It didn’t actually rain this morning, yet, but the clouds were grey, and everything was still dripping wet from overnight showers again, so I got soaked anyway.

There was a bit of excitement on the pond when a wood duck hen caught a nice, big tadpole, probably an American bullfrog, and all the other wood ducks wanted to help her with it. She managed to keep them all at bay, however, and choked it down all by herself. They may look cute, but they are wild animals, after all, and it appears they will eat anything they can catch.

Things were quiet at the river, so I had time to check on the barn swallow still on her nest under the Port Washington Road bridge at the far northwest corner of the park.

Just beyond the bridges, I spotted seventeen (17!) mallards, probably all siblings and a mom, steaming across the river. Mallard ducklings have been oddly scarce this summer compared to previous years, so it’s good to know they are around, even if we don’t get to see as much of them.

Finally, back on the pond, here’s another wood duck hen with her six healthy-looking ducklings.

Since I’ve got a bit of room left, here’s another rubyspot damselfly from yesterday morning when it was still quite dark.

And lastly, here’s a buckeye butterfly giving the swallowtail a good run for its money yesterday morning and putting on quite a show from atop a thistle blossom beside the soccer fields.

It must have rained overnight, because there were puddles on the path, and there were some clouds darkening the sky at sunrise, but they cleared out pretty quickly, and it became a perfectly nice morning in Estabrook Park.

A peregrine falcon was back in the radio tower over the far riverbank and calling for someone’s attention.

On the water directly below, a family of wood ducks were out for their morning swim.

At the pond, the female belted kingfisher was back and must have already taken a dip.

Back at the river and above the falls, another batch of wood duck ducklings looked brand new.

On my second visit to the pond, the family with four ducklings were all on break.

Meanwhile, the one duckling left from one of the first batches was getting a good preening from Mom.

It appears that the nuthatches have fledged, and this youngster stayed at the top of the tree and chattered at Mom and Dad …

as they furiously foraged lower on the tree.

At the weeds beside the soccer field, the butterfly of the day was this fresh-looking black swallowtail.

I also found there my first female common green darner, with a reddish brown abdomen instead of the “intense blue” on the males I’ve seen. Boy, they are huge, she was about three inches long with a four-inch wingspan.

Finally, a snowberry clearwing gave the bee balm a rest and sampled the thistle nectar.

It was a dark and stormy morning in Estabrook Park, but I didn’t realize just how dark and stormy it was going to get until I was already at the pond and checked the weather radar on my phone. Perhaps the birds did know, however, and that is why they were so busy this morning. They all wanted breakfast before the rain came.

There was a great blue heron fishing at the pond, but it was just off the southern tip of the island, and the brush that overhangs the water there is full of discarded fishing line. I don’t even want to take that picture, let alone see it.

Happily, there was also a female belted kingfisher at the far shore, I watched her catch a nice fish, possibly one of the bluegills I saw yesterday, and she took it to a tree free from such distractions.

At the river, the huge surprise was this young great horned owl over the southern island. There was another one calling from nearby, but I only managed to see the one.

Finally, just a bit farther north, a peregrine falcon shot away from the near riverbank like a scalded cat, and I barely even had time to identify it before I lost track of it. My crazy good luck held, however, and it soon perched in the one remaining tall dead tree over the northern island.

By then, the sky had become quite dark, but I was able to prop my camera against a tree and slow the shutter down to 1/30 of a second, which let the ISO slow down to just 125 and minimized noise in the image. I had tried to do that with the owl, but in the time it took me to take three steps towards a conveniently-located tree trunk, the owl had already had enough of me, so all we have is that crazy grainy image above. Oh well.

After that, I hustled home and mostly beat the rain.

This morning was just as gorgeous as yesterday morning, but with less traffic noise. Yay!

I beat the sun to the pond, and when I arrived, I was greeted by a green heron in the top of one of the fruit trees over the west shore.

On my way to the river, this American rubyspot damselfly sporting a few dew drops really caught my eye.

Right beside the rubyspot was this broad-handed leafcutter bee (Megachile latimanus), as far as I know, on a common vetch blossom, also covered in dew, and probably too cold to move.

Near the same spot where we saw the female belted kingfisher with an incomplete rusty-red band yesterday, there was another female with a more-complete red band today, plus a male with no red band at all, and a third one that I wasn’t able to identify further. The trio was flitting around together a bit, so I doubt the third wheel was a territory encroacher, but perhaps the group comprised a recent fledgling or two with a parent or two, as the case may be, and hurray for fledglings!

Just a bit farther south along the river, at a popular fishing spot, I startled some wood ducks who had probably snuck up on shore to forage. Here’s one wood duck hen with three ducklings.

And here’s another wood duck hen with nine (9!) ducklings looking quite grown up. Yee haw! That’s what I love to see.

Finally, at the pond, here’s a wood duck hen with three of her four ducklings who are starting to show their blue speculum feathers.

Meanwhile, below the surface, the pond appeared to be full of bluegills, and here’s one of dozens.

Now, for the moment some of you may have been waiting for. I know I sure was. Here’s a snowberry clearwing hovering and sipping nectar from a bee balm blossom in the pollinator garden. What a sight, right?

Here’s a side view so you can see at least four of its six legs just dangling in the breeze.

The thistles beside the soccer fields are still in bloom, and here’s one feeding a stripe-winged drone fly (Eristalis horticola)

Lastly, here’s a clouded sulpher butterfly sipping nectar from the same.

PS. Here’s a close-up, in case you’re not the zooming type. I wouldn’t want you to miss all the details.

After a few dark mornings, we’re back to picture-perfect weather in Estabrook Park this morning. Without clouds blocking the sun, I had enough light to get into the park early enough to beat the crowds.

Let’s start with the birds. I didn’t get any pictures until I reached the north end, and the first one is this recently fledged indigo bunting who was calling to be fed and looking less than thrilled with the circumstances in which it now finds itself.

Back at the pond an eastern wood-pewee was also calling but for completely different reasons and from a perch much closer to the ground than usual, so here he is.

And a youngish looking great blue heron was silently on the prowl for more fish.

On my last visit to the river, I found another female belted kingfisher posing perfectly in the sun. Her rusty red band is much less complete than the one on the female we just saw at the pond.

Finally, the birch tree over the weeds beside the soccer fields was hosting an American goldfinch this time.

Now for the bees. This first one you may recognize as a western honey bee sipping nectar from the thistles below the birch tree.

Meanwhile, a red-belted bumble bee was doing the same just a few steps away.

This next bee, if my identification is correct, has quite an impressive name: pugnacious leafcutter bee (Megachile pugnata). I don’t believe it was cutting that leaf at the time, but instead was just warming up in the sun.

This fourth bee also has an oddly descriptive name, coneflower mining bee (Andrena rudbeckiae), and that is exactly what it was doing.

Finally, this last “bee” isn’t really a bee at all, but a moth that mimics bees and our first snowberry clearwing of the season. Soon I hope to find them feeding on bee balm blossoms because that makes for such nice pictures.

This is neither a bird nor a bee, obviously. Instead, it is an eastern harvestman (Leiobunum vittatum), and it appeared to be sipping moisture off that milkweed leaf, which I found fascinating.

Lastly, here’s another eastern pondhawk just because it is so colorful and posed so nicely in the sun for me.

It was a bit cloudy this morning, but not so much that I didn’t get into Estabrook Park nice and early. Oddly enough, however, the park was already full of people by 6am. There was a couple fishing in the pond and a group playing kickball on the field across the parkway. I took a quick look and didn’t see any critters so kept right on going to the river.

At the northern island, one of the adult beaver gave itself a good scratching just before slipping into the water.

Back on our riverbank, a mayfly appeared to be freshly emerged from the water.

Over the far riverbank just above the falls, a great blue heron stuck out its tongue and vented some heat.

Back at the pond for a second look, I found a wood duck hen with her four ducklings catching naps at the edge of the pond.

At the north end of the pond, I found another curious red squirrel.

Back out on the water, two wood duck hens, one (on the far right) with her nearly-grown duckling (in the middle), were all on break.

In the northeast corner of the pond, one of the many young robins, still in spots, was foraging on a log.

In the weeds beside the soccer fields at the south end, I found this striking yellow-legged mud-dauber wasp (Sceliphron caementarium). I’m a little surprised to read that “within the United States, it is the only species with yellow-marked legs.” Huh.

Finally, I heard and eventually glimpsed two belted kingfishers over the river at the south end but failed to get a picture. Instead, here’s another look at the female over the pond from Tuesday.

The forecast rain never came this morning, but sheesh, it was dark! The street lights didn’t go off until 7am. Plus, I had an 8am meeting to attend, so I didn’t get into Estabrook Park until after 9am. What a difference nearly four hours makes!

I did get to see some nice sights, however, and the first one was this gorgeous autumn meadowhawk (Sympetrum vicinum), a first for us.

At the river, I was thrilled to spot a spiny softshell turtle in yet another new spot, and I couldn’t believe my luck that it let me get my best portrait yet of such a fascinating creature.

Here’s a zoom in for more detail.

This mourning dove probably watched me creeping through the bushes to get a clear shot at the turtle and then waited around to see what I would do next. “Why, take your picture, of course, Sweetie.”

Just upstream of the turtle and the dove, this tiny summer azure was sipping moisture from the sand.

Just below the falls, the dryad’s saddle we saw just Monday sure has grown!

In the meadow at the north end, there were a few of these very-dark skippers flitting about, and I eventually caught one sitting still for a moment. If my ID as a northern broken-dash (Polites egeremet) holds up, that will be another first for us and our 25th butterfly species photographed in the park.

On the gravel path through the meadow and under a mulberry tree, another chipmunk was literally “stuffing its face.”

Meanwhile, this red squirrel was watching from a tree branch and perhaps was hoping that the chipmunk would leave some mulberries for it.

The flowers they planted after removing the dam still manage to bloom, and here is a huge golden northern bumble bee (Bombus fervidus) sipping nectar from a newly opened bee balm blossom. I read that “workers typically search for food in the afternoon,” which might explain why I don’t believe I’ve ever seen one before.

Finally, here’s a male Baltimore oriole quietly perched in the birch tree above the thistles where we’ve seen indigo buntings, song sparrows, and house wrens all calling.

The pond was a bit crowded this morning when I arrived, so I kept right on going, but as I crossed the parkway, I finally got a chance to document this character. That’s a male red-winged blackbird with one leg, and I’ve been see him foraging on the west lawn and vigorously protecting his territory at the pond for weeks. That is one tough bird!

At the river, the beaver were keeping mostly out of sight again, and you can just see the eye of this one peeking over the log in the foreground, perhaps to see if I’ve left so everyone can come out to play.

There were fewer people at the pond during my second visit, but still plenty of birds, and here’s a great blue heron catching the first fish I believe I’ve seen caught this year.

Meanwhile, a green heron was probably hoping for the same success.

And, a female belted kingfisher finally let us get a nice look at her.

Back at the river, here’s a middling painted turtle, a large pond slider, and a light blue damselfly perched on its nose. There was even a second pond slider farther up the log, but I like the grouping of this trio. I did try moving to avoid the bit of grass hanging down across the damselfly, but they sure can be flighty things, and by then it had already moved.

At the soccer fields, I thought this might be the painted lady we saw on Sunday, but upon closer inspection, that little bit of a blue eye spot on the rear wing makes it an American lady instead.

I didn’t see much else there, so I checked the little open space beside the river at the far south end. There I found a nice female powdered dancer, …

my first red milkweed beetle (Tetraopes tetrophthalmus) of the season, …

a lot of delicious raspberries, …

and this “Wild Kingdom” scene of my very first eastern yellow-backed laphria (Laphria thoracica), a “bumble bee mimic robber fly,” doing in a honey bee it has just caught.

Finally, just as I was leaving Estabrook Park, I found a brand-new-looking buckeye.

It even gave us a glimpse of its less-extravagantly-marked under/out/ventral side.

The weather this morning in Estabrook Park was far better than forecast. Last evening, it looked like it was going to be a washout, but I didn’t feel a drop all morning, and there were even patches of blue in the sky.

There was no sign of the falcon this morning, and I even checked both towers with my binoculars in case it was just taking a break from calling. Instead, a great blue heron was just off the island in the pond and too busy fishing to worry about li’l ol’ me.

Meanwhile, one of the wood duck hens was preening on a log between the island and the west lawn, and kept tabs on me.

At the north end, I glimpsed a beaver in the river only for a moment, and no one was working on their front porch, but this green heron did fly over to the island to fish. It’s a treat to see both herons in the same morning.

On one of the dead trees right beside the river below the falls, a dryad’s saddle mushroom was still in its “pig’s nose stage, when the flesh is very tender.” Yum, for those of you who indulge.

Farther south along the river, I spotted my first pair of damselflies getting started on their complex and precisely choreographed mating process. These two appear to be stream bluets.

On my way back to the pond for a second look, I was saddened to see this raccoon seem to be in distress, walk in a tight circle for a minute, and then lie down on the ground and stop moving. I suspect it was suffering from distemper. If you have a dog, make sure to keep its vaccinations current.

When I reached the pond, I found that this painted turtle had triumphantly taken over the log on which the wood duck had preened earlier in the morning.

I had missed the bluebirds on my first trip from the pond to the river, and I had a few extra minutes, so I hiked over again, and found this beauty.

I my way home, I stopped by the thistles beside the soccer fields, as usual, and found this stunning Halloween pennant dragonfly posing perfectly.

At the opposite end of the patch, this damselfly, possibly our first blue-fronted dancer (Argia apicalis), despite the orange hue, which marks it as a female, was also soaking up the sun breaking through the clouds.

The only butterfly I could find this morning was this red admiral, of whom we’ve already seen a lot this year, but it was doing such a nice job of sticking out its tongue for the camera, I couldn’t resist.

Finally, there were a pair of barn swallows flying just over the grass of the soccer fields, and the light was pretty good at the moment, so I tried again to get a decent picture of a swallow in flight. This is a little better than the cliff swallow a month ago, but still plenty of room for improvement.

Lastly, remember that WordPress includes only a lower resolution image in the email copy of each post it sends you. If you want a closer look at any of the pictures, you will get much better results if you click on the image, which should take you to the full image on Flickr, where you can zoom into the full resolution of the original. Sorry it’s so complicated, but them’s the tools I’m stuck with, for now.

I really don’t know how the weather could have been any better this morning. The sky was clearer than yesterday, and I think Sunday morning car traffic might be lighter than Saturday mornings. How sweet it was.

As I approached the river, the quite was interrupted by the call of this peregrine falcon again, and I’ll take that interruption just about any day.

The beaver on the island seem to be getting more comfortable, or, as with my dad, the urge to keep busy is just too strong to ignore. I don’t know what this one was up to this morning, but it kept at it long after the sun was up and shining down on its front yard.

Just around the corner, a great blue heron was fishing in a new spot again.

On my way back south, just below the falls and down the bluff from the beer garden, these pretty little larkspur blossoms have opened. Perhaps they are (Delphinium carolinianum).

While cleaning up some leftover fishing tackle, I inadvertently stuck myself on a fishhook, so I popped into the beer garden to borrow their sink and a bit of soap to reduce my chance of infection. As luck would have it, look what magnificent creature I found in the drain! That is a reddish-brown stag beetle (Lucanus capreolus), it was over an inch long, and those pincers are not purely ornamental. I quickly fetched a little stick for it to grab onto, since I already had enough wounds for the morning, and set it out on the fence in the sun to dry off and make a nice picture.

I had just wrapped up with the beetle and glanced up to see this blue jay uncharacteristically ignoring me from barely ten feet away.

Earlier in the morning, I came across this ruby meadowhawk, which we haven’t seen in a while, but I didn’t want to lead this report with a bug.

Before the meadowhawk, I found this enormous leopard slug gliding across the path, which I usually see every summer but don’t always include in a report, and I really didn’t want to lead with a slug.

Finally, I didn’t see anyone new at the pollinator garden or the thistle patch beside the soccer fields, but I was glad to get a nice portrait of this painted lady, especially because I finally got around to reading Tuesday’s ScienceTimes yesterday, and it had an article about a bunch of painted ladies who appear to have flown across the Atlantic Ocean to Brazil from probably North Africa “without any place to stop and refuel.” Amazing!