We received about another inch of wet, heavy snow overnight, and I took some time to clear our sidewalk this morning before temps fell back below freezing, so I didn’t get into Estabrook Park until 10am. By then, my expectations of finding wildlife were low, and the birds pretty much met those expectations, but this buck surprised me. I saw the doe first, and she didn’t wait for me to get my camera fired up before slipping over the crest of the bluff. This buck, on the other hand, pause for a minute to stare me down, and I will be eternally grateful.

And that’s the show for today, I’m afraid. I did take the afternoon to visit a couple other parks, but it’s late, and I’m exhausted, so those pictures will have to wait for another day.

We received a little more snow overnight in Estabrook Park, which is always nice, and temps were in the high twenties this morning, which is a bit of a warmup, but the cloud cover remains thick, and there was a bit of haze in the air, so I’d call wildlife viewing conditions somewhat of a mixed bag.

The eagles stayed home today, probably in Lincoln park, and both a red-tailed and a Cooper’s hawk made flyovers, but neither stopped to say “hi”.

Instead, one highlight I did find was this common merganser hen resting on some river ice and perhaps enjoying the relatively warm air.

I am happy to report that belted kingfishers must still be finding the calories they need in the water that remains open, and I managed pictures of two distinct individuals today. This one, of a female, came out the nicest.

Finally, our American black duck is back, and here it is dabbling with the mallards. Besides the darker overall color, the black bars on each end of the blue stripe, instead of white bars, as on the hen behind it, clinch the ID.

The weather is supposed to be even worse tomorrow morning, so who knows what we’ll get, but I’ll be sure to let you know.

As I mentioned yesterday, I’m gonna join a couple thousand other numbskulls and ride my bicycle around Milwaukee today while dressed up like Santa Claus, and it’s probably best if you just don’t ask why.

Anyway, the sky is very heavy with dark clouds this morning, so I don’t really have a hope of sneaking into Estabrook before I get on the road, and I don’t want to leave you empty handed, so it’s back to the archives I’ve gone. One of these days I will have finally shown you all the pictures I took during that amazing trip to Belize that Anne took me on, but today is not that day.

I skipped over these initially because they are all birds we’ve seen in Estabrook, but now that they’ve all flown south for the winter, it might be fun to see which ones landed in Belize.

First up is this Tennessee warbler on Caye Caulker filling its belly with tropical bugs for a change.

Similarly, here’s an eastern wood-pewee doing the same.

This magnolia warbler, also on the Caye, wouldn’t pose nicely, as the others were kind enough to do, but there’s no hiding that stunning yellow-with-black-stripes underside.

Finally, I have glimpsed a yellow-throated warbler in Estabrook, but I never managed to capture one on film until I spotted this one on a Caye Caulker rooftop. “THANKS, SWEETIE!”

Now, on to Crooked Tree Lodge, where this gorgeous male American redstart was foraging for bugs on one of their rain barrels.

Lastly, here’s a black-and-white warbler, also at Crooked Tree, to round out the sextet.

With any luck, I’ll be able to return to our regularly scheduled program tomorrow.

The weather was not too bad in Estabrook Park this morning. Temps were a good 10°F warmer than yesterday, the winds were often blocked by trees or terrain, and the sun even came out for a bit. Best of all, another winter visitor has arrived.

I wouldn’t necessarily call it an ice bird, because it doesn’t look quite as comfortable in icy water as the common mergansers, goldeneyes, or buffleheads do, but I have only seen American black ducks here in the wintertime. They just look more like they’re putting up with it than reveling in it. Anyway, here’s one trying to catch some zzzs.

And here it is again, with a mallard hen who was kind enough to show off the white bars on either edge of her speculum feathers, for reference.

The next big surprise was finding our first kestrel of the month. It was busy working on its breakfast when I first spotted it, but that didn’t take long, and here it is checking me out next.

Apparently, I was neither a suitable second course nor a sufficient threat, because here it is casting that steely gaze to the horizon instead.

Finally, the only other bird more intent on filling its belly than dodging my camera was this American goldfinch mining that catkin for alder seeds.

The annual Santa Cycle Rampage is tomorrow, and festivities kick off between 8:30 and 9:30 here in Shorewood, so it is not clear if and when I’ll be able to show you any new wildlife pictures, but I’ll do my best.

I’m sure there will be an unseasonable thaw, eventually, that will break my heart, but I am definitely loving the winter that December is serving up so far. Temps were in the single digits at sunrise this morning, the sky was crystal clear, the breeze wasn’t bad at all, and there is still enough snow on the ground to provide about 99% coverage. The only thing missing today was critters willing to pose in front of that perfect blue sky. Oh well. Perhaps they have other things to worry about.

On the plus side, the common merganser hens are still on the river, and it was nice to have some sun to light up their pretty red eyes and something other than gray clouds to reflect off the water.

Even better, they scrounged up a drake, and he let us catch just a glimpse of the amazing iridescent green his head feathers can produce.

Finally, and I know that came up soon, but that’s just how this game goes sometimes, now that the lawns they like to graze on are covered in snow, there are plenty of Canada geese back on the river. Here’s a snoozing sextet that has accumulated a dusting of hoarfrost from the slight steam coming off the relatively warm river water.

The forecast for tomorrow morning calls for a little less cold, a little more wind, and a lot more clouds, so maybe a few more critters will be out and about. We shall see soon enough, eh?

Temps were not especially cold this morning in Estabrook, but the air was damp, the breeze was noticeable, and the cloud cover was thick, so it really evoked for me Simon and Garfunkel’s “deep and dark December.”

Nevertheless, birds gotta eat, and here’s a female belted kingfisher searching for its breakfast from one of the guy wires that span the river and support the towers on the far shore.

The big surprise of the day came by the upstream island when crows alerted me to a bald eagle enjoying its fish over the far riverbank. Here it is reaching to take a bite.

Here it is with a nice big hunk in its beak.

And here it is all finished and letting its belly get to work.

Four of the six common mergansers I spotted yesterday were still on the river today, and here’s the one that let me sneak the nicest photo, given the light and distance.

I didn’t find any new visitors at the pond, but this white-throated sparrow sat for a pretty nice portrait.

Finally, as I was walking home along the Oak Leaf Trail, this American goldfinch did the same behind the Benjamin Church House.

Lastly, I see that the forecast calls for clear skies tomorrow morning, so that will be a nice change of pace.