The forecast for this morning in Estabrook was wet, and the heavy clouds did come on schedule, but the precipitation delivery was delayed, so I had a little time to sneak into the park to see who was around.

As luck would have it, this was the day that I was able to get a not-bad-portrait of our very first adult male blackpoll warbler (Setophaga striata) in his finest “goin’ courtin’” plumage.

There were plenty of other birds out and about, too, but the lighting was terrible, we’ve seen most of them before, and I had to cut my walk short anyway. Happily, yesterday was so fruitful that I’ve still got plenty more pictures to show you. At the north end, where I found the chestnut-sided, Cape May, and bay-breasted warblers, there were also a few black-and-white warblers, with similarly-colored, but differently-patterned plumage, and here’s one looking high and low for its next bite.

Here’s a male magnolia warbler foraging while he warbles, and …

here’s another look at the male chestnut-sided warbler.

They weren’t all dudes, either. Here’s a female Cape May warbler, and…

a female American redstart.

They weren’t even all warblers. Here’s a Philadelphia vireo (Vireo philadelphicus), with a nice yellow throat, similar to the yellow-throated vireo we just saw, but with a grey cap and a dainty, warbler-like beak.

Finally, the indigo bunting who posed so nicely yesterday was even willing to give us a couple angles to choose from.

The wood pewee who first arrived on Sunday, also gave us a couple of nice poses.

Lastly, the little red squirrel from yesterday seemed quite fascinated by me, and gave me a real good looking over.

The warm wind out of the southwest must have continued through the night because it was nice and warm in Estabrook Park this morning, despite being pretty cloudy. This is the moment the toads have been waiting for, because they were singing like crazy at the pond and all along the river, and here are two on a log in the pond who are fixin’ to make polliwogs. Yay!

The warm breeze has not yet blown all the tanagers away, and here’s one of the three I found singing from the tops of tall trees. We’re supposed to be in their breeding range, but I have yet to see one after their initial arrival in the spring. Maybe this year we’ll get lucky.

The warm breeze, however, did blow in a ton of warblers! They were everywhere, and I counted individuals from 19 species this morning. Here’s our first bay-breasted warbler of the season.

And here’s my first ever Cape May warbler (Setophaga tigrina), freshly arrived from the Caribbean.

While I was busy taking pictures, this little red squirrel stopped by to see what I was up to.

Back in the trees, here’s our first chestnut-sided warbler of the season.

Finally, here’s a member of the warbler species for which I counted the most individuals today, an American redstart. We are actually in their breeding range, so we might get to enjoy seeing them from time to time all summer.

While I was busy capturing warbler images, I couldn’t help but notice this male house sparrow methodically stripping bark off a branch, presumably for nesting materials. Fun.

Back at the pond, this female goldfinch was trying to pick seeds from a few stems of last year’s grass that are hanging over the water, and a huge bullfrog leapt at least a foot-and-a-half into the air to almost catch it. Yikes!

By the river, this indigo bunting let us have a much nicer look than the tanager did.

At the end of a stick out over the water, this rough-winged swallow was taking a short break from catching bugs out of the air.

Finally, Ol’ Spiny was back up on the mud again, now that the river has subsided a bit, and trying to soak up what meager warmth from the sun was getting through the clouds.

I have led off today’s post in the past with a picture of Mother Goose sheltering her goslings on the west lawn by the pond, but spring is so ahead of schedule this year, that they have already hiked down to the river. Thus, the only mom on the pond today is the mallard hen with one duckling we first saw just yesterday.

The duckling is a real rapscallion and was continuously darting off somewhere while Mom drifted after it. At one point, she started scanning the sky intently, and…

at first I thought she was just being vigilant, but when she kept it up, I finally followed her gaze, and I needed binoculars to identify the two red-tailed hawks circling high above and off to the east. “Good job, Mom.”

The new bird for today is our first eastern wood pewee of the season, who alerted me to its arrival with its signature song.

I’ve been hearing great crested flycatchers for a few days now, but they are usually quite high in a tree, and this is the first one to put in an eye-level appearance.

I did not find the birds to be quite as thick in the trees today compared to yesterday, so here are a few day-old pictures to round things out. Here’s a black-throated green warbler, …

a northern parula, …

and a black-and-white warbler.

I did see the common merganser drake on the river today, but he was closer to shore yesterday.

Finally, here’s a mallard hen up in a tree by the pond this morning, and perhaps she was seeking the peace and quiet that she apparently yearns for.

We have ducklings at last! What a wonderful development, and here’s one mallard hen with her four on the river. She might actually be the hen we first saw at the pond Thursday morning seeming to shelter someone or something under her wings.

And here’s another hen with a single duckling on the pond.

The green heron we saw collecting sticks just yesterday, or its partner, was also at the pond again this morning.

There were two least flycatchers, and they seemed to spend nearly as much time chasing each other around as they did chasing flies. I couldn’t tell if love was in the air, or they were rival males.

Speaking of love in the air, on my way back to the river, I spotted these two northern flickers just as they wrapped up doing their best to make more flickers.

A bit north of the flickers was our first scarlet tanager of the season.

That area of the park, the tall trees along the top of the bluff north of the beer garden, was also a hot bed of warblers this morning. Besides black-and-whites, parulas, and black-throated-greens, all of which we’ve already seen this year, here’s our first blackburnian picture of the season.

On my second visit to the pond, this grackle seemed transfixed by something I couldn’t see, and it let me take what might be my best grackle portrait yet.

Finally, back at the river, the muddy “lawn” on which we saw this character last Sunday, was submerged today, so our spiny softshell turtle had to resort to a log to sun itself on.

All that finger crossing must have worked, thank you very much, because it was a stunningly beautiful morning in Estabrook Park, and with nice clear skies, I was able to get in the door at 5:40am. Noice! Plus, such an early start allowed me to catch the last of the deer heading to bed. “Sweet dreams, Cutie.”

Our newly arrived bachelor was in the same spot along the river and making the same call again this morning. Man-oh-man, it would be so awesome if he could find someone to raise some chicks with here. We would finally have resident red-headed woodpeckers.

A bit farther north, the family of Canada geese, which I suspect started at the pond, were also in their recent regular spot right at the river’s edge.

I had a hope of finding mallard ducklings at the pond, but today was not the day. Instead, I was serenaded by this shy blue-winged warbler. Such a lovely voice.

If you’re having trouble spotting those blue wings, give the wings of this eastern bluebird a try.

Back at the river, on my way to the north end, I spotted this mink swimming to the southern island.

Finally at the north end, I couldn’t find the merganser again today, but this Wilson’s warbler let me catch a glimpse of its little black cap.

A bit farther inland, I finally got our first picture of a Tennessee warbler (Leiothlypis peregrina). I could hear its distinctive call yesterday, but I couldn’t lay eyes on it, and the lighting was much better today anyway.

Back up on the bluff, and on my way back to the pond for another try at the ducklings, I heard what sounded like a red-eyed vireo with a scratchy throat. Happily, it didn’t take me long to find that the singer was a yellow-throated vireo instead.

Finally, back at the pond, I still couldn’t find the ducklings, but our old friend Tom, the mink whisperer, tipped me off to green herons building a nest. Woo hoo! Here’s one of them collecting sticks for it.

Lastly, it appears that a second set of geese are hoping to make a go at raising some goslings on the pond of their own. Here they are psyching themselves up.

Here he is getting into position.

Making the magic happen.

And a bit of celebration at the end.

PS. There’s a new blossom opening up.

It was a dark and dreary morning in Estabrook Park, but the clouds were never as leaky as the big green blob on the radar suggested they were, so I was still able to take a couple of pictures.

This first one is not much of a portrait, what with me having to over-expose it so much just to see the bird that the sky becomes nearly white, but it is a picture of a rare and coveted visitor: the red-headed woodpecker. I believe I’ve only captured images of one in the park twice before: here and here. This time, I was alerted by its call, which I don’t believe I’ve ever heard before.

My next stop was at the pond, and the surprise waiting for me this time was this very sleepy mallard hen who looked for all the world like she was sheltering something or someone. I didn’t want to wake her, so I never got to see what or who it was, but I bet it rhymes with “ducklings.” Outstanding!

Back at the river, the fresh batch of goslings were almost in the same spot as yesterday, but just a bit closer to shore so we can get a stronger does of that cuteness.

There were a ton of warblers in the trees, especially at the river, but it was sprinkling enough that I didn’t dare aim my camera that high. Instead, here are a couple more sights closer to the ground. The Virginia waterleaf is starting to blossom.

And so are the wild strawberries. Yum!

Since I’ve got the room, let me show you a few more pictures from yesterday. Here’s a Baltimore oriole playing all coy with the camera.

Here’s that palm warbler again from a different angle.

Here’s a blue-headed vireo who might be wishing it could catch a nice big and juicy dragonfly but hasn’t yet this morning.

Finally, here’s a fairly uncommon Lincoln’s sparrow, whom I’ve only ever been able to show you three times before: here, here, and here.

The sun is currently forecast to reappear tomorrow morning, meteorologically speaking at least, so keep your fingers crossed!

After a few lines of thunderstorms rolled through yesterday, the river is at least a foot higher today, but the drop-dead gorgeous weather has returned, and it was a perfect morning in Estabrook Park.

First off, I am happy to report that the scene of Canada geese and goslings downriver that I ended with on Monday is not the last we’ll see of them, because they were back again this morning. Man, those goslings are really starting to look like tweens.

On my way up to the pond from the river, the red squirrel that used to greet me along the way, but whom we haven’t seen in three weeks, was back in its regular spot. “Howdy, Pardner!”

The pond was quiet again today, so I continued on to the north end, and look who I found showing its face: our ginormous river snapping turtle.

Just a bit north of there, a young colleague of mine had spotted a second, much newer, batch of goslings.

The warblers are still thick throughout the park, I counted individuals from 12 species this morning, and here’s one of the best posers, a palm warbler. They often forage at eye level or below, and kindly arrange for the sun to be at my back as it lights them up. “Thanks, Li’l Buddy!”

As I continued north, to the Port Washington Road bridge, this darling female Baltimore oriole took a cue from the palm warbler, but sweetened the deal with some blue background. “Nice job, Sweetie!”

At the bridge, I found a barn swallow perching for a moment on the bottom flange of a concrete I-beam, …

And its partner, who had been on this nearby nest installed on the bottom flange of a galvanized steel I-beam used for cross bracing, took off as soon as I noticed it. I waited a while in hopes that it would return, but then I skedaddled in case it was avoiding me. If you click on the image so you can zoom in, you can see the individual beak-fulls of mud used to build up the nest. “Yum!”

On my way back south, I stayed up on the bluff in hopes of spotting some of the singers I heard on my way north, but this time not quite so high overhead and with better lighting. My first reward for my efforts was spotting this little American toad. I’ve heard the toads singing near the river once already this spring, and one of these days they should start singing in earnest. I suspect this little one is too young, but maybe it feels the pull of the water at this time of year anyway.

The white-crowned sparrows, easily confused with the white throated sparrows, have been energetically singing a very different song lately, and here’s one, lit up just the way I’d hoped.

Meanwhile, right overhead, our first olive-sided flycatcher of the season was busy flying sorties off this branch to catch flies.

Back down by the river, this black-throated green warbler made me work a lot harder for a picture than the palm warbler did.

Lastly, for you floraphiles out there, here’s a newly blooming eastern shooting star (Primula meadia).

The line of thunderstorms forecast to roll through this morning got delayed a bit, perhaps in Chicago traffic, and I had some time to sneak into Estabrook Park. The skies were pretty dark, but I found some subjects willing to sit still for 1/125 of a second.

The first one is this pretty green heron hunting on the pond.

As I watched, it appears to have found this fish on that log, gave it a few tastes, and eventually opted to leave it for a gull and move on.

Our old buddy, the common merganser drake with a wing that doesn’t look quite right, was on the river north of the northern island. So, it appears he can still swim and hunt just fine, but he’s now stuck with us, poor guy. “Hang in there, Buddy! Your pals will return with the winter.”

I continued north from there because the trees atop the bluff were providing nice shelter from the breeze, and I could hear birds a-chirpin’. It didn’t take long to find another rose-breasted grosbeak.

Better yet, he had a lady-friend with him. This is the first time I’ve managed to catch a male and female together like this.

There was more chirping ahead, so I pressed on, and I soon found this little devil that has been eluding me for the past four years. Give a warm Estabrook welcome to our first orange-crowned warbler (Leiothlypis celata).

Finally, at the far, far north end, just before the trail passes under the bridges, a spotted sandpiper alerted me to its proximity with its signature call.

With the threat of rain, I was afraid I’d come up short on images, so here are a few of the flowers in bloom now. Plus, they mostly stay still for me.

First up, there are a couple nice patches of white trillium on the sides of the ravine north of the beer garden.

Here’s a closeup.

Farther north, there are several patches of prairie trillium, aka toadshade.

Lastly, the wild geraniums are starting to open throughout the park.

Weather-wise, this morning in Estabrook Park was almost a perfect repeat of yesterday. The sky wasn’t quite as clear, but the cool breeze out of the northeast was a bit lighter, so I’ll take it!

I had only reached the narrow part of the park, where the paved walking path goes right along the edge of the bluff over the river and is separated from the parkway by a guardrail, when our first big visitor dropped in. What a great way to start the day, eh?

From the walking path, I took the first stairway down to the river, and I found the geese and goslings right where I left them yesterday, at the edge of the river, and appearing to be just waking up. “Good morning, you sleepy heads!”

As I was trying to capture the tranquil nature of that scene, look who steamed by. It’s been a while since we’ve seen a beaver on the river, and I’m glad to see them still venturing so far south.

On my way to the pond, I could hear the brown thrasher singing again, which I heard yesterday morning, but this time I was able to find it in a tree over the dog park.

At the pond, I found six wood ducks: a drake and hen swimming together, and these four bachelors beside the island looking as glum as groomsmen who can’t find a dance partner.

There wasn’t much else to see at the pond, so I headed back to the river and continued north. As I neared the spot where I saw the owl yesterday, I heard a distinctive raptor call, forgot all about the owl, and hightailed it to the north end in hopes of spotting the caller, who turned out to be this peregrine falcon over the northern island. Yay!

After getting the best picture I could, at that distance, I continued north to see who might be on or over the water north of the island. There were no surprise mergansers today, but the big swarm of swifts was back. Anyway, on my way back south, I saw that a second falcon had flown in, and the two were busily chatting each other up. How fun!

The two falcons didn’t stay perched long, so I turned my attention inland and finally got a pretty good image of one of the yellow warblers I’ve been hearing for days.

As I continued south, I did manage to check on the owl, who was in again today, woo hoo, and much more exposed than yesterday. Plus, based on the direction of its wide-eyed stare, I’ll bet that it was the noisy falcons who were keeping it awake this morning.

Finally, before I climbed back up onto the bluff to head home, I found the geese and goslings out for a swim on the river.

We had some thunderstorms roll through last evening, but they took all the clouds with them, so it was a very nice morning in Estabrook Park. I stopped by the river on my way to the pond, and I was thrilled to find a family of Canada geese there. I have no way of knowing if they are the same family that started out at the pond three weeks ago, and I could only see seven goslings, but they look like they could be three weeks old, so maybe it is them.

When I did reach the pond, I was greeted by this tranquil scene of three wood duck drakes preening in the warm morning sun.

From there, I continued northwest back toward the river, and along the way I spotted a white crowned sparrow, …

this dazzling Nashville warbler, …

one of the many house wrens belting out their tune throughout the park, …

and this indigo bunting, who almost let me have a portrait, but was just too busy hopping around looking for something to eat.

The next surprise was waiting for me out on the water: this stunning hooded merganser drake with his “hood” fully extended. Sweet!

As I stood on shore and tried to see who else might be on the water, this darling solitary sandpiper landed nearly right in front of me. “Hello, sweetie!”

Meanwhile, the skies overhead were full of swifts and swallows. I estimate at least four dozen birds. They’re small and fast and give my autofocus fits, so we did our best.

This is as close as I got to a closeup, but you can definitely tell it is a chimney swift (Chaetura pelagica), the so-called “flying cigar.”

While I was struggling to capture a swift on film, I saw a large bird, out of the corner of my eye, swoop down toward the water and head toward the islands. Just before it disappeared, I could make out the big, round head of an owl. Could it be? Might our old friend have returned to its roost on the southern island? I hustled right down there to find out, and sure enough, the leaves are already thick on the tree, but right in the middle of this picture you can just make out its belly feathers. Yay! “Welcome back, and how are the owlets?” Man, I sure hope there are owlets, even if we don’t get to see them.

Anyway, I eventually tore myself away and started my walk home along the river. When I reached the bottom, where I had seen the goslings earlier, I checked to see if they were still there, and look who else flew in.

Lastly, as I was taking pictures of the green heron, I could hardly believe my eyes when I spotted our firstsoft shell turtle of the season and in a spot where I have not yet seen them before. Outstanding! Now that’s what I call a great morning.