Signs of Life in Estabrook Park

December gets off to a great start!

The recent weather I’ve been enjoying in Estabrook Park just keeps getting better! The wind speed this morning had slowed to just barely into double digits, but temps were low enough to bring the wind chill down to 0°F at sunrise, and the skies were crystal clear. Outstanding!

We still have belted kingfishers, if you can believe it, but they’re now frozen out of the pond and the water around the islands, where we’ve seen them all summer, and so here’s the female fishing over the far riverbank beside the shallow rapids far downstream of the falls.

With all that ice, I didn’t see anything but mallards and one herring gull at the north end today, but at the pond I found this beauty, a dark-eyed junco of the Oregon subspecies (Junco hyemalis oreganus), foraging in the leaves and grass beside the path. For comparison, I had a nice picture of the slate-colored subspecies (Junco hyemalis hyemalis), which is what we usually see around here, back on September 27, when they first arrived from up north.

On my way south along the river, the sun had finally reached down over the bluff, and the reflection of the far riverbank off the water was amazing. Here’s a mallard drake dabbling in it.

Best of all, this cold snap has finally brought us our first fancy visitor, a lone redhead drake (Aythya americana), on its way to its wintering grounds south of Lake Michigan. I haven’t seen one in Estabrook since March of 2021, and I sure was glad for another chance at a nice portrait. “Welcome back, Sweetie! Feel free to stick around as long as you like.”

Finally, the ice continues to thicken on the river, and here’s a fascinating formation that occurs along the rapids when a little lip of ice forms and then keeps growing as water keeps splashing over it.

Lastly, I plan on hosting our weekly wildlife walk again tomorrow morning at 8am, and the wind chill is forecast to be up to a balmy +10°F, so dress appropriately and come on out, if you feel up for it.

The freeze deepens…

The recent weather trend in Estabrook Park continued this morning with air temps now down into the teens and a stiff breeze to chill them all the way down to just +1°F. But the sky was still pretty clear again, so the critters could have a hope of catching a little warmth, if they could find a spot in the sun and sheltered from the wind.

One such spot is the stand of short spindle trees and other brush beside the river and across from the pair of radio towers. It was rife with birds this morning, and here’s a goldfinch taking full advantage of the situation while also nibbling on something it’s finding on the bark of the trees. I had no luck finding the bluebirds again, however.

The closer a perch is to the ground, the slower the breeze is, of course, so this red-bellied woodpecker was just about at eye level for a change.

These mourning doves, on the other hand, must have felt that a little more peace of mind was worth a little more breeze, so they kept to overhead perches.

Finally, the pond is completely frozen over, and the river is really starting to ice up. In some places the ice cover reaches from riverbank to riverbank. I haven’t seen any exotic waterfowl from up north yet, but at this rate, we might not have much longer to wait.

Here’s a look between the two abandoned bridge abutments downstream of the falls. In the foreground, you can see a big pile of ice chunks that has accumulated as the flowing water below keeps pushing ice downstream.

A winter blast arrives at last…

Temps were only in the high 20s this morning in Estabrook Park, but a stiff breeze out of the west brought the windchill down into the single digits. As we like to say, “that’s brisk!” The good news is that this should bring some ice to the river, which I have a hope will finally bring us some exotic winter waterfowl, such as goldeneyes and buffleheads. In the meantime, the partly cloudy skies were letting through plenty of sunlight and that often makes for some pretty pictures.

At the north end, one of our owls was in their usual spot, and less buried in the sticks than the last couple of days, probably in hopes of soaking up some of that sun.

By the pond, the black-capped chickadees were doing their thing, and no, I did not rotate this picture.

Just below the chickadee, this red squirrel seemed frozen by the recent change in the weather, and after this picture, I turned to let it bask in the sun a bit longer.

As I approached the river, across from the pair of radio towers, I could hear the goldfinches foraging among the low spindle trees that grow there, and I spotted one on a branch above the fray, but it seemed bigger than I would expect from a goldfinch. Well, that’s because it was a poofed-up eastern bluebird instead, which really took me by surprise, especially since there were four of them. They’re year-round range just clips the southern tips of Illinois and Indiana, so these little darlings have a few hundred miles yet to go, and they’re running a bit behind schedule.

Finally, ice is forming on the river, mostly along the edges where the water moves slowly, but the dusting of snow it received just before sunrise didn’t make for any sparkly pictures. Instead, here are some ice bells that formed since yesterday and merged into one big one by this morning.

Happy Thanksgiving!

As quiet as Estabrook Park was yesterday, it seemed even quieter this morning. The critters appeared to be taking the holiday off, as well, and I didn’t take a picture until I stopped by the pond on my way home from the north end.

When I first saw this little cutie foraging in the lawn with the juncos near the pond, I thought it was one of the tree sparrows I’ve been seeing lately. Once I got the pictures home, however, I could see that it’s an immature white-crowned sparrow, which we haven’t seen since October.

On the path from the pond down to the river, a bunch of robins were raiding berries from a tree, which was probably buckthorn, unfortunately. The sun had cleared the cloud bank to the east by then, which lit up the scene nicely.

Mixed in with the robins was this young European starling, still in its spots.

I did see a great blue heron and a great horned owl, but they weren’t offering particularly good pictures today, and I thought the three above were all I was going to be able to show you. Then, just as I was crossing the Oak Leaf Trail on my way out of the park, look who I glimpsed soaking up some sun down in the ditch between the trail and Wilson Drive. I certainly have seen Cooper’s hawks near the ground before, when they are hunting or playing, but I’ve have not yet found one perched so low just basking. If you appreciate the fine details, this one is worth clicking on so you can zoom in.

The sun was fun while it lasted…

The clouds are back over Estabrook Park today, but the air was a bit warmer than yesterday and a lot less breezy. Add to that a reduction in commuter traffic noise for the holiday, and it was a perfect morning for enjoying some peace and quiet along the Milwaukee River. The icing on the cake was when I managed to reach the wide and slow part of the river beneath the pair of radio towers over the far riverbank before they started their cooling fans. I don’t know if that’s because they crank up their power during the day, or for some other reason, but for a while, I could hear a pin drop, plus a lot of bird songs. It was glorious.

As I approached the water, I could see that someone was making ripples right at the water’s edge, so I kept a little grass between us and my camera in front of my face as I edged into view, and this muskrat was kind, or hungry, enough to go right on enjoying its breakfast of fresh roots.

After a couple of pictures, I left the muskrat in peace and continued upstream just a bit before I found our late season hermit thrush again.

Above the falls and on the southern island, one of the great horned owls was in its usual spot again, though facing the other way today.

The pair of great blue herons continue to stick with us, too, but this picture from yesterday, before the sun reached down over the bluff, was nicer than any I could get today.

While I’m showing pictures from yesterday that didn’t fit with yesterday’s sunny motif, here’s a glimpse of an eastern cottontail hiding in the brush along the river. Compared to the summer, they really start making themselves scarce about this time of year.

Finally, ice has started to form on the pond, and the combination of still air and temps barely below freezing is allowing enormous crystals to form on the surface. These spears of ice were over a foot long.

Some sun and blue sky, at long last…

We finally received our first hard freeze overnight in Estabrook Park, and the ground was crunchy with ice in places this morning. It was also a bit breezy, which pushed the windchill into the teens, but the sky was blue, and the sun was warm, so it was a darn fine morning for taking pictures.

When I got to the pond, I was stunned to find 54 Canada geese floating on the water and eerily quiet. I sat on the bench to soak in the scene, and this bold one came the closest, but I had no food for them, so nobody ventured up onto the lawn.

An owl was back in the usual spot on the southern island in the river, and it appeared to be basking a bit in the sun, so I was able to find a spot with a pretty clear shot.

On my way back south along the river, I found at least a dozen mourning doves foraging in a sunny spot on the side of the bluff.

Farther south, I managed to catch this red-bellied woodpecker when it popped out of the shade for a moment as it worked its way up this tree trunk.

Finally, just as I was about to exit the park, I heard this red-tailed hawk calling from the big TV tower there, almost as if to say, “look up here!” I got a couple of pictures of it on the tower, but then it had a better idea and glided to a tree across the parkway where I could take a nice portrait in a natural setting. “Thanks, Beautiful!”

Lastly, we haven’t had enough cold yet to form ice on the river or even the pond, but the few pools of shallow water beside the river have formed nice patterns of ice crystals on their surface, and here’s a maple leaf stuck in one.

A slow start to Thanksgiving week…

Man, the sky has been so consistently grey in Estabrook Park for so long that when there was a momentary gap in the grey this morning, I jokingly asked the folks on our weekly wildlife walk, “what’s that blue stuff overhead?” Well, at least the winds were light, and it wasn’t raining yet.

As I hustled along the river to make my 8 am appointment, I spotted a pair of muskrats at the water’s edge just downstream. I’ve ever only managed to capture two together once before, so not a bad start to the morning.

At the pond, a female belted kingfisher perched among the sumac seeds over the far shore.

On our walk, there were twelve of us again, and we spotted, or positively IDed by sound, 21 bird species, including a great horned owl, which we inadvertently spooked from its perch over our riverbank as we approached to see who might be out on the water. It only flew to the northern island, but it found such a good hiding spot there that it took us all a while just to get eyes on it, so no picture today.

All the rest of the birds seemed to follow the owl’s example and avoided my camera. The one other picture I did manage is of this raccoon appearing to be sleeping while half sticking out of a completely different tree than last week. I guess the housing market really is as tight as they say.

The current forecast calls for another freeze overnight and clear skies in the morning, but at this point, I’ll believe it when I see it.

Aaaand, they’re gone again…

The weather was about the same as usual in Estabrook Park this morning, but for reasons I can’t explain, nobody wanted to come out and play today.

I did get a picture of this gorgeous brown trout, my first ever, but the trout really didn’t have any say in the matter.

All the rest of the critters, on the other hand, acted today like this little cutie, and did their best to duck for cover.

I’ve heard that a snowy owl was spotted at Lake Shore State Park just yesterday, so there certainly are amazing sights to see, and with any luck, our weekly wildlife walk tomorrow will be more like yesterday than today. Keep your fingers crossed!

Ahh, that’s what we like to see…

The weather continues to be grey and cool but not very cold, and the wind that accompanied the snow has mostly subsided. Best of all, it appears that the critters in Estabrook Park have managed to catch up for lost time, and quite a few let me take their picture this morning.

The two great blue herons we’ve been seeing for much of the fall were back on the river again today, and here’s the one in the prettier setting, off the southern tip of the northern island.

I did see a great horned owl again, but it was as buried as yesterday, so I let it be today. A Cooper’s hawk also flew in, but it only parked briefly high above the far riverbank and against a light grey sky, so I let that one go, too.

Instead, this male northern cardinal perched perfectly on a clump of sumac seeds beside the pond right when the sun was burning a little hole through the clouds, and that always makes a nice picture.

Meanwhile, right across the path that goes around the pond, this little red squirrel was chowing down on box elder seeds.

Simultaneously, just across the little unpaved path that heads up to the parkway, this pair of house finches were also filling up on box elder seeds. Here’s the male, …

and here’s the female.

I stopped by the river again on my way back home, and this tiny winter wren was sure agitated about something, because it mostly ignored me and kept chirping as it hopped around some low branches beside the river trail and scanned the trees above.

As I was trying to keep up with the winter wren, look who was also there: our first hermit thrush since the start of November. “Well, hello there!”

Finally, as I crossed the long concrete bridge at the far south end, I got to spend a couple of quality seconds with this handsome guy. It is too early in the year for him to have shed an antler, and he doesn’t look very old, so perhaps this is just his sophomore slump.

Not a bad Saturday morning, eh? Not bad at all.

Things get back to normal…

After all the exciting weather yesterday, things were pretty much back to normal in Estabrook Park this morning. I found a few pockets where the snow accumulated slightly deeper than elsewhere, was well insulated from the ground by vegetation, and/or was shaded from the little bit of sun we’ve been having lately, but those spots were few and far between, and the rest of the snow is all gone already.

One of the great horned owls also appears to be back to normal, after all the excitement on Monday. This one didn’t look very big this morning, so I’m guessing it’s the male. There were four crows cawing and flying around the tall trees beside the river at the north end, but they never seemed to focus on this owl, so he stayed put this time, and they all eventually moved on.

The rest of the birds seemed to be making up for lost time, and none wanted to sit for a picture today. Instead, check out this huge chicken of the woods mushroom (Laetiporus sulphureus), which I was a little surprised to find given the time of year and the recent weather. They are expected “from August to October or later,” so I guess “now” counts as “later” in this case. Anyway, I read further that “the authors of Mushrooms in Color said that the mushroom tastes good sauteed in butter or prepared in a cream sauce served on toast or rice,” but do not trust my identification! I repeat! Do not eat this on my say so!

Finally, if I was surprised by the mushroom, I was floored to spot a moth still flitting about and thrilled to be able to track it to the side of this tiny tree trunk. The website iNaturalist thinks that it is a fall cankerworm moth (Alsophila pometaria), and if that is correct, then I shouldn’t be so surprised after all. Wikipedia reports that “these insects are called fall cankerworms because the females emerge from the soil in November, mate and lay their eggs in clusters on hardwood trees,” so she’s right on schedule. Ha!

The weather is forecast to be about the same for tomorrow, but let’s hope the critters are able to get caught up on their foraging before then and can afford to let me take a couple of pictures.