turned away and said, “so long, Sucker!”

Lastly, I see that the Milwaukee Birders are visiting Lakeshore State Park again on Sunday, and since I haven’t been there yet this month, I believe I will join them. Maybe I’ll see you there, too.

A few dashes of color on a gray day…

The clouds were thick, but the winds and the temps weren’t too bad, and the rain hadn’t started yet, so it certainly wasn’t the worst April weather I’ve seen in Estabrook Park.

Before I even reached the river, this reddish-brown fox sparrow reminded me that they haven’t all left yet.

The ice that may have driven off the coot was all gone, but I didn’t see any indications that the coot had returned. Happily, the kingfishers will be with us all summer, and here’s a female fishing over the river.

As I approached the pond, I ran into one of the regulars from our weekly wildlife walks, and despite there being two of us, the screech-owl graced us with its presence. Now at least one wildlife walker doesn’t think I’m fibbing about that little rascal.

When I reached the pond, I was just in time to catch one of the muskrats making a grocery run, which I haven’t seen since last November.

Back at the river and above the falls, I did catch a glimpse of the grebe and a young red-breasted merganser drake, but they stayed too far away for pictures, and there was no sign of a great horned owl, so I turned back south. Just a bit downstream of the boardwalk below the beer garden, I found this rusty little beauty foraging in the dead leaves beside the water, and it turns out to be our first field sparrow of the year. We are just north of their year-round range and into their breeding range, so “Welcome back, Cutie!”

Back beside the wide and slow part of the river below the twin towers, I ran into another frequent wildlife walker with her husband, and they reported seeing a warbler on their way north. When I guessed that it was a yellow-rumped, and I showed them a picture, they agreed that “that was their bird.”

Thus, I nearly held my breath as I continued south in hopes of spotting it, and it is a good thing I opted to breathe, because it took a while. After about a quarter mile, I finally caught a flash of yellow flitting down the riverbank ahead of me, and I had to follow it for another tenth before I could finally get my camera on it. “Ta da!” Give a hearty Estabrook welcome to our first warbler of 2025.

Finally, just as I was about to exit the park by the south parking lot, I noticed this crow who was far more intent on extracting some calories from the scrap in its beak than it was worried about me, so it let me take a picture from uncharacteristically close. “Thanks, Pardner!”

Then I had to run to campus to meet with a client for a couple of hours, so I’m still working on this as the rain finally arrives late in the afternoon, but from the comfort of my dining room table.

A great show, despite the cold…

It was a bit chilly this morning in Estabrook Park, and the flooded area where we’ve been seeing the coot was all frozen over, but the wind was light, and the sky was crystal clear, so it was a good morning for checking on the critters.

My first treat was finding this muskrat, whom I suspect is the one we’ve seen already this spring, gobbling up its vegetables right at the edge of the ice I mentioned above.

The coot, however, appears to have moved on, perhaps due to the ice, and so the next fun sight was this wood duck drake strutting his stuff, up on the west lawn of the pond.

There was no sign of the bufflehead at the river, but I did glimpse the grebe, and I don’t know how I could miss this red-breasted merganser drake.

The next big treat was catching another look at a great horned owl, who was far more interested in something or someone I couldn’t see, than it was in me.

I also saw a pair of hooded mergansers at the river, but they kept to the far side and then bolted. Happily, they appeared to have bolted to the pond, which they seemed to find more to their liking. In about half the pictures I took, he even had his eyes closed.

Also at the pond, I spotted two red squirrels together, which I don’t think I’ve ever seen before, but I simply could not get a picture with them both in focus, so this cutie will just have to do.

On my way back to the river, the screech-owl must have known I was alone, so it poked its head out to say “hi”.

Back at the river, the ice on the flooded area was taking its time melting, but the sun was warm enough to get this swamp sparrow to sing his song.

Back up on the paved path for my way home, I was thrilled to spot a yellow-bellied sapsucker again. They were thick for a day or two last week, but then they went quiet, and I was afraid that might be the last we saw of them till the fall. Thankfully, this one even called to me as I went by, so I knew to look up.

Finally, just as soon as I had a decent sapsucker picture, these sandhill cranes circled right above me, as if to give me a chance to make up for that terrible first picture I took of them. “Thanks, guys!”

A little luck in Estabrook…

Wow! What a morning! The weather was just as forecast; cold, breezy, cloudy, and snowy; so not great, but the birding was amazing, and eight hearty souls came out to join today’s weekly wildlife walk. All together, we identified 40 bird species, which is a high-water mark for the series.

Before we all met up, however, I had a little time for a sneak preview, and the biggest surprise for me was spotting my first bufflehead in Estabrook Park since last April! It was lounging in the water on our side of the upstream island, and I couldn’t wait to show everybody. Of course, once our group was assembled, and I hustled us down to the river, the bird had already moved on. Thank goodness for pictures!

After we saw all that we thought we might see at the north end, we started south along the river, and as we passed the downstream island, I pointed out where we have often seen great horned owls there. Well, someone in the group stopped to make a closer inspection, and look who we found just a couple of trees over. “Hello, stranger!” Thank goodness folks ignored what I said about them not being there these days.

We continue downstream to the wide and slow spot in the river, below the two radio towers, to see the coot and a winter wren or two, and then we headed to the pond. There we found a female belted kingfisher, …

a couple of hermit thrushes gleaning seeds from the picked-over sumac, and plenty of sparrows.

After the pond, we called it a morning, folks headed off to get on with their day, and I eventually headed back home. Just as I was crossing the soccer fields at the south end, look who swooped in to check on the flock of starlings foraging in the lawn below. We had spotted a Cooper’s hawk earlier, but I failed to get a picture, so it sure was nice to have a second chance. “Thanks, Sweetie!

Finally, as I was crossing the parking lot at the south end, I watched a little brown bird hop up into one of the trees that grow along the east side. I couldn’t quite make out what it was, but I figured it was yet another song sparrow, of which we’d seen plenty all morning. It was posing so nicely, however, that I took its picture anyway, just on a whim. Well, when I got home and had a closer look, the first thing I thought was, “Why, that’s no song sparrow. Just look at that white eye ring!“

So, I consulted with my experts, and the consensus is that it’s a vesper sparrow (Pooecetes gramineus), instead, whom we have seen at Anne’s folk’s place out in Waterford, but whom I’ve never seen in Milwaukee County, let alone Estabrook Park. “Hello, Darling!” In fact, it is the first vesper sparrow anyone has reported seeing in Estabrook, if my identification proves correct. How’s that for some crazy luck?

Lastly, I did mention that it was a snowy morning, and it was really coming down when we were trying to get a look at the great horned owl. Here’s my attempt at capturing the scene.

A nice sleepy Sunday…

The weather this morning in Estabrook Park was as nice as forecast, so the sky was clear and the air was still. The birds seemed more relaxed, as well, so I had better luck with pictures than I did yesterday.

The American coot was in its usual spot on the river below the falls, and it seemed quite content as it carefully selected each morsel.

The pied-billed grebe had bid the coot adieu and returned to the water around the islands above the falls.

Here’s a European starling trying on a nesting cavity for size, and I don’t know if the red-bellied woodpeckers had abandoned this one of their own accord or if the starlings had chased them off.

There are still sumac seeds available, and here’s a black-capped chickadee digging one out of the clump.

And now here it is digging the actual seed out of its protective husk.

Brown-headed cowbird males are pretty plentiful now, and here’s one in a nice short fruit tree for a change.

Finally, the American goldfinches are starting to get their bright yellow coats back, and here’s one who still has a ways to go, but that didn’t stop him from singing his heart out.

The forecast for our weekly wildlife walk tomorrow morning is not looking too rosy right now. The winds are supposed to pick up and we might even get snow showers, so it will be interesting to see whom we can find.

A curious case of camera shyness..

It was a very nice April morning in Estabrook Park, and I was able to start my walk nice and early. Before I got very far, however, Donna of Milwaukee Birders texted to say she was on her way over to join a bird walk hosted by the Urban Ecology Center and featuring Charles Hagner. They were supposed to start in 15 minutes from the southern parking lot, which I could see across the soccer fields, so I hiked over to find out what it was all about.

Well, they had a good turnout, and there were even a couple of regulars from our Monday morning wildlife walks. Best of all, they invited me to tag along. Sweet.

When we got to the wide and slow part of the river below the falls, I was thrilled that the coot, whom I had mentioned might be there, actually was, and folks were able to see it. I wasn’t able to get a picture, but here’s a nice one from Thursday.

Even better, the pied-billed grebe was there as well, and the two of them swam together for a moment, which was very interesting to see. I had even less of a chance of capturing that on film, unfortunately, so here’s one more grebe picture from Tuesday.

Next, we headed to the pond, and I had a hope of showing everyone the screech-owl on the way, but the little rascal seems to have a sixth sense for detecting when I’ve got company. I even went ahead to check on it by myself, but when I got to its nook, there was nobody home. Oh well, two out of three ain’t bad, or so I’ve heard. Anyway, here’s another look from yesterday, when it somehow knew I had nobody with me.

After the pond, the group was heading back to the parking lot, but I still had about an hour on my meter, so I headed to the north end, where I didn’t have any better luck with pictures. Instead, I came upon this golden-crowned kinglet on my way back home, and it may be the first time I’ve ever seen one stationary for more than a second. When I first saw it, the sun was nearly behind it, and it just sat there as I walked around far enough to see its lit side. Then the little cutie roused from its minute-long power nap and resumed furiously foraging for bugs.

That’s the show for today, folks, and the forecast for tomorrow looks beautiful, so wish me better luck.