The weather was even nicer today in Estabrook Park than it was yesterday. The sky was just as clear, but the air was a bit warmer, and the breeze was even lighter. Sweet!
The young gosling on the river was able to pin its mom down for a group photo this time, but Dad still managed to stay out of frame.
It does really seem as though we are past the peak of migration, but there are still a few warblers around, and here’s a young or female Canada warbler by the river.
It was cool this morning in Estabrook Park, but otherwise about as nice a day as you could hope for to start the holiday weekend, with clear skies and a very light breeze.
I found my first surprise at the pond, where this ruby-throated hummingbird was perched beside the paved path about waist high. I immediately froze and snapped this place-holder picture, which is our first in the park for the year. Then I slowly tried to move a bit to get that ugly stick out from between us, and the hummingbird took off in a flash, seemingly to remind me why I should always take place-holder pictures. “Thanks, Buddy!”
My next surprise came at the river, where a pair of Canada geese had a pair of very young-looking goslings out on the water. They must be new parents, because they couldn’t line up a nice group picture to save their lives, but at least this one gosling knew what to do.
My third surprise came on my way back south atop the bluff, where this bay-breasted warbler posed for the nicest portrait of the species so far. If you like to click on the images to see them in flickr, where you can zoom in to see all the details, this image has those details.
That an eastern wood-pewee on the next tree over would pose just as nicely, on the other hand, didn’t really come as much of a surprise. They just seem to like posing, or their manner of bug hunting simply requires them to perch on a low branch and watch for bugs in flight. It’s hard to say which is the more-likely, really.
If this next picture, of a green heron at the pond, seems a little wavy to you, don’t adjust your set, it really is wavy, because it’s actually a reflection off the water. I took the straight shot, too, but there were some branches in the way, and this reflection came out a lot nicer.
Finally, here’s one more picture from my trip down to the lakefront to see the snow goose on Thursday. This is a cliff swallow, and it appeared to be on some kind of mandatory break, or something, because it stayed perched right there on the top edge of the z-shaped sheet piling along the water’s edge no matter who walked by or how close they walked. I’m sure this is the nicest cliff swallow picture I’ve ever gotten and am likely to get.
Lastly, your blossoms of the day are these tiny sweet cicelys, which are opening at various places along the river path.
It was a pretty nice morning in Estabrook Park, especially compared to earlier in the week, but it felt as though we might be past the peak of migration. There were still warblers about, but it seemed as though they had thinned out a bit.
Anyway, I got to the pond nice and early, and a belted kingfisher was already busy fishing from a tree on the island.
By the river, as I was wondering where all the warblers had gone, this male blue-gray gnatcatcher seemed to be shouting “what am I, chopped liver?”
Then it was time to head down to Warnimont Park, in Cudahy, to join John Kasper’s weekly bird walk, and the highlight of the show for me was this ruby-throated hummingbird that Dan spotted for us. I’ve glimpsed them already in Estabrook this year, but none of them have posed for me like this, yet.
I was also able to get our second butterfly picture of the year, of this American Lady.
I have a couple of other nice pictures from this morning, but I’d like to share a few I got yesterday afternoon after finishing my post. I read that a couple of “rare” birds had been seen by the lake front, so I rode my bike down to Veteran’s Park to see what I could find. Here’s our very first snow goose (Anser caerulescens), who we hope is just taking a break on its long flight to the shores of Hudson Bay. We appear to be in their “migration” range, but I guess they don’t stop in very often.
Finally, right beside the turnstones was this single semipalmated plover (Charadrius semipalmatus), also a first, and looking “like [a] miniature killdeer, but with only one black band across the breast.” It is also on its way to breeding grounds around Hudson Bay, so “Safe travels, little cuties!”
Lastly, your blossom of the day is this stunning purple Virginia waterleaf, which is starting to open throughout Estabrook and can be found in shades of white, through blue, and all the way to this gorgeous purple.
Well, the rain finally quit overnight, and Estabrook Park was starting to dry out this morning, but it’s gonna take a while. The river is quite high and is still over its banks at the two bottomlands.
This first picture, however is from very early Tuesday morning, but it was only today, when I finally took a closer look at it, that I discovered it to be of our first Cape May warbler of the season, a female. I’ve only gotten pictures of them a couple of times before (1 and 2), so this could very well be my one picture, such as it is, for this migration.
A bit later that same morning, it almost appears as though the sun was shining through the cloud deck to light up this gorgeous barn swallow, who let me have a much nicer picture than the one back in April.
Okay, now for this morning. I could hear ovenbirds calling loudly at three different locations in the park, and this one by the river even let me sneak another picture.
Farther upstream and across from the upstream island, I finally got a picture of a great crested flycatcher, who I’ve been hearing for a couple of weeks already.
As I was trying to get a nice picture of the Philadelphia, this red-eyed vireo swooped in as if to say “go eat the bugs elsewhere, ’cause these bugs are mine! All mine!”
Finally, your blossoms of the day are these pretty little chokecherries, which are opening all along the river path. I read that “the fruits … possess a very astringent taste, being both somewhat sour and somewhat bitter,” and it is now the official fruit of North Dakota, not because they are still bitter about South Dakota getting Mount Rushmore, as one might think, but “in part because its remains have been found at more archeological sites in the Dakotas than anywhere else.”
Sheesh, it’s been raining pretty steadily all day, so far, but there was a little gap just after sunrise, during which I did try to sneak into Estabrook Park. Needless to say, I only captured a couple of very dark, very grainy pictures, and I got soaked, too boot. Oof!
Luckily for you, however, the month of May has been otherwise so fruitful, that I still have some pictures that I don’t believe I’ve shown you yet.
Here’s one of the great horned owls on last Tuesday, another rainy day, and almost directly overhead, so definitely on our side of the river.
Here’s another look at that Baltimore oriole from Saturday, a cloudy and breezy day, who uncharacteristically posed and eventually sang for me.
Here’s an indigo bunting from the same day.
Here’s another look at that common yellowthroat on last Thursday, the cloudy day, who was far more interested in that worm he was smashing into submission to pay any attention to me.
Finally, here’s a tiny bee from Saturday, who is barely bigger than a single garlic mustard blossom, and iNaturalist suggests that it might be a Carlin’s mining bee (Andrena carlini).
Don’t worry. I patiently waited until the bee was done mining all the nectar and pollen it wanted, and then I carefully pulled up the garlic mustard, to get the taproot, pulled off the flowers and crushed them so they can’t go to seed even once the plant is pulled, and tossed it all on the paved path to be further ground by foot traffic. If that sounds a little harsh, perhaps you haven’t yet seen how garlic mustard choaks out all the native plants in its path and leaves nothing but a field of dried stalks full of seeds by mid-July.
Yes, buckthorn is bad, too, of course, but at least I see birds use it for cover all the time and eat its fruits all winter. On the other hand, this is the first time I’ve ever seen a critter get anything out of garlic mustard.
Anyway, your blossom of the day, about which I hope you can be glad, if iNaturalist’s identification is correct, is this pretty, native smooth yellow violet (Viola eriocarpa).
Well, the pouring down rain has arrived, but it held off until nearly 8:30 this morning, so I had plenty of time to look for wildlife in Estabrook Park. What I didn’t have, however, is enough light to take decent photographs, so here are some more recent pictures that didn’t make the first cut.
A huge treat of yesterday morning was spotting our first beaver in a while. It was swimming upstream beside the near riverbank, and once I spotted it, I ran ahead to have my camera ready when it approached. Here it is climbing over something submerged, probably just a rock.
After the walk and on my way home, I was thrilled to find a pair of great blue herons fishing in the river at the far south end. Here’s the one that posed in front of the nicer background.
Finally, here’s another look at the sandhill cranes from Waterford on Sunday. Yes, yes, I should have closed the aperture a bit to get both birds in focus, but I didn’t think of that at the time. Oh well. Maybe next time.
Lastly, your blossom of the day is this May apple, also from Waterford. I am beginning to see them open in Estabrook, but it is always dark when I spot one, and I vow to take their picture later in the day, but I always forget.
As I mentioned might be possible yesterday, I did manage to sneak into Estabrook before we had to head downtown for a graduation ceremony, and I even took some pictures.
First up is this northern waterthrush who was finally ready to pose for my camera. Sure, the light was poor, so whatever you do, don’t zoom in on the image, but you gotta admit, that sure was a nice pose.
Although we are squarely in their year-round range, cedar waxwings make themselves pretty scarce over the winter, and I haven’t managed to get a picture of one since early last December, but they’re back now, Baby, and here’s one munching on some fruit tree blossoms.
In addition to the waterthrush, there were also plenty of colorful warblers, too, and here’s a gorgeous Blackburnian letting us have a little better look than last week.
After the graduation ceremony, we all went out to Anne’s mom’s place in Waterford to celebrate, and while I was waiting for folks to arrive, I took a look around. As usual, there were some sandhill cranes gleaning whatever seeds they could from the fields, but this time, they put on a little airshow, too.
The horned larks are back, as well, and here’s one blending into the background, despite its distinct yellow chin and short black bib.
When we got home yesterday afternoon, and I hung up my windbreaker, I saw my poofy coat, which I haven’t had to wear in a while, and I thought to myself how I never know at the time when I’m wearing it for its last outing of the season. Then I checked the weather forecast for this morning. Yikes! Temps in the low 40s, thick cloud cover, and a stiff wind that pushed the windchill temps down into the low 30s! What the heck month is this, anyway?
Happily, the weather didn’t stop people from joining our weekly wildlife walk, though John Kasper did pull on a sweatshirt, and we had our biggest crowd yet, with 15 folks, if you count me. Despite the cold, we counted 61 bird species, including 14 warblers, across three checklists; the 7 a.m. crew, the 8 a.m. crew, and the combined crew; which is also a new record for us. Woo Hoo!
As I mentioned yesterday, I’ll be enjoying a graduation ceremony down at the Panther Arena most of the morning with a family celebration afterwards, so even if I do sneak into Estabrook beforehand, I won’t have time to write you a post. Thus, these are pictures from the past week that didn’t fit.
This first bird is a Philadelphia vireo, who is supposedly “rare” for here now, and who I thought was a Tennessee warbler when I was taking the picture yesterday beside the river. You can see the similarities here, and my guess is that it is only “rare” because of the timing, as we are in their migratory range, but after I reported seeing one, they’ve probably downgraded it to “infrequent”. After all, “if Dressel managed to see one, how rare can it be, right?”
A pair of spotted sandpipers have also become regulars, and here’s one from Friday with some nice backlighting to make its legs and beak glow.
The white-throated sparrows, who were thick on the ground for a week or so, seemed to have mostly flown north, and now it is the white-crowned sparrows, who only recently flew in, who seem to be everywhere. Here’s one of the latter beside the southern soccer fields on Thursday.
I’m gonna run into the park as soon as I am done here, if it ever gets light out, and then bring my camera to the family event this afternoon in Waterford, and if I get any pictures worth showing, I’ll see if I can squeeze them into Monday’s post.
Oh, and don’t forget, you can join our weekly wildlife walk tomorrow morning at either 7 a.m., if you’re an early riser, or 8 a.m., if you need your beauty rest.
It was cool, cloudy, and breezy this morning in Estabrook Park, but at least the rain never amounted to more than spritzing. Also, the gray sky provides a less-than-ideal background, of course, but the wind forces the bugs to stay closer to the ground, and the birds follow them, so the sky might not even be in the picture.
Anyway, when I got to the pond, I was thrilled to find that the goslings hadn’t hiked down to the river after all. At least not yet, and here’s one of them grazing beside Mom or Dad, and you can really see how big they’ve gotten.
There was also a pair of wood ducks kicking around, and here’s the drake. I haven’t shown you them much lately because there’ve been so many new sights, but I was a little nervous about what pictures I might get today, so here you are.
The next nice surprise came when this Baltimore oriole, who tend to be shyer than this, swooped in to perch barely ten feet in front of me, and just about at eye level. I figured it would be gone in a second, but it turned, took a look at me, and proceeded to go about his business, which was singing, as though I wasn’t even there. So, I picked up my camera and snapped this nice portrait. Ta da!
On my way back south, toward home, I kept to the river path to stay out of the wind, and I must have found a spot where the bugs had accumulated, because it was just hopping with warblers. Here’s another chestnut-sided.
Here’s a black-throated green, who even found a bit of a thin spot in the clouds above.
And here’s our first darling female American redstart of the year.
Speaking of natives, Friends of Estabrook Park is hosting a “weedout” tomorrow (Sunday, May 18th) morning from 9-12, in an effort to beat back the invasion of garlic mustard and dames rocket a bit. If you’re interested, meet in the middle parking lot, by the maintenance yard, and wear shoes and clothing suitable for the weather and the task.
No, you don’t have to work for the full three hours. Every little bit helps, but I won’t be able to join you because I have the happy occasion of a graduation to attend, instead, and I’ll post some pictures that haven’t made the cut yet to tide you over.
I could tell there had been quite a storm in Estabrook Park overnight by the number of trees and branches down, including the last big dead tree over the upstream island. That’s were we saw the osprey perched just yesterday, and I don’t know if the big raptors we get to see there will like the remaining tall live tree that is now leafing out. We’ll find out soon enough, I suppose.
Anywho, the forecast for this morning proved to be accurate, and the weather was beautiful, with clear, blue skies, warm temps, and a light breeze, so I had high hopes.
My first treat came after I returned to the river from the pond and headed upstream from the falls. As I approached the downstream island, this prothonotary warbler appeared to have been dissatisfied with the pictures I took of the previous one, and so he proceeded to set the record straight.
Oh, we played cat and mouse for a few minutes, but then he either got used to me or was too hungry to worry about me, and then we made some pretty nice pictures, given the available light.
When I figured that I must have gotten what I needed, I continued upstream, and as I approached the second island, I found a second brood of mallard ducklings, this time with eleven. The first brood, of nine, was also around, but how many duckling pictures can one take?
The next relatively new sight came on my way back south and up on the bluff, where I found this female or nonbreeding malescarlet tanager, depending on how dark those wings look.
Just across the lawn from the tanager, I could hear the call of this Wilson’s warbler, but man-o-man, did it ever make me work for this picture, such as it is.
By the way, while we’re at the pond, it appears that the geese really did marched their goslings down to the river this time, because there was no sign of them during either of my visits this morning.
Now, back to birds. It is hilarious, in hindsight, that I complained about how hard the Wilson’s warbler made me work, because compared to this next bird, that was child’s play. This is my very first picture of an ovenbird (Seiurus aurocapilla). I’ve heard their distinctive call plenty of times before, including just last Saturday, but I’ve only ever laid eyes on one once before. Now I just need one to feel about this picture the way the prothonotary warbler felt about his. In any case, I read that they get their unusual name from their “nest, a leaf-covered dome [on the ground] resembling an old-fashioned outdoor oven,” which the female “weaves … from the inside as a single, integrated piece.”
Dragonflies aren’t the only insects brought out by the warm weather. I saw a couple of butterflies flutter by at the pond, but both kept going. Instead, I caught this monarch taking a breather, but only for a second, a bit farther south. “Welcome back, Beautiful!”
Finally, your blossom of the day is our very owneastern shooting star. Yes, I know only one blossom is open, so far, but they’re growing right beside a trail, and I wanted to get a picture before some mishap befalls them.
Not impressed? How ’bout now?
Lastly, the forecast for tomorrow morning calls for clouds and wind, so don’t get your hopes up.
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 