Signs of Life in Estabrook Park

A great show, despite the cold…

It was a bit chilly this morning in Estabrook Park, and the flooded area where we’ve been seeing the coot was all frozen over, but the wind was light, and the sky was crystal clear, so it was a good morning for checking on the critters.

My first treat was finding this muskrat, whom I suspect is the one we’ve seen already this spring, gobbling up its vegetables right at the edge of the ice I mentioned above.

The coot, however, appears to have moved on, perhaps due to the ice, and so the next fun sight was this wood duck drake strutting his stuff, up on the west lawn of the pond.

There was no sign of the bufflehead at the river, but I did glimpse the grebe, and I don’t know how I could miss this red-breasted merganser drake.

The next big treat was catching another look at a great horned owl, who was far more interested in something or someone I couldn’t see, than it was in me.

I also saw a pair of hooded mergansers at the river, but they kept to the far side and then bolted. Happily, they appeared to have bolted to the pond, which they seemed to find more to their liking. In about half the pictures I took, he even had his eyes closed.

Also at the pond, I spotted two red squirrels together, which I don’t think I’ve ever seen before, but I simply could not get a picture with them both in focus, so this cutie will just have to do.

On my way back to the river, the screech-owl must have known I was alone, so it poked its head out to say “hi”.

Back at the river, the ice on the flooded area was taking its time melting, but the sun was warm enough to get this swamp sparrow to sing his song.

Back up on the paved path for my way home, I was thrilled to spot a yellow-bellied sapsucker again. They were thick for a day or two last week, but then they went quiet, and I was afraid that might be the last we saw of them till the fall. Thankfully, this one even called to me as I went by, so I knew to look up.

Finally, just as soon as I had a decent sapsucker picture, these sandhill cranes circled right above me, as if to give me a chance to make up for that terrible first picture I took of them. “Thanks, guys!”

A little luck in Estabrook…

Wow! What a morning! The weather was just as forecast; cold, breezy, cloudy, and snowy; so not great, but the birding was amazing, and eight hearty souls came out to join today’s weekly wildlife walk. All together, we identified 40 bird species, which is a high-water mark for the series.

Before we all met up, however, I had a little time for a sneak preview, and the biggest surprise for me was spotting my first bufflehead in Estabrook Park since last April! It was lounging in the water on our side of the upstream island, and I couldn’t wait to show everybody. Of course, once our group was assembled, and I hustled us down to the river, the bird had already moved on. Thank goodness for pictures!

After we saw all that we thought we might see at the north end, we started south along the river, and as we passed the downstream island, I pointed out where we have often seen great horned owls there. Well, someone in the group stopped to make a closer inspection, and look who we found just a couple of trees over. “Hello, stranger!” Thank goodness folks ignored what I said about them not being there these days.

We continue downstream to the wide and slow spot in the river, below the two radio towers, to see the coot and a winter wren or two, and then we headed to the pond. There we found a female belted kingfisher, …

a couple of hermit thrushes gleaning seeds from the picked-over sumac, and plenty of sparrows.

After the pond, we called it a morning, folks headed off to get on with their day, and I eventually headed back home. Just as I was crossing the soccer fields at the south end, look who swooped in to check on the flock of starlings foraging in the lawn below. We had spotted a Cooper’s hawk earlier, but I failed to get a picture, so it sure was nice to have a second chance. “Thanks, Sweetie!

Finally, as I was crossing the parking lot at the south end, I watched a little brown bird hop up into one of the trees that grow along the east side. I couldn’t quite make out what it was, but I figured it was yet another song sparrow, of which we’d seen plenty all morning. It was posing so nicely, however, that I took its picture anyway, just on a whim. Well, when I got home and had a closer look, the first thing I thought was, “Why, that’s no song sparrow. Just look at that white eye ring!“

So, I consulted with my experts, and the consensus is that it’s a vesper sparrow (Pooecetes gramineus), instead, whom we have seen at Anne’s folk’s place out in Waterford, but whom I’ve never seen in Milwaukee County, let alone Estabrook Park. “Hello, Darling!” In fact, it is the first vesper sparrow anyone has reported seeing in Estabrook, if my identification proves correct. How’s that for some crazy luck?

Lastly, I did mention that it was a snowy morning, and it was really coming down when we were trying to get a look at the great horned owl. Here’s my attempt at capturing the scene.

A nice sleepy Sunday…

The weather this morning in Estabrook Park was as nice as forecast, so the sky was clear and the air was still. The birds seemed more relaxed, as well, so I had better luck with pictures than I did yesterday.

The American coot was in its usual spot on the river below the falls, and it seemed quite content as it carefully selected each morsel.

The pied-billed grebe had bid the coot adieu and returned to the water around the islands above the falls.

Here’s a European starling trying on a nesting cavity for size, and I don’t know if the red-bellied woodpeckers had abandoned this one of their own accord or if the starlings had chased them off.

There are still sumac seeds available, and here’s a black-capped chickadee digging one out of the clump.

And now here it is digging the actual seed out of its protective husk.

Brown-headed cowbird males are pretty plentiful now, and here’s one in a nice short fruit tree for a change.

Finally, the American goldfinches are starting to get their bright yellow coats back, and here’s one who still has a ways to go, but that didn’t stop him from singing his heart out.

The forecast for our weekly wildlife walk tomorrow morning is not looking too rosy right now. The winds are supposed to pick up and we might even get snow showers, so it will be interesting to see whom we can find.

A curious case of camera shyness..

It was a very nice April morning in Estabrook Park, and I was able to start my walk nice and early. Before I got very far, however, Donna of Milwaukee Birders texted to say she was on her way over to join a bird walk hosted by the Urban Ecology Center and featuring Charles Hagner. They were supposed to start in 15 minutes from the southern parking lot, which I could see across the soccer fields, so I hiked over to find out what it was all about.

Well, they had a good turnout, and there were even a couple of regulars from our Monday morning wildlife walks. Best of all, they invited me to tag along. Sweet.

When we got to the wide and slow part of the river below the falls, I was thrilled that the coot, whom I had mentioned might be there, actually was, and folks were able to see it. I wasn’t able to get a picture, but here’s a nice one from Thursday.

Even better, the pied-billed grebe was there as well, and the two of them swam together for a moment, which was very interesting to see. I had even less of a chance of capturing that on film, unfortunately, so here’s one more grebe picture from Tuesday.

Next, we headed to the pond, and I had a hope of showing everyone the screech-owl on the way, but the little rascal seems to have a sixth sense for detecting when I’ve got company. I even went ahead to check on it by myself, but when I got to its nook, there was nobody home. Oh well, two out of three ain’t bad, or so I’ve heard. Anyway, here’s another look from yesterday, when it somehow knew I had nobody with me.

After the pond, the group was heading back to the parking lot, but I still had about an hour on my meter, so I headed to the north end, where I didn’t have any better luck with pictures. Instead, I came upon this golden-crowned kinglet on my way back home, and it may be the first time I’ve ever seen one stationary for more than a second. When I first saw it, the sun was nearly behind it, and it just sat there as I walked around far enough to see its lit side. Then the little cutie roused from its minute-long power nap and resumed furiously foraging for bugs.

That’s the show for today, folks, and the forecast for tomorrow looks beautiful, so wish me better luck.

One more arrival…

The weather was finally back to being seasonably pleasant in Estabrook Park this morning. The winds were nice and light, and the sky was pretty clear for a while.

My first surprise of the morning came as I strolled beside the river on my way to the pond, when I spotted this beaver, the likes of whom we haven’t seen in weeks, since the day we saw the otters. It was up on shore for just a moment, and then right back into the river it went.

You might think that I would be used to it by now, but I’m always still thrilled when I get to see the eastern screech-owl.

The winter wrens are as thick as ever, and they’ve started to sing their amazing song.

At the north end, I only saw geese, mallards, and the one pied-billed grebe out on the water, but nobody was ready for pictures today. Instead, the action was overhead, where this European starling decided to check out the nesting cavity recently excavated by a pair of red-bellied woodpeckers.

Well, the woodpeckers still had plans for it, …

so they did their best to urge the starling to look elsewhere.

I would have loved to watch that play out, but I didn’t have all day, so I headed back down stream and soon came upon this little beauty. I rarely see chickadees sit still, but this one didn’t budge as I kept trying to find the best shot through the brush.

I my second swing by the pond, I heard a white-throated sparrow singing their ode to Canada, and I even managed to find the singer.

Since I spotted my first sapsucker on Monday, their numbers have grown, and here’s one on the birch tree in front of the dog park.

Finally, back at the river, I spotted my first female red-winged blackbird of the season, and she does not appear to be in the mood for any nonsense. The boys sure had better have their acts together by now.

The day after the deluge…

The wind was still howling from the storm that passed through yesterday, but the sun was out, and it definitely wasn’t raining, so I was able to get into Estabrook Park nice and early this morning.

My first big treat was finding our eastern screech-owl back in its nook after a couple-day absence. Better yet, it was excited about something off to the left, its right, so we can finally get a peek at one of its big yellow eyes. Until now, it has been doing a much better job of keeping them hidden than the great horned owls do. It eventually did back into the shadow, so I could get by, but when I came through again later in the morning, it had already moved on to its other favorite spot.

I was surprised to find phoebes up and hunting bugs in these high winds, but they were making do by keeping pretty close to the ground, and often striking their prey right on it.

By the looks of the dirt on this hermit thrush’s beak, the wind shouldn’t interfere with their hunting at all.

The brown creepers are somewhere in between, picking bugs out of crannies in tree bark, so they were keeping to the lower half of the trunks, which gave me the chance to sneak a portrait at last.

Finally, a solitary American coot was back in the park, but on the slow water below the falls, instead of near the islands above them. Either way, I wonder if this one saw its reflection and thought to itself, “Man, that is one handsome beak you’ve got there!”

Lastly, I see that the Milwaukee Birders are planning to visit Kletzsch Park at 8am Sunday morning, so if Monday doesn’t fit in your schedule, you can get a look at who’s living on and beside the Milwaukee River on Sunday instead. The forecast for that day looks pretty good right now: “partly cloudy, high 48F, winds W at 5 to 10 mph.”

April Showers…

Well, the April Fools weather prank has arrived here a day late, and it has been raining pretty steadily since before dawn. I still have a hope of getting into Estabrook Park later this afternoon, but the winds are expected to continue, so who knows what pictures I might be able to get. Thus, here are a couple of pictures that I hope will tide you over until tomorrow, when the sun might come out again.

Here’s another recent great horned owl picture that I somehow haven’t shown you yet.

And here’s one more look at the pied-billed grebe from yesterday.

No pranks today…

My first big treat of the day was finally capturing this darling pied-billed grebe on film, after only catching glimpses of it for the last couple of days. It has been fishing around the upstream island, and once it has spotted me, it has usually disappeared after just its second dive. Happily, it relented today for some reason. The sun wasn’t yet high enough in the sky to light it up much, but it sure did help that the water had a beautiful blue sky and a sun-lit red brick building to reflect.

While I was busy trying to get a picture of the grebe, I inadvertently flushed this lone wood duck drake, which isn’t that odd, but then it parked itself to preen on the same branch were we often see a kingfisher. They are usually not such exhibitionists, and he was kind enough to be up in the sun, which is nice, but not quite high enough for a blue-sky background.

My second big treat for the day was spotting this great horned owl granting us an audience, which is rare for this time of year. Plus, we finally got both bright morning sun and a blue-sky background in the same picture. Who minds a few pesky branches?

I didn’t see anything to photograph at the pond, but on my way back to the river, I did spot this shy hermit thrush, whom we haven’t seen in a while. Soon enough they’ll all be gone north for the summer.

Back at the south end, I spotted a pair of red-bellied woodpeckers who seemed to be getting acquainted. Before I could get a picture of the two of them together, however, they flitted to a nearby tree, where she proceeded to check on the nesting cavity he had started. She also hit the trifecta of good sun, blue sky, and an unobstructed view. “Thanks, Sweetie! I hope you find what you are looking for.”

Finally, I hadn’t seen nor heard a killdeer yet, so the timing was perfect when I heard their familiar call right after wrapping up with the woodpeckers. I thought that would be all I was going to get, until I used my binoculars to count the robins on the soccer fields. Well, there were nearly 40 robins, plus these two little sneaky Petes. “Hello, Darlings!”

Finally, look what I found in the tall grass as I was fishing out a bit of litter. Ha! How’s that for a big treat? Don’t let folks tell you that there’s just too much litter, so there’s no point in picking any up. Every little bit helps, and some little bits help a lot more than others!

Closer to a lamb than a lion, I’d say…

We had a great morning for the last weekly wildlife walk of March in Estabrook Park. Sure, it was cool, cloudy, and breezy, but I didn’t feel a drop for a change, we were often able to hide from the wind, and the sun slowly emerged. Ten folks came out to join me, and we identified 32 bird species.

After seeing the screech-owl so many days in a row, and even glimpsing it this morning on my way to the parking lot to meet the crew, I thought for sure that I’d finally be able to show it to everyone. The little rascal had other plans, however, and had already amscrayed by the time we arrived.

The first exciting bird we did see was this young red-tailed hawk on the hunt beside the river, and it did one heck of a job waking up the grackles and red-winged blackbirds that hang out there. Here it is keeping tabs on one of them.

We also glimpsed a pied-billed grebe and a red-breasted merganser around the islands in the river above the falls, but I failed to capture either on film. Instead, my only other presentable picture from our walk today was this brown-headed cowbird, species number 31, as we returned to the parking lot for everyone to go their separate ways. As you can see, parts of the sky had become a pretty blue by then.

Since I still had some time on my meter, and the day was starting to warm up a bit, I headed back to the river after everyone left to see if I could get a picture of that grebe.

The grebe had other plans, however, which gave me time to spend with this little cutie, the boldest golden-crowned kinglet I may have ever met.

In fact, there were quite a few kinglets foraging for bugs on the sticks and branches along the river, but not all of them were golden-crowned, so here’s our first ruby-crowned kinglet picture of the season. It was super nice of them to strike nearly the same pose so you can get a good look at the features that distinguish them besides the color of their crowns. For me, the markings around the eyes are also a dead giveaway.

The phoebes, who have been here a couple of weeks already, were also plentiful, and here’s the one who put on the nicest show for us.

Not to be outdone in the insectivore bonanza, there were even several brown creepers, and this one was making sure that no crevice went unchecked.

Finally, I couldn’t believe my luck, as I was approaching the volleyball court at the south end, and I heard my first yellow-bellied sapsucker call of the season, which I’ve been waiting weeks to hear. Even better, I was actually able to lay eyes on it, despite it doing its best to hide, and so was my camera’s autofocus, despite the last cloud in the sky doing its best to provide a challenging background.

Lastly, if you thought March was amazing, as sure I did, then hold onto your hats because here comes April!

A rainy day in March…

Well, just as they predicted, it was quite rainy in Estabrook Park this morning. On the radar, however, it looked as though there would be some gaps in the rain, so I grabbed an umbrella and ventured out.

On my way from the river to the pond, I saw the screech-owl in its nook again, but I didn’t even try aiming my camera that much skyward, so here’s how it looked yesterday.

At the pond, I saw the female belted kingfisher, but this picture of the male over the river yesterday came out a lot better.

There was a skittish pair of wood ducks on the pond, but I didn’t pursue them because I knew I had this nice picture of a bold hen from yesterday.

Back at the river, I saw a quartet of red-breasted mergansers, but I flubbed the pictures, so here’s a pair of hooded mergansers from yesterday.

Finally, the one picture I did take today and that I didn’t manage to blur beyond recognition, is of this bunch of daffodils starting to open on the side of the bluff upstream of the islands.

Lastly, the forecast for tomorrow morning is cloudy, breezy, and cold, but at least the precipitation should be done for our weekly wildlife walk. Plus, the breeze is out of the NNW, so maybe we’ll get lucky and find some birds filling their tanks as they wait out the unfavorable winds before continuing their journey north. We start at 8 am in the northern parking lot, by the beer garden, and I hope to see you there.