Signs of Life in Estabrook Park

Happy November!

The crazy weather has finally moved on, and it was a nice and seasonable morning in Estabrook Park, with no rain, partly cloudy skies, and a mild breeze.

My first surprise of the day came very early when I spotted a pair of cedar waxwings picking berries with a bunch of robins at the far south end. I haven’t seen one since September, and I wonder where they hid in October.

At the river’s edge, I found another winter wren and managed to sneak a picture, but it only gave me that one chance, so we’re stuck with that stick through the middle of the picture.

I wasn’t too surprised to see the osprey fishing over the river again, but the folks at ebird.org sure were, and they asked to see a picture. Luckily, the hungry bird gave me a few chances, so I had a nice one to upload. Perhaps this osprey is still using the Julian calendar and just doesn’t realize that it’s already November.

The swamp sparrows are also supposed to be thinning out, but the ones in the grass beside the river and a bit upstream must still be finding plenty to eat.

The great blue heron was in its new favorite spot again, but I was able to reach it from the sunny side this morning.

The phoebe was also still about where I saw it yesterday.

As were the wigeons, and here’s the drake, …

and here’s the hen, but I could not find a gadwall today.

Instead, mixed in with the mallards and wigeons was another bird we haven’t seen since September, this stunning hooded merganser.

Finally, there were still a few wood ducks on the pond, although I didn’t see any photographers again. Perhaps they have gotten their fill for the year.

Lastly, now that it’s a new month, I can show you one more clouded sulphur, the only butterfly I still see flying.

Trick or Treat!

The wind is back to howling and the sun is breaking through now, but when I finally ventured out this morning, it was dark, damp, and eerily quiet in Estabrook Park, a fitting start to today’s festivities. Plus, it continued to sprinkle from time to time, which people seem not to like much, so I had the critters pretty much to myself, and that’s always a treat.

And the critters did not disappoint! I was hiking north along the river when I saw an osprey dive into the water, launch back into the air, and perch a ways upstream. I thought my chances of getting a nice picture without spooking it would be improved if I was up on the bluff, so I hustled back downstream a bit until I found a spot that I could scale. Thankfully, the osprey was eagerly eating its catch and so was still perched where I had last seen it. Finally, I crept behind the fencing at the crest of the bluff on my hands and knees to further improve my chances of getting this image, and that really did the trick. Soon after that, a red-tailed hawk came by and appeared to make a play for some of that fish, but the osprey did not want to share, and they both took off upriver.

As if that wasn’t enough raptor excitement for one morning, before I could even get to the end of the fencing, this Cooper’s hawk flew in, but it was just a tad too late for the party.

Farther upstream and a lot closer to the water, I found this great blue heron looking for a fish of its own.

Above the falls, the phoebe from yesterday was making the best of the still air and perhaps making up for lost time as it grabbed a couple flies per minute on the wing.

Between the islands, the gadwalls are still with us, and these two seem to have hit it off.

I only saw one of the wigeons, the drake I believe, so I can’t say the same for them.

At the pond, the rain was keeping the usual gaggle of photographers away, so I took the rare opportunity to get my first nice wood duck picture in a while.

Finally, back at the south end, I was thrilled to spot a fox sparrow still kicking around. They were mentioned by name in today’s Journal Sentinel by Paul A. Smith, who wrote about how “warm weather has allowed some bird species to linger in Wisconsin, but not for much longer.” Specifically, “sightings of yellow-rumped warblers and fox sparrows over the last week in Wisconsin highlight the mild conditions.” Ta da!

Lastly, and perhaps due to the season of giving that is upon us, some kind souls left me two treats along the river. The mug probably belongs to the beer garden, so I returned it there, but the beer? That might be the fanciest beer anyone has ever left me, so it’s chilling in my fridge now, and I’m gonna enjoy the heck out of that later.

That label sure is spooky, though, isn’t it?

Most things were blown away today

The unrelenting wind continues today, and perhaps the critters are just exhausted by it, because I saw far fewer than even yesterday, let alone usual.

One critter that I really did not expect to see was this little phoebe, perched low over the riverbank, and who feeds by flitting from its perch to catch bugs out of the air. Well, good luck with that on a day like today.

Another unexpected sight was this merlin high over the northern island. We haven’t seen one in a couple of weeks, and I thought they might have finally moved on for the season.

Finally, my third unexpected sight this morning was this catbird, which we haven’t seen in a week, lurking in the bushes beside the pond.

And them’s the thin pickin’s for today, I’m afraid. I see the forecast now calls for continued wind, though maybe a little less fierce, but also rain for tomorrow morning, so don’t get your hopes up yet.

In other news, Donna and Katie at Milwaukee Birders have inspired me to try hosting regular wildlife walks in Estabrook Park, and to avoid conflicts with several other, already-scheduled walks, I’ve chosen Monday mornings at 8:00. If you’d like to join me, just look for me at the northern parking lot, by the beer garden, at 8 am this coming Monday, November 4. I’ll be the guy with a camera and binoculars. Dress for hiking along paved and unpaved trails through the woods and beside the river in the weather forecast for that day, and we’ll try to keep it to just 2 hours.

Also, in case hiking through the woods isn’t for you, don’t forget that I’m scheduled to present live on Tuesday, November 5 from 2:30 to 3:30 at North Shore School for Seniors, and you can go to their website at Nss4s.org to register.

Everything hasn’t blown away, yet.

I’m back from the dentist, and man-o-man, has it gotten windy while I was away. I didn’t expect to see much this morning, but at least it wasn’t raining, and I needed the exercise anyway, so I took a walk in Estabrook Park to see who I could see.

My first pleasant surprise came as I approached the falls and found this great blue heron on the water, perhaps digesting breakfast and/or waiting for the wind to subside so it can go someplace more secluded.

Upstream and on the exposed river bottom between the two islands, I was even more surprised to find a pair of killdeer still hanging around.

The biggest surprise of all, however, was spotting our very first gadwall drake of the season. That ought to give the hens something to quack about.

One nice side effect of strong winds is that if I do spot a little bird, it’s often closer to the ground than usual, and here’s a white-breasted nuthatch by the pond, right at eye level, and showing off a nice big nut that it is probably about to “hatch” with the help of a crevice in that bark.

Finally, all this wind has blown in some very warm air, and it was 70°F at sunrise, so I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised to find an aptly named autumn meadowhawk dragonfly (Sympetrum vicinum).

Some new behaviors, continued…

My outing was so great yesterday, and I’ve got a dentist appointment first thing this morning, so I’m using the rest of yesterday’s story to fill in today. As you may recall, we got up to the point when I spotted an osprey down the bluff and just north of the soccer fields. Well, I couldn’t believe my luck when I spotted it again at the north end as it flew upriver with a nice big fish in tow. Even better, it landed atop the tall dead tree on the northern island, so I set out to get a closer look.

Before I could get there, however, I ran into this guy, who was in the middle of the trail, in almost the same spot I saw one a couple of weeks ago, but this one was fixated on that little tree. It paused for a moment to look me up and down, and I told it to take its time, so it went right back to rubbing its head against the trunk for a bit, …

and then giving it a good sniff. I’ve heard of this, of course, and see a few trees throughout the park with their bark rubbed off, but I have never seen it live before.

It reminded me of the way I’ve seen cats mark a corner in the living room, and it went on so long that I even had time to capture a video.

Anyway, the buck eventually decided that the trunk smelled just the way it should, and it backed away a bit to let me pass. Better yet, the osprey was still there and working on that fish.

I got the best picture I could, and then continued on to check the north end. When I got back, the fish appeared to be all gone, and the osprey was cleaning its beak and talons.

Then it turned, sat upright, puffed up its feathers, and settled in to soak up some morning sun and digest a belly full of fish.

Finally, the flickers have thinned out quite a bit lately, but they’re not all gone yet.

With any luck, I’ll be back in Estabrook on Tuesday.

Some new behaviors…

This morning was one more in a long run of spectacular mornings we’ve been having this fall in Estabrook Park, with mostly clear skies, nearly still air, and seasonably cool temps. Plus, highway traffic in the distance was Sunday-morning light, and the parkway was closed again for the last Shorewood Farmer’s Market of the year, so conditions were perfect for communing with the critters.

My first opportunity came already at the north end of the soccer fields as I hiked across the lawn to enjoy a stroll right down the middle of the parkway, and I spotted this young Cooper’s hawk in one of the crabapple trees on the other side of the pavement.

It has been my experience that they only come this close to the ground when hunting, and this one soon proved my hunch right when it went for one of the many squirrels that were foraging for and hiding nuts in the lawn below. It came up empty, however, and paused for a moment on the grass to see where that wily squirrel had gone.

It soon tried again, and this time it had something, but hold on a sec. What on earth has it caught?

Ha! That is either a short stick or a chunk of bark, and the hawk looked for all the world like it was just playing as it repeatedly leapt into the air with it.

It even covered its “prey” with its wings and tail, which I read is called “mantling“, and hides it from potential competitors. So, maybe this was practice, instead of just play. Either way, I’ve never seen anything like it, and I was transfixed.

The hawk eventually gave up on the stick and tried for another squirrel on the west side of the parkway, which gave me an opportunity to take a nicer picture. What a magnificent creature, eh?

Anyway, it abandoned that attempt, too, and hopped up onto a waste basket to look for the next quarry, or contemplate the error of its ways.

Then it went back to the crab apple tree where the whole show had started, and I decided to let it be and continue my journey north.

Just as I came to where the paved path runs right beside the parkway, barely a hundred yards from where I watched the hawk, look who I spotted searching for its own breakfast down the bluff and over the river: our second raptor of the morning, a young osprey, by the looks of the white edging it still has on its feathers. What a fabulous way to start the day!

To be continued …

A couple of breaks go my way…

We kept the clear skies and calm air from yesterday, but the temperature dipped enough for radiant cooling to frost the grass again in Estabrook Park. It was a perfect morning for the Hot Cider Hustle 5k and half marathon. Luckily, the big event had little impact on life along the Milwaukee River.

The first big breakthrough of the day came early, when this winter wren, the one that I suspect has been toying with me lately, finally relented and let me take about 50 pictures from about 15 feet away, and one of them came out pretty nice. What an amazing creature, eh?

The second breakthrough came soon after and a bit upstream, when this beaver, who I’ve barely managed to capture swimming down the middle of the river for months, swam right to shore in front of me, looked me straight in the eye, and proceeded to gnaw on its breakfast. Time to check the bottom of my boots.

At the north end, the pair of wigeons is still hanging out with the mallards, and here’s the drake.

And I was able to find a full trio of gadwalls for the first time in a while, here’s just one.

The bigger surprise, however, was this killdeer, quite possibly the last one we’ll see until spring, stopped in and called to see if any others were around, but got no reply that I could hear.

Finally, the great blue heron was in the exact same spot as yesterday, but trying harder to get some shuteye in the warm morning sun. When I tried to move to get that stick out of the picture, I inadvertently woke the heron, but I like the sleeping picture better, so I just slowly backed away to let it go right back to sleep.

A new crowd settles in…

The clouds and breeze stayed away, at least for this morning, and the temperature rose a bit overnight, so we had no frost today in Estabrook Park.

I bet this little cutie that I found at the north end of the soccer fields didn’t mind that a bit.

Beside the river at the north end, I found a smaller cutie, a young, white-crowned sparrow, appearing to be drying off after a dip. Brrr!

One noticeable change in the fauna today was another big infusion of dark-eyed juncos. They were foraging in big groups throughout the park. Luckily, this one paused in a nice sunny spot, also beside the river at the north end, for a moment.

I didn’t see a warbler again today, the grackles have been gone for a while, and the flickers are nearly gone, so I was happy to find a phoebe still rustling up some bugs for breakfast.

The great blue herons continue to come by, and here’s one up in a tree again.

Things got exciting for a moment at the north end when I could see a bald eagle over the far riverbank and a red-tailed and Cooper’s hawk over the northern island all at the same time. I couldn’t really get a picture worth showing of any of them, but when I hiked out on the dry river bottom to get a little closer to the eagle, this belted kingfisher let me get a nicer picture than I’ve managed in a while.

To round out the raptor quartet of the day, an osprey came upriver with a fish in tow and perched to take a couple more bites, which let me get a better picture than the other three birds had.

Finally, as I was checking for sparrows again, in the usual spot, I wasn’t seeing anything new, but I did spot this sweetie trying to get a little shuteye in the tall grass. I snapped a quick picture and backed away to leave her as undisturbed as I could.

The crowd gets tough…

The temperature dropped, the clouds cleared out, and the breeze died down, so the frost was back again this morning in Estabrook Park.

My visit got off to a nice enough start when I spotted this American tree sparrow foraging in the lawn beside the pond. We don’t get to see them nearly as much as the white-throated, swamp, song, and even Lincoln’s, so I was happy to get one picture to turn out.

At the river, the wigeons were still with us, but far from shore, so I took a picture of this American herring gull instead. There has been an interesting situation with them recently, because the ebird app I use to keep track of the birds I see has changed this gull’s name from “herring gull (Larus argentatus)” to “American herring gull (Larus smithsonianus)”, and it took several days for that change to ripple through all the systems, which caused a bit of consternation, at least on my part. You can read about the reason behind the change here.

Anyway, I didn’t see a single warbler today, which makes the first time since they first arrived back in August. I did see a pair of Cooper’s hawks, but they were over the old Schlitz candy factory across the river. As I was wishing in vain that the hawks would come my way, a big flock of geese flew in, and I managed to sneak this picture of four of them.

That’s the whole show for today, I’m afraid. Let’s hope for better luck tomorrow.

The crowd starts to thin…

It sure felt like autumn this morning in Estabrook Park: cool, breezy, and cloudy. Definitely sweater weather.

My first treat of the day was this gray catbird lurking in the bushes above the river. They’ve been scarce lately, and I wasn’t sure if I’d get to see one again until spring.

Farther north and back along the river, I checked up and downstream for great blue herons, but didn’t see any, and then thought to myself, “better check in the trees,” but immediately chuckled because “no heron’s gonna be standing on a branch high in a tree in this wind.’ Happily, I looked up anyway, and look who I found, even standing on one leg, as if to show me just how wrong my assumption was. “Thanks for the reality check!”

At the far north end, I was pleasantly surprised to find a few orange-crowned warblers that haven’t flown south yet.

Out on the water, the pair of wigeons appear to be learning from the mallards and just kept on foraging as I took my best pictures of them yet. Here’s the hen, with the drake behind her.

And here’s the drake really showing off its hint of a green eye stripe.

Finally, as I made my way back south, this female cardinal called from the bushes on the side of the bluff below the beer garden, as if to say, “soon enough, it’ll be just you, me, and some chickadees.” Oof. Anyway, if you click on the image so you can zoom in to full resolution, you can see that she has pretty dark brown eyes.