The weather was gorgeous this morning in Estabrook Park, and the crystal-clear skies allowed me to start at 5:20 am and beat the rush. They also, along with the nearly still air, allowed radiant cooling to form frost on the clumps of dead grass left on the soccer fields from the last mowing.

The big surprise at the pond is that either I am losing my mind, which is a real possibility these days, or there is a fresh batch of seven wood duck ducklings. I didn’t actually see the group of five this morning, but these seven look smaller than the five we saw just yesterday. You can also see a little steam rising off the warm pond water into the cool morning air.

As the wood ducks hustled away, the mallard hen and her duckling calmly watched from the shore.

The next pleasant surprise was meeting a Canada goose up on shore at the north end, and better yet, as I gave it a nice wide berth on my way past, the rest of its family crested the lip of the riverbank to sample some of that grass.

Lastly, this indigo bunting chose to crow to the heavens from a branch so low that even my backup lens could almost reach it.

After the latest line of storms yesterday, the river was even higher this morning, but thankfully not as high as it was back at the beginning of April. Plus, the sun is out today, and it is shaping up to be a very nice day.

On my second visit to the pond, I was pleasantly surprised to find six Canada geese up on the west lawn. They have started to make themselves scarce now that nesting season is over, and I don’t get to see much of them these days. Anyway, I approached nice and slow, and they let me take a seat on the bench. Then, as I waited in hopes that the wood ducks would come over for a nice picture, this goose gave me a look that was hard to resist.

The wood duck hen and her ducklings did eventually swim over, perhaps feeling assured by the geese, and here they all are.

Back at the river, I found the great blue herons, who were absent from the north end, apparently trying a new location.

Finally, I realized this is yet another red admiral, and with a few pieces missing, plus dames rockets are invasive, but I didn’t see any monarchs or swallowtails today, so here’s the best butterfly picture I could manage.

The nice weather was back in Estabrook Park, at least for this morning, and now that the holiday weekend is over. On my way to the park, I hadn’t even jaywalked across Wilson Dr yet when I spotted this wild turkey dutifully using the crosswalk to go looking for breakfast in the suburbs.

There was a surprise visitor at the pond when I walked up, and you can just make out its big bushy tail in the middle of this image below. I of course hustled around to the other side for a better look, but all I got was one glimpse before it quickly ambled into the thick brush along the shore.

Once I realized I was not going to get a nice raccoon portrait today, I turned around and found the mallard hen and her duckling foraging at the water’s edge right behind me.

At the river, the common merganser drake, who has made himself scarce for the past couple of days, was back in his usual spot in the water around the northern island and looking as healthy as ever.

The brush along the riverbank has grown up and leafed out enough that I can’t really check for swallows at the bridge without hiking up there, so I hit the trail and was pleasantly surprised to find one of the many red-eyed vireos, which usually are singing from the treetops, down at eye level for a change.

When I got to the Port Washington Road bridge, I was thrilled to finally see the pair of barn swallows at their nest. The lighting is quite poor, and I still don’t have my good lens, but it sure looks like the one perched on the nest is feeding a youngster. Yay!

There were no raptors over the island today, so I headed back to the pond, where I found the wood duck hen and her five remaining ducklings in a more photogenic location than earlier.

As I sat on the bench on the west lawn, the mallard duckling hopped up on shore and strutted right across the lawn right between me and four sleeping drakes. Mom was not pleased and hustled after it until it was back in the water.

I haven’t seen much of the nuthatches in a while, but this one paused from foraging for a second to give me a look I couldn’t resist.

Finally, I saw another monarch relentlessly searching for something, either a blossom with nectar to sip or a milkweed on which to lay eggs, and it never stopped until it was out of sight. Instead, this eastern question mark paused to bask in the sun and let me take this picture.

It was cool, cloudy, and breezy this morning in Estabrook Park, so perfect weather for a Memorial Day cookout or campout, as I remember it. At least it wasn’t raining, yet.

We didn’t have an eagle visit us this year to celebrate the occasion, as we did last year, but I was still happy to see a peregrine falcon trying out the new raptor tree over the northern island in the river.

I was sad to see that the wood duck hen on the pond is down to five ducklings, as of this morning, from the seven I saw just yesterday, but I’m sure the missing two are being put to good use by the snapping turtle, the mink, a heron, or some other predator.

Meanwhile, the mallard hen and her duckling continue to do well, and they were both taking advantage of a good morning for sleeping in when I spotted them. You can just see the duckling tucked up on Mom’s right side.

The sky looked nice and clear as dawn broke, but a thick blanket of clouds rolled in before the sun could even clear the horizon. Ah well. It is Memorial Day weekend, after all, and this is pretty much par for the course, in my experience.

In keeping with the mood, things were pretty quiet in Estabrook Park as well. I did see all eight ducklings on the pond, but the mallards were up in the tall grass, and I didn’t want to bother them, so here’s the tightest grouping of wood ducks I could manage.

At the river, I was happy to see the pair of great blue herons again and that they were making good use of the remains of that tree that fell last Wednesday.

The big surprise this morning came as I tried to look upriver for barn swallows hunting for flies from the Port Washington Bridge. A large bird was coming down river over our shore, and at first I thought it was just another of the many gulls in the air, but as it flew right over me, I could see that it was no gull. As luck would have it, it perched on the remaining big dead tree over the northern island where I could finally recognize it as an osprey. We haven’t seen one since April, and they are always a treat.

The current forecast for the big day is much better than today, but who knows what we’ll see.

The river was up nearly a foot, and things were plenty wet, but those are about all the indications of the heavy storms that rolled through yesterday afternoon. The sun was shining this morning, and the breeze was light, so it was a very nice start to the holiday weekend in Estabrook Park.

Better yet, the mallard hen and her duckling were back in their usual spot on the pond, yay, and the little one is now quite noticeably bigger than it was just two weeks ago.

Best of all, the wood duck hen with her seven ducklings was also back. Hurray! I wonder why and where they were all hiding yesterday.

Even a kingfisher was back, and I couldn’t tell which one this is, but here it is racing off with a fresh catch after some red-winged blackbirds took exception.

The bluebirds were back, too, but they were trying to dry off, so didn’t want any pictures today. I didn’t see anything to show you at the north end, either, so I went back to the pond and found the wood ducks all in a row.

Finally, as I cut across the baseball field, I found a pair of killdeer on the flooded infield, which might be the closest thing to an exposed sandbar that they could find today, now that everything on the river is submerged again.

It was a nice-enough morning in Estabrook Park, but it appears that most of the resident critters have already split for the Memorial Day weekend. Thus, I am sorry to say that there was no sign of either the mallard or wood duck ducklings on the pond, and the bluebirds were not in the usual spot. All I could find were a few stragglers.

Here’s an eastern cottontail just before it started hopping down that bunny trail.

And here’s a wild turkey, which some of you may have in your own backyards right now, but we don’t get to see very often in the park.

There were still a few warblers in the trees and bushes, but with my backup lens, I don’t have much hope of getting any pictures for you. I did receive word that my good lens has arrived at the service center, so here’s hoping they can fix it up quick and send it back here soon.

The fine weather has returned to Estabrook Park, at least for this morning, and it was a great time to visit, but let’s cut right to the main event, which I only saw on my second visit to the pond: seven brand-new and vigorous wood duck ducklings. Woo Hoo!

The mallard hen with her duckling was still there, and even up on the west lawn again, but we’ve seen a lot of them lately, so let’s skip to the bigger sight, also at the pond: our first female belted kingfisher of the year. Hurray!

On my way to the river, the bluebirds were out hunting over the lawn again, and here’s the male showing off his grip.

At the river, there were two great blue herons: one up on the remaining big dead tree over the northern island, and the other a lot closer to our shore and in the effective range of my current lens.

Back on shore, here’s our second dragonfly of the season, after the one being devoured by the blue-headed vireo last month, and this one appears to be our very first midland clubtail (Gomphurus fraternus).

A lot farther south, down the bluff from the southern playground, the Canada goose family with three goslings was up in their usual spot.

Finally, I saw two monarchs and a tiger swallowtail this morning, but all three were too busy for pictures. I also saw at least four of these little ones, summer azures (Celastrina neglecta), and this one was willing to sit still for 1/125 of a second. They are a lot bluer on the inside/topside of their wings, but good luck getting that picture.

Wowzah! The wind sure is blowing in Estabrook Park this morning. Fortunately for this project, critters be hungry anyway, so there were still some sights to see. Once I sat down to seem less of a threat, the mallard hen and her duckling on the pond came over for their daily picture.

While I was sitting there, this guy came up on the lawn, waddled around behind me, and just parked there. I wonder what he wanted.

Happily, I took that picture and turned around in time to catch this action back on the water. “Soon enough, little cutie, soon enough.”

Meanwhile, this wood duck couple might be scouting nesting locations. There is a nesting box mounted on the island, but I don’t know if they use it.

After the pond, I headed over to the river and was dismayed to find the “raptor tree” on the northern island had succumbed to the high winds last night. Over the years, we have seen it provide perches for bald eagles, osprey, red-tailed hawks, Cooper’s hawks, merlins, peregrine falcons, great blue herons, great egrets, and belted kingfishers. There is another big dead tree on the island, and it is not as prominent, but I sure hope the birds find it to be as attractive.

In happier news, back on our shore, this robin was keeping her eggs warm.

While just a little farther inland, this grey squirrel was munching on grass seeds from the safety of a maple tree branch.

Lastly, as I searched in vain for a spotted sandpipers on the river, I glimpsed some turkey vultures drifting overhead, and as I counted for swallows hunting over the water, the crowd of turkey vultures eventually grew to eight (8!). I’ve seen similar groups in Connecticut, and the skies over the Amazon would have dozens at once, but this is the first time I’ve seen so many over Estabrook Park. If it’s an omen, I sure hope it’s a good one.

The fog in Estabrook Park this morning was as thick as pea soup. It was foggy before dawn, and it has lifted a bit, but it is still foggy as I write this. On top of that, I finally broke down and sent my good lens in for service yesterday. It has been acting up lately, and I got tired of missing shots while it struggled to get up to speed. So, now I’m stuck using a shorter, backup lens, and you shouldn’t get your hopes up! At least it didn’t rain this morning.

I waited for enough sunlight to seep through the fog, so by the time I reached the pond, the mallard hen and her duckling were already done with breakfast and were doing a little preening before starting their naps.

Leave it to the bluebirds to choose today to finally pose together, right? Oh well. They’re still pretty birds.

When I reached the river, I could barely see across, but if you look closely, you can see two great blue herons perched on a branch over the far shore. Yeah, it was that foggy.

Here they are again after Adobe Lightroom tried its best to “dehaze” the image.

Later, on my way back south after visiting the north end, the fog had lifted a bit by the time I found one of them on our side of the river.

Finally, at the far south end, I found a chipmunk on a tree trunk at about eye level, which I seldom get to see. They are in the ground squirrel tribe of rodents, after all.

That’s it for today, I’m afraid, but since I’ve got a little room left, I can finally show you the amazing pictures that Tom, the mink whisperer, was kind enough to send me. He was watching a female, red-bellied woodpecker forage on the trunk of a dead tree when she reached under a flap of loose bark and pulled out a bat. Can you even believe it!?!?!

She dragged the poor little thing all the way out, and I don’t believe it ended well for the bat. Man, those woodpeckers are fiercer predators than I realized.