Signs of Life in Estabrook Park

The fog thickens…

Man, if I thought yesterday was foggy, I hadn’t seen nothin’ yet. Here’s a picture of a least sandpiper, who was kind enough to visit again, that I think best captures the mood in Estabrook Park this morning.

Fortunately, the fog eventually dispersed a bit, so I was able to get a picture of our first Savannah sparrow in the park of the year, who we just saw down beside Lake Michigan on Sunday.

I’ve been glimpsing an osprey flying south over the river now and then lately, but it opted to perch high over the upstream island instead today, perhaps due to fog, so I guess that might be a silver lining.

The first big treat of the day was hearing the familiar song of an eastern wood-pewee, and it didn’t take me long to find this handsome little singer perched low over the downstream island.

The very light breeze off the lake, which caused all the fog, makes perfect conditions for warblers, and the trees were crawling with them in places. Here’s another magnolia warbler beside the river.

Here’s a common yellowthroat behind the dog park. I find them a bit tricky to get on film, but today I was already busy trying to get a wren picture when this guy caught a worm to eat right between me and the wren. Sometimes I get lucky.

As I was walking home on the paved path, look who I found almost at eye level where the path is squeezed between the bluff and the parkway. Reliable sources tell me that she’s a female blackpoll warbler, and she might be the first one I’ve ever seen.

Finally, your blossom of the day is this stunner, which other sources tell me is a blackish columbine or Bulgarian columbine (Aquilegia nigricans), and whose name suggests it ain’t from around here. Instead, it is native to “to several non-contiguous, mainly mountainous areas in the eastern Alps, the Carpathian Mountains, and the southern and eastern Balkans. It is found in Slovenia, Austria, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Romania, and Greece, and in small areas of southeastern Poland, eastern Slovakia, northwestern Croatia, eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina, western Hungary, Serbia, and western Ukraine. Reports of specimens in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of northeastern Italy are thought to have been erroneous.” Wow, that’s a lot of information.

Anyway, not too impressive? Well, how about now? If still not yet, click on the image to see the original resolution on flickr. There you can also display it “full screen”.

Lastly, the forecast for tomorrow morning is a bit warmer, a bit breezier, and sunny! That’ll be a nice change of pace.

Not too foggy to see, thankfully…

Sheesh! It was foggy this morning in Estabrook Park. How foggy, you ask? Well, foggy enough to bejewel this spider web beside the soccer fields with dew drops. Sure, the picture would be a whole lot prettier with the sun shining on it, but how do you expect the sun to shine through a blanket of fog that thick?

As luck would have it, I saw my first bay-breasted warbler of the year in this fog, and this is as good as I can clean up the image. My picture from a year ago came out a little better.

On a mild morning like this, you can bet the toads were singing in the river again, and they are getting bolder. This guy just kept on going as I stood five feet away to take his portrait.

And with this goal in mind, who can blame him, right?

By the time I reached the north end beside the river, the fog had mostly lifted, and this black-throated blue warbler, technically my second of the year, gave me another chance for a fog-free photo.

By the time I was heading back south, the toads had begun to quiet down, and that let me concentrate on spotting our first veery of the year.

I stayed beside the river as I continued south towards home, in hopes of stumbling across another warbler feeding frenzy, and it didn’t take me long to do just that. Better yet, this one contained our first blackpoll warbler of the year.

Finally, your blossoms of the day are these delicate wild geraniums, which are starting to open throughout the park.

The forecast for tomorrow morning calls for even more fog, but if the parade of new faces continues as it did this morning, who can complain?

Lots to see, despite the rain…

It was raining this morning when the sun came up, but that wrapped up by around 7 a.m., and I hustled into Estabrook Park soon after that.

My first big surprise came early, and I could hardly believe my eyes when I turned my binoculars to a dark shape, which I thought was probably a robin, high in a tree beside the paved path that runs along the west side of the southern soccer fields. Once I realized what it was, however, I was so excited that I had to calm myself down a bit before I could hold my camera steady. Here, Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, is our very first common nighthawk (Chordeiles minor), which I have glimpsed flying high over Shorewood once or twice at dusk, but never in Estabrook Park before, and never perched like this. Be still my heart!

Their range map indicates that this little sleepyhead has probably just flown in from the Caribbean or South America. In fact, I read that they have “one of the longest migration routes of all North American birds.“

Another recent arrival was waiting for me right across the path, in the remains of the weeds that grew beside the soccer fields last year. Here’s our first Tennessee warbler of the year, just in from the Caribbean, Central America, or Northern South America.

I didn’t find our next new face until I got north of the beer garden, where I could hear the ethereal call of our first wood thrush of the year.

The new faces didn’t even stop there. When I reached the riverbank across from the upstream island, I was relieved to find that the recent rain had not covered up much, if any, of the exposed river bottom, and as if to prove my point, a flock of seven tiny least sandpipers flew in to refill their tanks. I’ve only been lucky enough to see them once before in Estabrook.

I’ve been wondering lately where our great blue herons have been hiding all spring, and I even mentioned their absence to the crew yesterday, but look who finally decided to show its face as I was trying to get a good picture of the least sandpipers with what little light I had.

Back on our side of the river, the warblers were especially thick today, and here’s the first blackburnian warbler picture I’ve managed this year.

Our first magnolia warbler was a bit more accommodating.

Finally, your blossom of the day is from one of the first trees I see blooming in the park each spring, this common service berry.

More new developments in Estabrook…

We had the nicest weather of the year, so far, in Estabrook Park this morning, with clear skies, warm temps, and still air, which made perfect conditions for our weekly wildlife walk. Seven folks came out for the 7 a.m. start, and two more joined us at 8 a.m. I started a new checklist at 8, and we identified 52 species before we called it quits.

The first big surprise of the morning was finding our first ducklings of the year, these nine mallards, in the river just off the upstream island. They must have been hungry, because they had stayed on the bit of exposed river bottom as Mom had drifted away. When I showed up, they seemed to realize how far away she had gotten and made a b-line for her.

Surprise number two was the familiar call of our first red-eyed vireo of the year.

The scarlet tanagers are still around, and we saw at least three at once, and there might even have been five, altogether.

We also saw my first magnolia warbler, whose picture did not turn out well, and my first Wilson’s warbler, who I didn’t even try to capture on film. Instead, I have this pretty nice picture of our first willow flycatcher of the year.

When I first stopped by the pond, I didn’t see the goslings, and figured that Mom and Dad had finally marched them down to the river, but when we went by a second time, look who we found. Boy, they’ve gotten big, eh?

In the water, I believe this is the first American bullfrog I’ve seen this year.

Finally, your blossom of the day is this dainty little thing, which appears to be sharp-lobed hepatica (Hepatica acutiloba), growing in the woods between the parkway and the Oak Leaf Trail.

Lastly, we have some rain in the forecast for tomorrow morning, but it might wrap up by sunrise, so keep your fingers crossed.

Lake Michigan delivers again…

In celebration of Mother’s Day, I’m sure, and World Migratory Bird Day, which was actually yesterday, the Milwaukee Birders planned a little show-and-tell event at Lakeshore State Park this morning, and I was ready for a change of pace, so I rode my bike down at sunrise to wait for them to arrive.

Just kidding. Not about riding my bike down, of course, but I went early to see who I could see before the park go busy, not just to wait for the Milwaukee Birders to show up.

Anyway, the sun hadn’t even come up yet as I went by Juneau Lagoon, and I had such good luck last time, that I stopped to take another peek. Well, look who was peeking back. Yup, a black-crowned night heron, again, but this time, as I tried to sneak a little closer, I inadvertently spooked a full dozen other herons that were perched in the trees behind me. Wow and Sorry!

After the night herons, I rode just a bit farther south and then traipsed across the open field left after all the trees were removed, to get a better look at the water and shoreline. Well, it appears that a pair of killdeer have built a nest in that field somewhere, and when I got too close, they both started doing their best “broken-wing” display. Here’s the nicest picture I could manage of that.

When I finally made it to Lakeshore State Park, the sun was up, and that shone some nice light on the first purple martin I’ve seen in Milwaukee County.

There were a couple of lesser scaups and one female ruddy duck in the “quiet water basin”, but we’ve seen them before, and the better show was in the air over Lake Michigan. There, mixed in with the herring and ring-billed gulls, were a few small terns, and their relatively stubby little tails makes them common terns (Sterna hirundo), which I haven’t seen since I was in South Holland, and who appear to be just passing through, which is befitting of the day.

Once in a while, one of the terns would look much bigger than the others, with a beak to match, and that’s because it was a Caspian tern, which we have seen before, but not in flight like this. They are also just visiting.

Then, as if it heard us talking about bigger and smaller black-and-white birds, this monster drifted over, an American white pelican, “one of the largest North American birds“. We’ve seen them before as well, especially at Kohler-Andrae State Park, and I’ve even glimpsed them flying over Estabrook Park, but this is the first picture I’ve managed in Milwaukee County. We’re not even in their natural range, so what an extra special surprise. Woo hoo!

Back on the ground, here’s my first Savannah sparrow of the year, which Katie spotted for me. “Thanks, Katie!”

Finally, the only blossoms I saw open this morning were dandelions, so let’s go back to the Shorewood Nature Preserve last week for your blossom of the day, these dainty-looking cut-leaved toothworts (Cardamine concatenata). It is claimed, with a reliable-looking source, that “the roots can be washed, chopped and ground in vinegar to be used as a horseradish substitute.” Yum.

Lastly, the forecast for our weekly wildlife walk tomorrow morning looks excellent, and now that the sun rises at 5:31 a.m., some folks have expressed interest in starting earlier, but not everyone shares that interest. Thus, I will swing by the parking lot at 7 a.m. to pick up the early risers, and then we will all swing by again at 8 a.m. for anyone who needs that extra hour of sleep. Feel free to join us at either time.

More new faces, and a shorebird trifecta, hurray!

It was much warmer in Estabrook Park this morning, and there was no hint of frost. Plus, the skies were still clear, so I was able to start nice and early, before the wind came up.

My first surprise came at the pond, where I spotted our first eastern kingbird of the year.

Below the kingbird, and on the water, I had noticed a sandpiper, and I thought it was a solitary, but after I thought I had the best picture I was going to get from the kingbird, I was pleasantly surprised to find that one sandpiper had turned into two, and the one on the right is indeed a solitary, but the one on the left is a spotted. How convenient of them to provide us with this guide for noticing the difference between the two! Besides the namesake spots on its breast, the spotted also has a distinct eyeline, which the solitary lacks.

As I neared the upstream island in the river, I heard a now-familiar call, like a robin with a slightly-scratchy throat, and I excitedly hurried up the bluff to find our first scarlet tanager of the year.

Out on the water, a few ~~lesser yellowlegs were back again~~, more solitary sandpipers. ~~bringing our shorebird species count for the morning to three.~~

Back up on the bluff, our first chestnut-sided warbler of the year put on a nice little show.

I could also hear a killdeer calling, and I even saw the one that hangs out farther downstream, but I didn’t take its picture today. Instead, to round out our ~~quartet~~ trio of shorebirds, here’s that killdeer on Tuesday.

Finally, back up on the bluff, here’s our first yellow-throated vireo of the year.

Lastly, your “blossom” of the day is this American yellow morel ascocarp, or fruiting body. I hear they’re tasty, especially when fried in butter with garlic. “Yum!”

Then I hustled home to drop off my camera and binoculars in time to join the Friends of Estabrook Park weedout, and we mostly pulled garlic mustard from the area recently cleared of buckthorn by the southern parking lot. If you’re thinking to yourself, “Dang, I wished I had know, because I would have helped,” then you’re in luck, because they’re having another one on Sunday, May 18, from 9-12.

The wind takes a breather…

The skies stayed clear, and the air stayed cold, but the wind almost stopped, so it was a very nice morning in Estabrook Park, despite the hoar frost on the grass in places.

My first big surprise came at the far northwest end, where I had gone to check on the pigeon chicks and see if any barn swallows had started nesting yet. I couldn’t really see the chicks today, and there were no barn swallows yet, but check out this brood of seventeen (17!) goslings I got to watch steam by. My bet is that this is the result of two or more broods combining into a crèche, as we’ve seen before, and one goose did not lay seventeen eggs, but still, that’s a lot of goslings.

On my way back downstream, and back on shore, I found my first palm warbler willing to sit for a portrait.

Farther downstream, a great horned owl was in, but this picture from Wednesday, which I didn’t have room to show you then, came out better than anything I could manage today.

The next big surprise came near the south end. There was a steady stream of sparrows flitting north beside the river, and most appeared to be white-throated, but this little cutie behaved slightly differently, and that’s because it is our first Lincoln’s sparrow of the year. Hurray!

As I was crossing the soccer fields on my way toward the exit, I spotted a bird in a tree over the southern parking lot again, but this was no vesper sparrow. Instead, it was this young and quite lightly-colored red-tailed hawk.

Finally, the nice still air today allowed the bugs to waft nice and high into the air and trees, and the warblers followed them, so I didn’t have as much luck with pictures as I did yesterday. Fortunately, I have a few extra pictures from yesterday, when everyone was keeping close to the ground, and here’s a female northern flicker who couldn’t have struck a better pose for us.

Lastly, your blossom of the day is this jack-in-the-pulpit, which is the first one I’ve seen this year.

Spring hits pause…

There was a stiff breeze out of the northeast this morning, which reminded me, and anyone else out in it, just how cold the waters of Lake Michigan still are. The windchill temperature was supposed to be 31°F at sunrise. Yikes!

Luckily for our resident eastern screech-owl, the opening of its nook faces the southwest, so it might have felt as snug as a bug in a rug.

The sky was nice and clear, though, and the sun is pretty warm this time of year, so if you could find a sunny spot that was out of the wind, such as our riverbank at the north end, it felt quite comfortable. Perhaps that’s what this American redstart, our first of the year, was singing about.

Another new arrival who had found a similar spot was this male rose-breasted grosbeak.

As did this Nashville warbler, of which I’ve seen a few already, but who haven’t let me get a nice picture until today.

Goslings hatched beside the river have the advantage of automatically being out of the cold wind, at least for today, and here’s one of several broods I saw. The ones at the pond are still doing fine and are already nearly twice this size.

Even the Baltimore orioles, who usually keep to the treetops, were down near eye-level for a change.

Finally, your blossoms of the day are these elegantly understated prairie trilliums, aka toadshades, but it was way to cold for toads today.

Lastly, the forecast for tomorrow looks similar to today, except that the winds are supposed to be 2 mph instead of 12 mph. Woo hoo!

Some highs and lows…

It has gotten cool and breezy now, but earlier today the weather was as nice in Estabrook as yesterday, so I was crossing the Oak Leaf Trail into the park just after 5:30 a.m. There’s a guy who likes to let his German shepherd run loose on the soccer fields, and some days I get there before they do, and some days they’re already gone before I arrive, but today they were just a couple hundred feet in front of me.

I’d rather not tangle with a loose dog, especially one that I’ve seen act aggressively before, and I don’t expect to see much wildlife in their vicinity anyway, so I cut straight north along the parkway, and it turns out I may not be the only one who’d rather avoid them, because here are a couple of deer hustling across the parkway to get to the quieter side.

I could tell that yesterday was a nice, warm day because the path down to the river was loaded with tiny silk threads left at eye level by various tiny critters for the first time this year, which is always a treat, and the riverbank, which I had just picked up yesterday morning, was littered with fresh fishing line, other tackle, and empty bait containers. I was fewer than thrilled about that.

As I went about collecting the latter, I came across this robin tangled in some line that was also tangled in some low brush. Luckily, after the gosling incident, I keep a pair of tiny safety shears in my camera harness, and I was able to free it pretty quickly. Unfortunately, the bird managed to free itself from my grasp before I could finish getting all the line off its left ankle, which you can just make out in the image below. I’m sure it wasn’t tied in a knot, so let’s hope that now, without any tension to keep it on, it will just come loose and fall off. Dang.

Anyway, as I bent down to pick up the line I had just cut off the robin, look who I found hiding in the grass just off the trail, our first amphibian of the year, an American toad. Yay! Even better, at the north end I could hear that a few of them had started singing. Fantastic!

The trees beside the river at the north end were full of warblers, but they kept up high, and none of them appeared interested in getting their portrait taken today. Instead, this quartet of hungry, lesser yellowlegs did quite a nice job of posing for my camera on an exposed mud flat beside the upstream island.

In addition to the first amphibian, I also saw my first vireo of the year, this gorgeous blue-headed vireo, who was kind, or bold, enough to perch right at my eye level.

Finally, on my way back downstream, the killdeer who’s been hanging out on our riverbank lately was at it again, and today it let me sneak one of the nicest killdeer pictures I believe I’ve managed to take.

Lastly, your blossoms of the day are these beautiful large white trilliums, which are open in various places throughout the park.

PS: Sorry about the venting above. I am usually able to let that stuff go, at least by the time I write my post, but the two situations in quick succession really stuck with me today. Yeah, I know it’s an urban park and not some remote wildlife refuge, but I still wish park goers would follow the few rules we do have and be considerate of other park users and denizens. Where’s the “live and let live” in chasing deer and literally trapping birds in accidental snares?

It finally feels like summer might be right around the corner…

What a difference 24 hours can make. Yesterday morning, I wore a poofy coat for warmth, and I was glad I did. This morning, I wore only a windbreaker over a thin fleece, and I had to strip it off before I got home.

The critters in Estabrook Park really seemed to respond to the warmth as well, and here are the seven goslings on the west lawn by the pond napping without Mom keeping them warm. Instead, she was busy preening, along with Dad, just out of frame.

Meanwhile, I spotted my first river goslings of the year, four separate broods, in fact, and here’s one that just hopped off the downstream island with eleven!

Just upstream of the goslings and on our shore, here’s my first spotted sandpiper of May. Unlike the solitary, which we just saw yesterday, these don’t go far, and we can hope to see them on and off all summer. Yay!

A bit farther upstream, here’s our first catbird of the season, but not the year. You may recall that crazy one we had hanging out in January and February.

Near the catbird, but a lot higher in a tree was a legit new arrival for the year, our first indigo bunting. I had heard their song as soon as I reached the islands in the river, but it took me to the upstream end of the upstream island to finally lay eyes on one.

On my way back home, I was thinking to myself, “wow, that’s almost all of them. All except for the flycatchers.” And then I heard this little cutie, our first flycatcher of the year, specifically a least flycatcher.

Finally, your blossom of the day is this tiny self-heal, which is feeding and being pollinated by our first bumblebee of the year, which I believe is a two-spotted bumblebee (Bombus bimaculatus).

The forecast for tomorrow is for more of the same, so I can’t wait to see who arrives next.