At the breakfast table this morning, Anne and I saw the chance of precipitation below 20% through 10am. By the time we headed out at 5:40, it had jumped up to 78% for 7am, but the radar forecast looked like it might just miss us. Well, by the time I got to the pond, the radar showed an angry red wall fixin’ to wash over us. Happily, Anne was able to ride her bike back home before the worst hit us, and I waited out the downpour under the little entrance way on the maintenance building in the park. Thus, I did not get many pictures today.

During a little lull, I hustled over to the beer garden to watch the rain from under a bigger roof, and on the way I spotted the mallard hen hunkered down on the west lawn of the pond, just like the first day we saw her, and the male eastern bluebird appearing to be seeking cover on the side of this big branch.

When the rain finally wrapped up, and the sun threatened to poke through the clouds, I stopped by the pond again on my way home, and I found the mallard hen and her duckling back to business as usual, as if nothing had even happened.

It was another super nice morning in Estabrook Park, with slightly warmer temps and a little bit more of a breeze. The critters might have been worn out from the big day yesterday, I sure know I was, but we all did our best anyway.

I saw three sandpipers on the river, along with a killdeer, and I thought the sandpipers were all spotted until I got a good look at the one picture I took. This cutie turns out to be a solitary sandpiper, whom we haven’t seen in a while. I’d better start paying more attention!

Back up on the bluff, I found the male bluebird on the wire again, and his behavior suggests that he’s getting used to my shenanigans, even if the expression on his face doesn’t.

I stopped by the pond, and even waited by the flowering bush, in hopes of seeing the hummingbird again, but it didn’t arrive before my patience ran out, so here’s one more picture from yesterday.

While I was waiting for the hummingbird, I watched this female house sparrow doing her best hummingbird imitation as it was snatching something from or near the water surface. I did not know that they could do that.

Here she is posing for the camera.

Meanwhile, the mallard hen and her duckling were enjoying their naps in the warm morning sun.

Finally, here’s another look, this time from Friday, at the pair of flickers.

Lastly, we were out long enough yesterday for the butterflies to start flying, and here’s an American lady.

Today was the third annual Pollinator Palooza in Estabrook Park, and they could not have had a better day for it. It started out cool, but it warmed up quickly, the breeze has been light, and the skies have not been cloudy all day. In the past, they have had Charles Hagner lead bird walks in the morning, but Mr. Hagner couldn’t make it today, so they asked me to fill in, and, except for me arriving late for the 9:30 walk because I thought it started at 10 am, I don’t think it went half bad. We had no injuries, and I’m pretty sure we didn’t lose anybody.

The 6:30 group started right on time and got to see a blackburnian warbler right off the bat, seen here being all coy with my camera, …

the mallard hen and her duckling, wood ducks, one of which is up in a tree here, and a slew of other birds.

A family of four had to hit the road right at 7:30, but a couple of sharp-eyed guys had the time to keep looking, so we went north along the river and saw a green heron, …

my first ever yellow-bellied flycatcher (Empidonax flaviventris), …

my first killdeer on the river of this season, …

the first warbling vireo that let me capture an image good enough for me to use as a positive ID, …

and a great horned owl being mobbed by crows on the west side of the southern island. Man, I’d hate to be on the business end of those talons, right?

The 9:30 group, which was kind enough to wait for me to drag my butt to the start at 9:55, included three subscribers to this blog and got to see a ruby-throated hummingbird by the pond, …

which even perched for a second if we failed to capture it in flight, …

a baby snapping turtle gobbling up polliwogs in the river, …

which I believe are from the toads we saw there just recently, …

the red-headed woodpecker, and a slew of other birds.

Thanks to everyone who came out today and helped me spot all these amazing sights. I hope we get to do it again sometime.

It was a strange morning in Estabrook Park. The air was warmer than it’s been in a while, and the skies were nice and clear at sunrise, but then a thick fog rolled in from off the lake, and I could barely make out the far riverbank. Then, as randomly as it came, the fog rolled away again, and the sun came back out. Weird.

Anyway, before the fog came, I found a newer-looking family of geese and goslings in nearly the same place as we saw the teenagers yesterday.

I just barely beat the fog to the north end, and I was surprised to find a pair of brown-headed cowbirds willing to let me get close enough for pictures. Here’s the female, and …

here’s the male, with his namesake brown head. He got all poofy a couple of times, but she was not interested, so they both just kept foraging.

On the water, there were more geese than I’ve seen in a while, including about a couple dozen goslings, and the air was full of swifts and swallows, but the fog was so thick I didn’t even bother trying to take pictures. I headed back south instead and soon came across this white-crowned sparrow filling up on dandelion seeds.

By the time I reached the beer garden, the fog was just about gone, so I dropped back down to the river and soon found the red-headed woodpecker again. I had heard him earlier, but I could not get eyes on him.

Back at the pond, I found the mallard hen and her gosling down for their mid-morning nap.

This warmup is bringing out the bullfrogs, and I was startled by a huge one parked on the riverbank, but this one on a log in the pond made a better picture.

On my first visit to the pond, I couldn’t find any wood ducks, but on my second try, I found this drake also down for a nap, but with at least one eye open.

On the path through the woods back to the river, I believe I spotted our first Alder flycatcher (Empidonax alnorum). It doesn’t appear to have the olive-green back of an Acadian flycatcher, the peaked head feathers of a wood pewee, the dark head of a phoebe, the eye-ring of a least flycatcher, but I didn’t hear it sing, so I suppose it could be a willow flycatcher. As usual, we’ll see what the experts say.

This next bird gave me no identification trouble, but crows seem to prefer not to have their picture taken. This one was excited about something, however, and was too busy calling other crows to worry about me.

Finally, on my way back home, this chipmunk froze on the path, and I might have skipped taking its picture on the asphalt like that, but I was amazed at how straight it was holding its tail, and who knows when, if ever, I’ll get to see that again.

Lastly, the mayapples are in bloom, under their tent umbrella leaves. I read that you can eat the “apples” once they ripen to a nice yellow, but all the rest of the plan is poisonous, even the fruit while it is still green, in case you are hungry now.

The sky is a bit hazy today, but the breeze has died down, which makes listening for birds all the easier, so it was another perfectly fine morning to be in Estabrook Park. When I arrived at the pond, I could hear a wood duck calling, and it only took me a moment to find this cutie perched atop the big old trunk at the southern tip.

The bigger surprise was finding a great blue heron in a tree at the other end of the pond. We’ve seen them on the river a couple of times, but I think this is the first time this season that I’ve seen one at the pond.

The biggest surprise was finding a second great blue heron fishing in the pond along the east shore. What a way to make an entrance!

I didn’t see anyone else there at the time, so I continued on to the north end, and found the bluebirds again along the way. I believe this one is the male, based on the vibrancy of his colors.

There are still redstarts singing and foraging everywhere, and here’s a female.

This male wasn’t far away.

The chestnut-sided warblers are almost as ubiquitous as the redstarts, and the jet-black mask on the face of this one marks him as a male.

I didn’t see a kingbird until later, and I wasn’t able to get a picture, but here’s another look at the one from yesterday.

On my way back by the pond, the mother duck and duckling had come out from wherever they were hiding, and they seem to be getting comfortable with life in their little fishbowl because they are making it easier for me to get nice pictures.

Finally, I stopped back by the river one more time, and the geese with seven goslings, who are really starting to look like teenagers now, were settling in for their mid-morning naps.

There is still a cool breeze out of the northeast, but the sun was out, and the sky was blue, so it was another beautiful morning to be in Estabrook Park. There are still plenty of warblers around, especially redstarts, of which I counted at least two dozen, but we’ve seen a lot of warblers lately, so let’s give them a break today.

Instead, check out this blue jay gathering nesting material off the ground beside the pond. They are normally much shyer than their aggressive reputation at the birdfeeder would suggest, but when you just gotta have that stick, you’re willing to put up with a few stares, I guess.

I was pleasantly surprised to find a few rose-breasted grosbeaks today, and here’s one, also by the pond, catching the morning sun just right.

On my way from the pond to the river, I spotted a pair of blue birds foraging bugs out of the grass from perches overhead, and here’s the male sizing me up.

I arrived at the river just in time to watch this kingfisher dive in to grab this little fish.

Farther north, the grounded common merganser drake is still looking otherwise healthy and perhaps getting a little used to me trying to get a picture of him.

Back on shore, this grackle was posing so nicely and glistening in the sun, and then …

it turned its high beams on. Wow, what a flex! I did not know it could do that with its chest feathers.

Right below the grackle, the kingbird was on break from flying sorties out over the river to catch bugs.

Just a bit farther inland from those two, the indigo buntings are back in one of their favorite locations in the park, and this one was announcing that he was now open for business.

I didn’t see any scarlet tanagers today, so they may all have already moved on, but happily, we’ve got our own, native, bright-red bird to fall back on when we need a dose.

Finally, the mallard duckling and its mom continue to graze on the pond, and today the duckling seemed a lot less frantic, so I was able sneak this nice portrait of the two of them together.

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.