Signs of Life in Estabrook Park

One more arrival…

The weather was finally back to being seasonably pleasant in Estabrook Park this morning. The winds were nice and light, and the sky was pretty clear for a while.

My first surprise of the morning came as I strolled beside the river on my way to the pond, when I spotted this beaver, the likes of whom we haven’t seen in weeks, since the day we saw the otters. It was up on shore for just a moment, and then right back into the river it went.

You might think that I would be used to it by now, but I’m always still thrilled when I get to see the eastern screech-owl.

The winter wrens are as thick as ever, and they’ve started to sing their amazing song.

At the north end, I only saw geese, mallards, and the one pied-billed grebe out on the water, but nobody was ready for pictures today. Instead, the action was overhead, where this European starling decided to check out the nesting cavity recently excavated by a pair of red-bellied woodpeckers.

Well, the woodpeckers still had plans for it, …

so they did their best to urge the starling to look elsewhere.

I would have loved to watch that play out, but I didn’t have all day, so I headed back down stream and soon came upon this little beauty. I rarely see chickadees sit still, but this one didn’t budge as I kept trying to find the best shot through the brush.

I my second swing by the pond, I heard a white-throated sparrow singing their ode to Canada, and I even managed to find the singer.

Since I spotted my first sapsucker on Monday, their numbers have grown, and here’s one on the birch tree in front of the dog park.

Finally, back at the river, I spotted my first female red-winged blackbird of the season, and she does not appear to be in the mood for any nonsense. The boys sure had better have their acts together by now.

The day after the deluge…

The wind was still howling from the storm that passed through yesterday, but the sun was out, and it definitely wasn’t raining, so I was able to get into Estabrook Park nice and early this morning.

My first big treat was finding our eastern screech-owl back in its nook after a couple-day absence. Better yet, it was excited about something off to the left, its right, so we can finally get a peek at one of its big yellow eyes. Until now, it has been doing a much better job of keeping them hidden than the great horned owls do. It eventually did back into the shadow, so I could get by, but when I came through again later in the morning, it had already moved on to its other favorite spot.

I was surprised to find phoebes up and hunting bugs in these high winds, but they were making do by keeping pretty close to the ground, and often striking their prey right on it.

By the looks of the dirt on this hermit thrush’s beak, the wind shouldn’t interfere with their hunting at all.

The brown creepers are somewhere in between, picking bugs out of crannies in tree bark, so they were keeping to the lower half of the trunks, which gave me the chance to sneak a portrait at last.

Finally, a solitary American coot was back in the park, but on the slow water below the falls, instead of near the islands above them. Either way, I wonder if this one saw its reflection and thought to itself, “Man, that is one handsome beak you’ve got there!”

Lastly, I see that the Milwaukee Birders are planning to visit Kletzsch Park at 8am Sunday morning, so if Monday doesn’t fit in your schedule, you can get a look at who’s living on and beside the Milwaukee River on Sunday instead. The forecast for that day looks pretty good right now: “partly cloudy, high 48F, winds W at 5 to 10 mph.”

April Showers…

Well, the April Fools weather prank has arrived here a day late, and it has been raining pretty steadily since before dawn. I still have a hope of getting into Estabrook Park later this afternoon, but the winds are expected to continue, so who knows what pictures I might be able to get. Thus, here are a couple of pictures that I hope will tide you over until tomorrow, when the sun might come out again.

Here’s another recent great horned owl picture that I somehow haven’t shown you yet.

And here’s one more look at the pied-billed grebe from yesterday.

No pranks today…

My first big treat of the day was finally capturing this darling pied-billed grebe on film, after only catching glimpses of it for the last couple of days. It has been fishing around the upstream island, and once it has spotted me, it has usually disappeared after just its second dive. Happily, it relented today for some reason. The sun wasn’t yet high enough in the sky to light it up much, but it sure did help that the water had a beautiful blue sky and a sun-lit red brick building to reflect.

While I was busy trying to get a picture of the grebe, I inadvertently flushed this lone wood duck drake, which isn’t that odd, but then it parked itself to preen on the same branch were we often see a kingfisher. They are usually not such exhibitionists, and he was kind enough to be up in the sun, which is nice, but not quite high enough for a blue-sky background.

My second big treat for the day was spotting this great horned owl granting us an audience, which is rare for this time of year. Plus, we finally got both bright morning sun and a blue-sky background in the same picture. Who minds a few pesky branches?

I didn’t see anything to photograph at the pond, but on my way back to the river, I did spot this shy hermit thrush, whom we haven’t seen in a while. Soon enough they’ll all be gone north for the summer.

Back at the south end, I spotted a pair of red-bellied woodpeckers who seemed to be getting acquainted. Before I could get a picture of the two of them together, however, they flitted to a nearby tree, where she proceeded to check on the nesting cavity he had started. She also hit the trifecta of good sun, blue sky, and an unobstructed view. “Thanks, Sweetie! I hope you find what you are looking for.”

Finally, I hadn’t seen nor heard a killdeer yet, so the timing was perfect when I heard their familiar call right after wrapping up with the woodpeckers. I thought that would be all I was going to get, until I used my binoculars to count the robins on the soccer fields. Well, there were nearly 40 robins, plus these two little sneaky Petes. “Hello, Darlings!”

Finally, look what I found in the tall grass as I was fishing out a bit of litter. Ha! How’s that for a big treat? Don’t let folks tell you that there’s just too much litter, so there’s no point in picking any up. Every little bit helps, and some little bits help a lot more than others!

Closer to a lamb than a lion, I’d say…

We had a great morning for the last weekly wildlife walk of March in Estabrook Park. Sure, it was cool, cloudy, and breezy, but I didn’t feel a drop for a change, we were often able to hide from the wind, and the sun slowly emerged. Ten folks came out to join me, and we identified 32 bird species.

After seeing the screech-owl so many days in a row, and even glimpsing it this morning on my way to the parking lot to meet the crew, I thought for sure that I’d finally be able to show it to everyone. The little rascal had other plans, however, and had already amscrayed by the time we arrived.

The first exciting bird we did see was this young red-tailed hawk on the hunt beside the river, and it did one heck of a job waking up the grackles and red-winged blackbirds that hang out there. Here it is keeping tabs on one of them.

We also glimpsed a pied-billed grebe and a red-breasted merganser around the islands in the river above the falls, but I failed to capture either on film. Instead, my only other presentable picture from our walk today was this brown-headed cowbird, species number 31, as we returned to the parking lot for everyone to go their separate ways. As you can see, parts of the sky had become a pretty blue by then.

Since I still had some time on my meter, and the day was starting to warm up a bit, I headed back to the river after everyone left to see if I could get a picture of that grebe.

The grebe had other plans, however, which gave me time to spend with this little cutie, the boldest golden-crowned kinglet I may have ever met.

In fact, there were quite a few kinglets foraging for bugs on the sticks and branches along the river, but not all of them were golden-crowned, so here’s our first ruby-crowned kinglet picture of the season. It was super nice of them to strike nearly the same pose so you can get a good look at the features that distinguish them besides the color of their crowns. For me, the markings around the eyes are also a dead giveaway.

The phoebes, who have been here a couple of weeks already, were also plentiful, and here’s the one who put on the nicest show for us.

Not to be outdone in the insectivore bonanza, there were even several brown creepers, and this one was making sure that no crevice went unchecked.

Finally, I couldn’t believe my luck, as I was approaching the volleyball court at the south end, and I heard my first yellow-bellied sapsucker call of the season, which I’ve been waiting weeks to hear. Even better, I was actually able to lay eyes on it, despite it doing its best to hide, and so was my camera’s autofocus, despite the last cloud in the sky doing its best to provide a challenging background.

Lastly, if you thought March was amazing, as sure I did, then hold onto your hats because here comes April!

A rainy day in March…

Well, just as they predicted, it was quite rainy in Estabrook Park this morning. On the radar, however, it looked as though there would be some gaps in the rain, so I grabbed an umbrella and ventured out.

On my way from the river to the pond, I saw the screech-owl in its nook again, but I didn’t even try aiming my camera that much skyward, so here’s how it looked yesterday.

At the pond, I saw the female belted kingfisher, but this picture of the male over the river yesterday came out a lot better.

There was a skittish pair of wood ducks on the pond, but I didn’t pursue them because I knew I had this nice picture of a bold hen from yesterday.

Back at the river, I saw a quartet of red-breasted mergansers, but I flubbed the pictures, so here’s a pair of hooded mergansers from yesterday.

Finally, the one picture I did take today and that I didn’t manage to blur beyond recognition, is of this bunch of daffodils starting to open on the side of the bluff upstream of the islands.

Lastly, the forecast for tomorrow morning is cloudy, breezy, and cold, but at least the precipitation should be done for our weekly wildlife walk. Plus, the breeze is out of the NNW, so maybe we’ll get lucky and find some birds filling their tanks as they wait out the unfavorable winds before continuing their journey north. We start at 8 am in the northern parking lot, by the beer garden, and I hope to see you there.

A couple more new arrivals…

It seemed pretty nice out at sunrise this morning in Estabrook Park, even with the thick cloud cover. Temps were in the low 50s, winds were light, and it wasn’t raining. What I failed to realize is that the winds were blowing off of Lake Michigan, and the temps were on their way to the high 30s, so I was quite underdressed for the cold that soon arrived. The critters, on the other hand, wear their entire wardrobe on their backs, so I didn’t hear them complain about the weather at all.

The first exciting news is that a male belted kingfisher has also arrived, woo hoo, and here he is fishing over the river where it gets wide and slow below the falls.

At the pond, the goose is still nesting on the island, I counted at least eight wood ducks, and I also saw a quartet of female or immature hooded mergansers. Unfortunately, the mergansers did not stick around for pictures. Instead, when I reached the islands in the river, I found them again, and here’s one of the immature males, who looks sorta like a female, but with a yellow eye and some other subtle differences.

I also spotted the newly arrived male kingfisher perched together with the female we’ve seen for a while, and they were on the far side of the upstream island, so well beyond the range of my gear, but you can see his white belly and just a hint of her chestnut belly band. I seldom see them perch together like this, so perhaps they’re still in the honeymoon phase.

There was also a group of blue-winged teals, and here are two drakes and one hen. They were quite busy chattering amongst themselves and bobbing their heads, so they swam much closer to me than I would have expected.

Finally, the second big surprise of the morning was spotting the first American coot I’ve seen in the park this year. It was even kind enough to climb up out of the water, while I was upstream checking on the pigeons, so that we can catch a glimpse of its amazing not-quite-webbed feet.

Lastly, I do have a few more pictures from this morning, but the forecast for tomorrow calls for rain all day, so I’m keeping them in my back pocket in case the forecast turns out to be accurate.

Thunderbolts and lightning…

Besides the lightshow this morning, which wasn’t actually too frightening, thankfully, there was plenty of rain, too, so I didn’t get into the park until a couple of hours after sunrise. Happily, most folks were held off by the weather as much as I was, so there were still some critters going through their morning routine by the time I arrived.

One of them was the female belted kingfisher, whom we’ve already seen a couple of times at the river, and I’ve glimpsed at the pond, but I believe this is the first time I’ve gotten a picture of her at the pond this year.

Of all days that I would have guessed that the screech-owl was in its nook, today would be a leading contender. I know I sure would like that kind of protection from pouring down rain, and apparently, it does, too. Or, it’s just a big coincidence, and it would have been there even if it were 60°F and sunny. Either way, I find its picture hard to resist.

The rest of the critters must have made other plans in my absence, so that’s it for pictures today, except for these snow drops, in Estabrook this time, who can’t get away because they’re plants.

Back to work…

The air was still and warmer than it has been recently, but the clouds were thick and leaky, so looking for critters in Estabrook Park this morning was a mixed bag.

One happy consequence of the conditions, or just pure luck of the draw, and I don’t know which yet, was finding our little grey-morph eastern screech-owl tucked away in its once-in-a-while nook.

The treat on the river today was spotting a pair of blue-winged teals again, just off the downstream tip of the upstream island, and this time it comprised a drake and a hen.

When I looked upriver, I couldn’t see a single pigeon on the bridges, so I decided to hike up there, at least to make sure the one was still on her nest. Well, she was, but when I looked around to see who else I could see from there, I could not believe my eyes. Just a bit farther upstream, so technically not in Estabrook, but I sure as heck could see them from the park, was a big flock of wild turkeys. I hustled under the bridges and upstream until I was just across from them to get a good picture, and here are four toms in various stages of strutting their stuff. There were two more toms and ten hens, so sixteen birds in total. Long-time readers may recall that we do get to see an isolated hen from time to time in Estabrook Park, but this is as close as I’ve come to seeing a tom there. “It’s just a couple hundred yards, guys. Come on down!”

Anyway, that’s it for birds today, so here’s another look at that golden-crowned kinglet from yesterday.

Finally, I’ve started to see plenty of green shoots, but these Siberian squill on the side of the bluff are the first blossoms I’ve seen in the park.

The forecast calls for more showers and even warmer temps tomorrow morning, so who knows what we’ll get, but I saw plenty of bugs in the air already this morning, and with any luck, the even warmer air tomorrow will finally attract some more insectivores.

Happy 5th Anniversary!

It was five years ago today, on March 26, that I breathlessly emailed family and friends that I had spotted a wood duck on the pond in Estabrook Park. Before that day, I don’t believe I had ever seen one, let alone known their name. Here’s a look at that original picture.

For those of you who don’t remember, the COVID-19 pandemic was just getting started, UWM had already extended spring break for a second week, and they may have already told us to stay home until further notice. Long walks in the park seemed like a good idea at the time.

Well, five years have come and gone, we’ve seen a lot of critters, and I hope you’ve enjoyed them as much as I have. Thanks a ton for following along, and now let’s see who was in the park today.

After a brief lull, when I suspect the ones who had been with us through the winter had flown north, now we have winter wrens again, whom I suspect are also on their way north, but from points south of here. Either way, I always love to see them.

Trees are starting to blossom in the park, I’d bet this is a maple, based on the color, and this grey squirrel was chowing down on them as though it has been waiting for fresh vegetables all winter long. I’ve seen them eating seeds that haven’t dropped yet, but I don’t believe I’ve seen them eating blossoms before, and I sure hope the trees have budgeted for that.

The golden-crowned kinglets are becoming more plentiful, and I followed this one for a while, taking plenty of shots of moving birds and empty branches, before it eventually appeared to say, “Let’s try an art shot. You know, with a dark background, a soft focus, and my head turned just so,” to which I replied, “Sure, Sweetie, whatever you want, just so long as I finally get a picture.”

The red squirrels are out and enjoying the spring weather, too, and this one appeared, for all the world, to be licking the sap off of a leaky box elder branch. The squirrel was at it for a while, and I have a few pictures, but this is the one in which you can even see its pink little tongue. I did not know they did that.

The big surprise at the river today was this merlin, perched high over the upstream island. I believe that the last time we saw one was back in December, so “Welcome back, Darling!”

The big surprise at the pond was finding the goose finally nesting on the island. She’s about two weeks behind last year’s schedule, but two days ahead of 2022, and four days behind 2021, That’s pretty consistent timing, given that she probably doesn’t even have a proper calendar. As I’ve written before, if everything goes okay, now we’ve got just 32 to 48 days to wait until gosling time! Yay!

Finally, the wood ducks on the pond this morning were more skittish than usual, but I couldn’t go without a wood duck picture today, of all days, so here’s a nice one from last Monday, when I already had plenty of other pictures to show you.

That’s it for today, and tune in tomorrow to find who’s the next new bird in town. Oh, and thanks to the folks who came out for my North Shore School for Seniors class yesterday. You had a lot of great questions, and I hope you had as good a time as I did.