As the title suggests, I’m back at Kohler-Andrae State Park, and this morning I gave the Black River Marsh a rest and gave the Kohler Park Dunes State Natural Area a try. It did not disappoint!

I hadn’t even gotten out of the parking lot when I came across a rafter of wild turkeys with three hens, one of which is pictured below, and …

fourteen (14!) poults. I’ve seen plenty of turkeys before, and even a few poults, but this was my first chance to get some poults on film, and man-o-man, it was still just too dark for my camera.

If that excitement wasn’t enough, there was a young Cooper’s hawk crying just across the parking lot, and here it is acting like a deer-in-the-headlights, while one of its parents was half concealed by twigs just a bit farther up that branch. I’m sure you can imagine what the parent was saying.

When I finally got out of the parking lot, I didn’t have to go more than 100 yards up the cordwalk to find this adorable pair of deer. You can just see the young buck’s antlers starting to come in.

The most common bird I heard and saw was the field sparrow, and here’s one example. There were so many, in fact, that ebird complained that I was reporting far more than are commonly seen there. What can I say? The dunes are essentially a huge field, and part of them were even cultivated at one time, so I would expect a lot of field sparrows. Wouldn’t you?

There were nearly as many house wrens, and at one point the cordwalk passes very close to a low-growing evergreen that was full of them. They were probably a family of recently fledglings, and this youngster acted just like the young Cooper’s hawk.

I was thrilled to spot this shy butterfly, who only gave me this one chance for a picture. It turns out to be a common wood-nymph (Cercyonis pegala), which I would love to spot in Estabrook, and quite possibly have, but I haven’t gotten a picture of one there yet.

Given the location, it should come as no surprise that the big bird of the day was the sandhill crane. I counted ten individuals, and I was thrilled to identify at least one nearly-grown colt. That’s the one on the far right of this trio. There was another trio, but there wasn’t enough light to tell if one was a slightly more-yellow colt.

As I started to make my way back to the parking lot, I stopped to take a picture of some birds, and I spotted this bold little critter in the grass just across the path. It let me take pictures to my heart’s content. I could see that it wasn’t an eastern chipmunk nor a red or grey squirrel, and it is only now, after consulting the interwebs, that I can identify it as my very first thirteen-lined ground squirrel (Ictidomys tridecemlineatus). I didn’t even know we had such a critter in Wisconsin.

Meanwhile, the birds I had originally stopped for are this adorable pair of recently fledged cedar waxwings. They are clearly out of the nest, but I’m guessing they are not really into the whole flying thing yet.

As the sun started to warm things up, the bugs started to come out, and I thought this was another white-faced meadowhawk, but now I can see the shading of the wing that makes it a band-winged meadowhawk (Sympetrum semicinctum) instead. Cool, eh?

Speaking of dragonflies, I’ve been after a picture of this beauty since I first IDed them flying over the pond in Estabrook four years ago. I’ve been having to make do with a blurry image of a pair that flew through one of my black bullhead fry pictures, and I was beginning to think that they never landed, until today. At long last, give a warm welcome to the astonishingly elusive black saddlebags dragonfly (Tramea lacerata).

Finally, as I was approaching the parking lot, it had warmed up enough to bring the turkey vultures out, and as this one circled over the dunes, …

the adult Cooper’s hawk from beside the parking lot took exception and urged it to circle someplace else.

Lastly, the butterfly of the day is this monarch sampling the nectar from one of the thousands of spotted knapweed blossoms.

There were still some gaps in the cloud cover when the sun came over the horizon in Estabrook Park this morning, but temps were in the mid-70s already, and the humidity percentage was in the mid-80s, so everything was already pretty wet. I met this mourning dove on my way around the southern soccer fields, and you can see all the grass clippings clinging to its feet and belly feathers, which may be contributing to the look on its face.

I skipped my first visit to the pond, for a little change of pace, and continued north along the river. Just below the falls, on the same square slab of limestone where we saw sandpipers dance a few summers ago, I spotted my first sandpiper of the morning, which happens to be a spotted sandpiper with plenty of spots.

By the time I reached the islands at the north end, the clouds had started to leak, and I found another sandpiper, which also happens to be spotted, but without any spots, so young, or at least not breeding.

I searched in vain for a solitary sandpiper, but perhaps they have already moved on. I checked on the pigeon chicks under the bridge, but I couldn’t see any difference from yesterday, and the light was terrible anyway. I didn’t see an osprey today, but I was thrilled to discover a young great horned owl back again, being mobbed by a few crows, and calling again to a sibling nearby, who I couldn’t find but could hear calling back.

When I finally did get to the pond, I was pleasantly surprised to find a belted kingfisher still fishing there.

Finally, right below the kingfisher, a half dozen wood ducks, and one mallard hen were all taking their midmorning break.

That’s it for Estabrook, but I’ve still got some pictures from Kohler Andrae, and here’s the flock of American white pelicans that the straggler was trying to keep up with on Tuesday.

The sora was surprisingly bold, and gave us a second look, this time with a painted turtle in the foreground.

There were a lot of marsh wrens in the reeds, and here’s one mid-song.

Finally, on my hike back to the campground I found this striking white-faced meadowhawk just relaxing on a blade of grass and preparing to start its day.

A visit to Kohler-Andrae State Park is always a treat, but I’ve got some things to take care of at home today, so I’m back in Shorewood, and I figured I might as well check on the critters in Estabrook Park while I’m here. The pond was hoppin’ this morning with over a dozen mallards, nearly as many wood ducks, a couple of green herons, and even a great blue heron.

Here’s one of the wood ducks scarfing down a tadpole once again.

I try to avoid anthropomorphizing too much, but I struggle not to see self-satisfaction in that look. Right?

Meanwhile this less-than-thrilled looking green heron might be wishing it had a fresh tadpole in its belly right now.

As I walked toward the river, I spotted an osprey gliding downstream high above it, which I had no hope of capturing on film, and I thought to myself, “Well, darn. At least I got to see it.” Thus, you can probably imagine my excitement upon finding this sight waiting for me in the remaining dead tree high above the northern island. I don’t know if this is the same bird that somehow snuck back upstream without me seeing it, or if there were two of them, but I was glad for the second chance either way.

At the Port Washington Road bridge, the barn swallows appear to be done with their nest already, and now it is the pigeons’ turn to raise their young. You can’t really see it in this picture, but I could count two chicks when they shakily readjusted their positions.

The river water keeps receding and exposing more river bottom, which provides more foraging space for shorebirds that venture inland a bit. There were a pair of these cuties on the rocks this morning, and at first glance, I thought they were the spotted sandpipers we’ve been seeing all month, but upon closer inspection, I am happy to report that solitary sandpipers are back. They are probably leading the way back from summering in Canada to wintering along the southern Gulf of Mexico and the Amazon river basin. “Welcome back, Sweethearts! Enjoy the buffet while you’re here, and safe travels when you go!”

On my way back to the pond for a second look, I just happened to notice this tiny beauty lurking on the underside of a fleabane blossom. Multiple image search engines on the interwebs suggest that it is a “Redimita” morph of the common candy-striped spider (noplognatha ovata).

When I finally reached the pond again, a youngish-looking great blue heron was fishing in the water right of the west lawn, but I stayed behind the tree trunk there, and it let me sneak this shot.

Finally, the butterfly of the day is this clouded sulphur. There was also a few skippers and a buckeye, but this sulphur put on the best show today.

See ya next month!

I’m at Kohler-Andrae State Park today, and I got to see some amazing sights this morning, but I’m at the Sheboygan public library right now to use their wifi, and I’m supposed to bring back lunch for Anne, so I gotta hurry. There might be some typos.

Before I even left the campground, and while it was still pretty dark out, I spotted this darling sampling the shrubbery behind someone’s tent.

As soon as I got to the Black River Marsh, about a dozen American white pelicans dropped in, and this one deployed its drag chute to descend quickly enough to keep up with the rest.

The marsh was full of marsh wrens, which makes sense when you think about it.

I was thrilled to see a sora, which we do get to see in Estabrook once in a blue moon, but not yet this year.

Another huge treat, which we have gotten to enjoy in Estabrook this year already, was this black-billed cuckoo. I had just met a subscriber, who birds there regularly, and she had just told me that the cuckoos had been scarce this year, but I guess today was just my lucky day.

Finally, the viceroys were out, which I love to see, and I saw two or three.

Lastly, for handy comparison, so were the monarchs.

There was a bit more, but I’ll have to save that for a rainy day, because now duty calls.

Sorry for the radio silence last week. Anne and I went out east for a family event, and I brought all my gear, which has worked just fine in the past, but not so much this time. Oh well. Live and learn.

Anyway, it was a bit of a dark and damp morning to return to Estabrook Park, but I needed the exercise, so this is who I saw. There are now about a dozen wood ducks, mostly ducklings just about all grown up, on the pond, and here are seven of them drying out after breakfast.

The kingfishers continue to put on a show, and I counted three at once on the river today, but the one I saw catch a fish was this female over the pond.

The rain must have held off last week because the river water is finally low enough to reveal good swaths of river bottom, and here’s a spotted sandpiper taking advantage of the situation.

The big surprise at the river, however, was spotting this young, late-season mallard duckling with its mom.

Finally, I didn’t see any deer today, and this chipmunk with a mouth full of dead leaves on the side of a tree will have to do,

This week, Anne’s extended family is camping at Kohler-Andrae State Park, where I’ve also had some luck before, and the forecast for tomorrow morning is good, so I’m heading up tonight for an early start. Wish me luck!

It hasn’t rained today, yet, and the sun does peek through from time to time, but it was a pretty cloudy morning in Estabrook Park. We have had a bunch of beautiful days, however, so I was a little surprised to read in the local paper this morning that, “if you’re under the impression that it rains just about every other day lately, you’re right. We just crossed the midpoint of July, and Milwaukee has recorded some precipitation virtually half the days since the beginning of March, according to National Weather Service data.” Huh.

Anyway, the blue jays have been making a lot of noise in the park lately, and I suspect it is mostly from fledglings and their parents. As I have mentioned before, they are surprisingly camera shy, given their reputation as backyard feeder bullies, so this beauty, with a “deer-in-the-headlights” look, is probably a fledgling who didn’t know yet what to make of me.

At the north end, an osprey was back, and I got to watch it fly across the river with a big fish in its talons to perch on the far side and dig into breakfast.

Back on our shore this chipmunk was up in a tree, which I always find fun to see.

In the remains of the meadow at the north end, after the Parks Department mowed the rest, I found my very first eastern forktail damselfly (Ischnura verticalis), and it appears to be a male. Ain’t he handsome?

On my second visit to the pond, there were two green herons flitting around, as we’ve seen a few times before, but one of them today appears to be a youngster. Notice all the light spots on its wing. You love to see that.

This next, fascinating but potentially off-putting scene is of a small sand wasp with prey that is has subdued and will soon bring to a small hole in the ground, which is usually in sandy soil and hence the name, to feed its larva.

Finally, the snowberry clearwings were back to feeding from bee balm blossoms at the pollinator garden. Yay!

After a couple of nice dry days, some humidity has returned, but it was an otherwise nice enough morning in Estabrook Park.

The pond was quiet, especially compared to yesterday, and these two wood duck hens seemed to be taking advantage of the tranquility to share a little personal time.

At the river, the most interesting sight was this gorgeous deer on the shore of the northern island. With all the rain we’ve had and how high the river has been, I had begun to wonder if we’d see any river deer at all this summer, and I sure hope this is a sign of things to come.

Speaking of how wet it’s been, I came across this new candidate for the Wisconsin State Bird.

Farther south, I did finally find a great blue heron.

On my second trip to the pond, along the path to the south of the dog park, this red squirrel would not stop staring at me.

At the pollinator garden, there was an interesting pollinator that I don’t believe I’ve noticed before. It was about the size of a honeybee, but stout like a bumble bee, and jet black except for two little white dots on its butt. I had to look it up to find that it’s a two-spotted longhorn bee (Melissodes bimaculatus). How about that?

Here you can better see the two tiny namesake spots on its little bee butt.

Also on the bee balm was our first silver-spotted skipper of the summer.

At the weeds beside the soccer fields, I spotted this striking grasshopper, which I believe to be a two-striped grasshopper (Melanoplus bivittatus), and which I also don’t believe I’ve seen before.

Finally, your butterfly of the day is this one of several buckeyes out, both beside the soccer fields and at the little flower garden at the far south end. If you’ve been hoping to see one in the wild for yourself, today might be your day.

It has clouded by lunchtime already, but earlier this morning the weather was beautiful yet again in Estabrook Park, and I was happy to see a great blue heron on the pond when I arrived, …

and the view got even better when a green heron flew in to perch just above it.

The little green interloper didn’t slow down the big blue heron, however, who snagged itself this enormous catfish in short order. Now, you may have seen larger catfish in your life, and you may be thinking “that’s not so big,” but imagine that you had to swallow it whole, and your neck was a foot long and an inch wide.

Anyway, on my hike over to the river, I got to see a Baltimore oriole, who have gone quiet lately and otherwise made themselves scarce.

At the river, I checked on the barn swallows nesting under the Port Washington Road bridge. You may have been wondering, as have I, is that really a bird on the nest? Even after all this time? But this morning I got to witness a changing of the guard. One barn swallow flew in and perched nearby, the other hopped out of the nest and took off, and the first perched on the edge for a while before hopping in. So, ha! There really are real birds tending to that nest. Maybe they are working on a second batch.

Back below the falls, a non-breeding or immature spotted sandpiper, hence its spotlessness, bobbed its tail while marching up and down this log.

The belted kingfishers were busy again this morning, and here’s a female perched high over the far riverbank.

I arrived at the pollinator garden just in time to catch this tiny, banded tussock moth caterpillar (Halysidota tessellaris) rappel down from a tree above on a strand of silk, where I would have no hope of getting its picture. Thus, I hijacked the strand of silk and set the little crawler on a leaf for this portrait.

Finally, your butterfly of the day is yet another snowberry clearwing moth, who was on break so I couldn’t get you a picture of it hovering like a hummingbird as it sips nectar from a pretty flower. Maybe next time!

Boy, I really blue it with yesterday’s title, eh? If you subscribe, the evidence of my blunder may still be in your inbox, but don’t bother clicking on the link above to find it. I’ve already erased the evidence in my copy. Believe you me, my copy editor has gotten a stern talking to.

Anyway, the weather was just as nice this morning as yesterday, but the critters did not put on a repeat performance. I did get to see this dear deer, though, who let me sneak just one nice picture, …

and then it went right back to nibbling the foliage.

At the pond, I saw two more wood ducks snag a tadpole, and I managed to get a picture of one of them.

Finally, your butterfly of the day is one of the two monarchs feeding at the pollinator garden.

Man, it was a magnificent morning in Estabrook Park. Temps were back in the 60s, and even better, so was the dew point. Plus, the sky was clear, and the breeze was light. What more could one ask for?

Welp, how about this beauty! It was perched in a tree right over the riverbank just a bit upstream of the northern island. I had already checked the water around the islands and only saw a few mallards, so I was on my way to the bridge to check on the swallows, and I just caught its big, dark shape out of the corner of my eye. At first I didn’t see the white head, so I thought maybe it was a vulture. I immediately backed up a step to put a branch full of leaves between us to give me time to cover my face with my camera. Then I eased into the clear, and by then it had turned my way to reveal that it was an osprey, which we haven’t seen in a while. I tried to keep as still as I could, and it let me take about a dozen pictures before it must have said to itself, “I don’t know what that is, but why risk it? There are plenty of other perches from which I can fish along this river.”

The swallows at the bridge looked no different than yesterday, and on my way back south, I spotted a great blue heron on the far shore just above the falls. They can be temperamental, even at that distance, so I was creeping towards the water’s edge while trying to keep covered by foliage, when I notice birds were starting to make a ruckus. A couple of jays and grackles were squawking, and even the heron across the river made a couple of croaks, so I looked up to see if I could spot a raptor above.

Sure enough, this bald eagle, which we also haven’t seen in a while, was pulling the fur out of some hapless rodent, either a rabbit or squirrel. Again, there was some convenient foliage that enabled me to hide while I got my camera on, aimed, and covering my face before I slowly crept into view. This time, I got off about a half-dozen pictures, before the eagle decided that breakfast was no longer struggling and would probably taste just as good at the nest upriver.

Anyway, I did eventually manage to get some shots of the heron without spooking it. Yay.

South of the falls and across from the “Blue Hole“, I inadvertently flushed a green heron from our side of the river, but it only flew to just the other side, and then checked the branches above for hazards.

What might have attracted the heron’s attention was this pair of belted kingfishers. No, they are not particularly close, but I seldom see them any closer, and I manage to get a picture of them in the same frame even less often.

Happily, the river is pretty narrow there, so I was also able to get a nice closeup. of the pretty female in the sun on the right.

Finally, the butterfly of the day is a red admiral, which was kind enough, or warm enough, to let us have a good look at the ventral (under/outside) of its wings.

Oh, I almost forgot! I also found my first free Hamm’s beer this morning. Woo hoo! What a fine way to celebrate a five-predator day.