It has really warmed up since yesterday, and it was in the low twenties this morning instead of the low single digits we had yesterday morning. Plus, the breeze was pretty light and the sun was shining, so it was about as nice a morning in January that I could hope for.
The critters wasted no time in taking advantage of it, and here’s one of two crows I watched taking turns bathing in the open river water just above the falls. Who knows when it might ever get this warm again, so better get right to it. Right? To their credit, the water was actually warmer than the air at that point, so maybe it felt good?
At the far north end, I was surprise to find a trio of muskrats out on the river bank feasting on the plants they dredge up from the river bottom. That’s the most muskrats I have ever seen together.
I didn’t see any pictures to take at the pond, but on my way back south along the river, this winter wren put on the best show I might have ever seen from the likes of them. The light was great, and it was nearly at eye level not even ten feet from me. “Thank you, cutie!”
I don’t take a lot of gray squirrel pictures, as you may have already realized, but this one posed so nicely, that I thought it was worth an exception.
Finally, we do still have common mergansers, and here’s a trio of hens taking a break up on the river ice and in the warm sun.
I see that it is forecast to be cooler again tomorrow, so maybe the goldeneyes will come back and bring some buffleheads with them. Or red-breasted mergansers! I’d love to see them, too. I’m not picky!
It cooled off again, and the temp was back down to 1°F at sunrise this morning. The breeze was the lightest it’s been since this cold snap started, however, and the sky was crystal clear again, so it was a nearly perfect morning in Estabrook Park.
The common mergansers and goldeneyes are still on the little slices of open water, but I like the pictures I got yesterday better, so here’s a common merganser hen taking a break from fishing, …
and here’s her drake not yet ready to get out of the water.
I watched a red-tail hawk fly north over the far riverbank, but I didn’t see the Cooper’s hawk this morning. Luckily, it let me have so many nice pictures yesterday, that I still have something to show you.
The first new critter of the morning, at least since earlier in the month, is the little red squirrel by the pond, although today it chose a slightly different spot to warm up in the sun.
Finally, the mourning doves were in very posy moods this morning, and I think that this one near one of the seeps in the side of the bluff made the prettiest picture.
I see we’re in for a huge warm-up, and temps are supposed to be up into the 20s tomorrow morning, so it will be interesting to see who that brings out. Stay tuned…
Wow, what a difference a day makes! Sure, it’s still cold out there, but the wind has backed off a lot, we’ve got a nice, new layer of fluffy white snow, and the sun was out in all its glory. It was a perfect morning for taking pictures in Estabrook Park, and some of the critters were even willing to oblige.
Here’s an American goldfinch in the bushes beside the river and still waiting for the sun to warm it up.
Here’s the mature Cooper’s hawk at the pond again. I already had a nice picture of it at the crest of the bluff over the river, and from farther away at the pond, which I might use on a dreary day when I come up short, but I really wanted to check on the sparrows in the woods at the northeast corner, right near where it was perched, so I looked away as I approached slowly. Once I got into position, I glanced over my shoulder, and the hawk seemed completely cool with me there, so I snuck a couple of close-ups and turned my attention to the sparrows. It turns out that a couple of white-throated and the one fox sparrow were there, and when I turned to leave, the hawk hadn’t budged. Yay.
The mergansers and goldeneyes were on the river again, and I did get some nice images, but I was more interested in finding the hermit thrush looking hale and hearty after the deep freeze.
Here it is again, though not quite as clearly, and gulping down a spindle berry.
Even more exciting, simply because ebird still considers it “rare”, instead of merely “infrequent”, was finding the gray catbird also looking no worse for the wear.
On my way back south, I notice a mature bald eagle perched high in a tree over the far shore, so I immediately dropped to my knees and began to ready my camera. Unlike the Cooper’s hawk, however, the eagle was having none of it and took off before I could bring my camera to bare. Ugh! That would have been a gorgeous picture. Next time I will have to try prostrating myself.
Anyway, at the far south end, I found another interesting ice formation in the river.
And then a couple of crows over the far riverbank began cawing excitedly. They even drew a third crow to come and help them harass whoever they had found. I immediately began searching with my binoculars for who might have aroused their ire, maybe a red-tailed hawk or an owl, but I could not spot it. So, I started looking lower, then I noticed movement, and finally I could see the outline of a face. It was a red fox! I did my best to capture an image, and it is still terrible, but it is the first red fox we’ve seen in a long time. If you click on the image so you can zoom in, you can just make out one eye, its right one, I believe, in the center of the image.
After assuming that I had the best image I was going to get from there, I hemmed and hawed a bit and then finally decided to hike down to the Capitol Dr bridge, cross the river, and hike up the other side in hopes of a closer look. Well, the bluff is pretty steep on that side, and I couldn’t find a path down to the Westabrook-MATC trail, so I must have made a heck of a racket sliding and stumbling down the bluff. Needless to say, the fox was not waiting for me where I thought I left it. So, after searching for a bit, I sadly trudged back up the hill and started heading south to the bridge. On my way, I gave one last forlorn glance over my shoulder, and I could not believe who I saw scampering north on the other side of the roadway there. It was that wily little fox, and of course the little stinker ducked into the woods before I could even grab my camera. Oh well. It least I was too far away to hear it laughing, and I guess my consolation prize is this nice image of one of the crows who sounded the alarm. “Thank you for your vigilance!”
The warm-up has begun, and an increase of 18°F, from -9°F to +9°F, makes quite a difference. The howling wind and swirling snow clawed some of that back, however, and it was not the best of days for taking pictures of the critters in Estabrook Park. At least it wasn’t snowing very hard.
I did see the goldeneyes and mergansers on the river again, but at the distance from which I would have to take a picture, there was enough snow in the air to goof that up. Instead, here’s a young-looking European starling perched just above the ground below some berry bushes in which a few robins were feasting. It seems somewhat less than thrilled with the weather today, but it only made me stand about ten feet away to capture this image.
At the pond, the usual crowd of sparrows was in attendance, but they also preferred me to keep my distance, so I was happy to spot this downy woodpecker who was far more interested in what it might find in that stick than it was worried about me.
And those are all the pictures from today, I’m afraid, but the good news is that if you want to see more, I’ve got dozens in my “Best of 2024” folder ready to show this evening at the Friends of Estabrook Park Annual Meeting at the Blatz Pavilion in Lincoln Park. I saw Harold, the chairman of the board, this morning as he walked his dog through Estabrook, and I mentioned that some of you might join us, and he seemed glad to hear it.
Before it shut itself off, my phone reported -9°F, with windchills to -25°F, in Milwaukee at 8:00am this morning, and local schools, including UWM, have canceled classes for today. The sun was out, however, and the sky was mostly clear, so it was still a nice day for taking pictures of the critters in Estabrook Park.
I found my first suitable subject beside the river at the north end, and as seems to be their habit, this Cooper’s hawk was perched only a couple of feet off the ground and in a spot out of the wind but still in the sun. They’re no dummies. You can just make out a couple of frozen drops of water on its eyelashes, especially if you click on the image so you can zoom in. The bird appeared to have no interest in moving, and it stayed put for my two passes. Plus, I know Harold walked his dog, Fritz, past there just before I arrived.
On my way back south, I stopped by the pond again to see if anyone new had arrived, and I found this nuthatch, who also preferred to stay right where it was.
These two characters, a fox sparrow in the left, and a white-throated sparrow on the right, on the other hand, hardly stayed put for a moment, and I was thrilled to catch them both stationary for an instant.
The breeze quickly blows it away, however, and here are a couple of my favorite drakes, a common merganser in the lead and a common goldeneye at his seven o’clock, out in the open.
There is not a lot of open water left, and here’s a common merganser hen in a channel so narrow that you can see one side on her immediate left, and a bit of the other side just a foot or so to her right.
Finally, I believe it is that evaporation fog drifting over ice that causes these huge snowflakes to form. Each is an inch or more across.
We’re due for a warm up, and it’s forecast to be all the way up into the positive twenties by 7pm tomorrow, when the Friends of Estabrook Park Annual Meeting kicks off in the Lincoln Park Blatz Pavilion, so come out, if you can. “All are welcome!”
At -3°F, it was only a little colder this morning in Estabrook Park than yesterday, and the breeze was about the same, but it lined up a lot better with the river valley, so the windchill was noticeably colder. Brrrrr! Two intrepid birders came out to join the weekly wildlife walk, I am thrilled to report, and we ended up seeing 20 bird species.
One species that didn’t make the list is this immature white-crowned sparrow that I spotted by the pond while still on my way to the parking lot. The sun had not risen very high in the sky yet, so it’s not a great picture, but it is the first sighting of the year in Estabrook. I also saw a few white-throated sparrows, which we’ve already seen this month, and a fox sparrow, which evaded my camera.
Anyway, with our group assembled, I didn’t manage any pictures, but here are a few from after the crowd dispersed.
On my way back home south along the river, I found the trio of goldeneyes that I had already seen on my way north, but now the sun was up, and I had plenty of time, so here’s the drake, …
and here’s one of the two hens.
Finally, I came across groups of robins all morning that were foraging in the leaves on the ground beside the river. I suspect they were looking for berries dropped from the bushes above, and it was probably noticeably warmer down in the leaves than up in the bushes and in the breeze. Here’s one who appeared to be on break, and digesting a belly full of frozen berries, we can hope.
Ooh, Baby, it sure was cold out this morning! At 8 am, my phone claimed it was 0°F in Milwaukee, and I believe it. It also claimed the wind speeds were in the teens, which put the windchill in the negative teens, but I am happy to report that it sure didn’t feel that bad in Estabrook Park. Plus, the sky was clear again, so the sun was able to help a bit.
Anyway, the first surprise of the morning was spotting a trio of bluebirds beside the river at the north end. It is beginning to seem that their arrival marks the onset of a cold snap.
The next surprise was finding the Cooper’s hawk at the pond again, and this time it was perched only about five feet above the ice, to minimize the breeze, I presume, and I did my best to let it stay there. I was also surprised to find the nearby bushes full of little birds, mostly house sparrows and house finches, who all seemed to be ignoring it. Perhaps with such great numbers, each one figured, “the odds of it selecting li’l ol’ me for breakfast are nearly zero.”
Finally, the biggest surprise for the morning was finding our “rare” gray catbird again and in nearly the same spot I found it last time. “Hang in there, Buddy! You’ve only got a couple of months to go until spring arrives.”
It is forecast to be even a bit colder tomorrow morning but a bit less breezy, so about the same as today. Thus, I will definitely be at the parking lot by the beer garden at 8 am for our weekly wildlife walk. So, come on out, if you’ve got the clothing for it, and maybe the bluebirds or the catbird will still be around to greet us.
After a long but uneventful day of travel, Anne and I got home yesterday afternoon and began our adjustment to Central Standard Time. After a week in the relatively balmy Balkans, the latest cold snap in Estabrook Park and the stiff breeze that came with it took a bit of getting used to as well this morning. Happily, the early clouds soon blew away, and the critters willing to go on record as welcoming me back could do so in good light and against a pretty blue sky.
This pair of downy woodpeckers put on quite an elaborate little show of hopping up, down, and around that tree trunk, but I suspect it was not for my benefit, and they might not have even noticed me. Love was in the air.
This mature Cooper’s hawk in the oak tree by the pond let me get nice and close, so long as I crawled on my hands and knees, and it even flashed us its green ankle bracelet.
As I approached the spot where I had seen the screech-owl a couple of times recently, a pair of blue jays began calling and flitting around, and they really got my hopes up. I could not find the owl, unfortunately, and perhaps they didn’t either because they soon reverted to foraging.
At the river, I was thrilled to find a few common mergansers still with us, including this hen, …
and this one goldeneye drake. I’ve heard that ice on the lake extends pretty far from shore these days, and that gives me hope that buffleheads might come to the river to dive for snails in shallower water.
Yesterday was our last full day in the Balkans, and we drove from Dubrovnik, through Bosnia and Herzegovinian, back into Montenegro. We stopped at the spectacular Ostrog Monastery on the way, and ended up back in Podgorica. Early this morning we start our trek home via Vienna.
Before we hit the road, however, I had one more chance to look for critters in Croatia, and I found a male western black redstart who almost let me take a portrait. Boy, they are flighty!
At the Monastery, we opted to park in the lower lot, having had quite enough of the one-lane switchbacks, and we hiked the rest of the way up. I didn’t see anything to photograph on the first leg, but things got interesting on the way back down.
This next bird was quite a bit more cooperative. I did have to follow it off the path and into the woods a bit, but it eventually settled down and let me get a nice image. Say “hello” to our first white-backed woodpecker (Dendrocopos leucotos), whose red cap indicates that he’s a male. He looks similar to the great spotted woodpeckers I saw in South Holland, but his red cap extends farther forward on his head, he’s got dark stripes on his belly, and his range does not extend into South Holland.
He moved around a bit, and here he is on another tree trunk, letting us get a nice good look at him. I read that “it is the largest of the spotted woodpeckers in the western Palearctic,” Sweet!
That’s a wrap for this visit to the Balkans, and, with any luck, I’ll be back in Estabrook Park Saturday morning.
We found the bridge quite impressive, and after I crossed it, I was able to get a closer look at the black birds I had been watching soar over the city. I first thought they were crows, but the only crows there are supposed to be hooded, and these didn’t have the light band across the breast and back of hooded crows. Then I thought they were jackdaws, but I couldn’t make out the band of light grey that jackdaws have around their cheeks, nape and neck.
Thus, I was forced to dig out some of the glass I was carrying in my backpack. My first glance with the binoculars revealed that they had bright yellow beaks. “What the heck? Are they some kind of myna bird that I haven’t heard of yet?” At that point, I had to get out my camera and long lens for a better look.
At first, they kept their distance, and I wasn’t even sure I would be able to use the pictures I could get for a positive identification. But finally, one relented and perched on the facade of a building nearby. It really did look like a smallish crow with a bright yellow beak.
Then, it went after what it came for, and I was impressed to see such a big bird cling to an old masonry wall with just its claws, as a woodpecker does to a tree trunk.
Next, it actually dug a bit of aggregate out of the old mortar with its beak. Ha! I did not see that coming.
With that “morsel” in its gullet, it moved to another spot and dug out another nugget. Wild! How’s that for a building maintenance headache?
Oddly enough, Mostar has an elevation of only 60 m (200 ft), though we did drive over some mountains to get there, and Bosnia and Herzegovina has a maximum elevation of 2,306 m (7566 ft), so I feel pretty lucky to have gotten to see them at all. What a treat!
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 
