The precipitation that Anne and I heard on our window at breakfast was done by the time the sky got as light as it was going to get, and it was a full 20°F warmer than yesterday, so it was a fine morning to visit Estabrook Park.

The common mergansers and one goldeneye drake were still on the river, but the exciting new visitors this morning where these two American black duck drakes. Part of the fun I have spotting them is their tendency to mingle with the mallards, so they are easy for me to miss if I don’t take the time to check and count them all.

At the pond, someone has been leaving birdseed behind, which attracts a ton of house sparrows and grey squirrels, and this morning even our wayward cowbird joined in the fray.

The seeds were enticing enough to attract even a relatively diminutive red squirrel. In fact, it was so busy feasting, that I had a heck of a time getting it to look our way.

But when it finally did, it was kind enough to strike this irresistible pose for us.

Finally, so many readers liked the female cardinal from yesterday, here’s another one, but without the pretty warm sun and sumac framing, I’m afraid. Sometimes you just gotta take the shot you got, instead of the shot you dream of.

I couldn’t believe my luck when I saw clear skies at dawn again this morning. The air was a little cooler than yesterday, but the winds were also a little lighter, which makes it all the better. Along the river and away from the rapids I could hear a pin drop, or better yet, a blue jay calling in the distance. I am sure that many of you who are enjoying this weather with me can’t wait for the thaw to come, but I sure have been relishing this little slice of winter weather while it lasts.

One of the goldeneye pairs was still on the river today, but they were too busy foraging for snails on the bottom to pose for a picture, so here’s one more from yesterday instead.

There were also still plenty of common mergansers around, and here’s a drake just above the falls that caught the sunlight just right to show off the iridescent green his head feathers can produce. You may recall that in most recent pictures, their heads have looked jet-black.

The owls were both in this morning, but this one was willing to let us have a peak as the morning sun really brought out the color in its plumage.

There have been a ton of dark-eyed juncos around, but this morning I finally spotted one of the Oregon variety, with a nice brown back and sides, and which we don’t get to see too often here.

For contrast, here’s a “slate-colored” variety that was foraging with it, and that we usually see. Despite my best efforts, however, I couldn’t get either of the little stinkers to look my way.

On the other hand, this female northern cardinal, on the sumac beside the pond, appeared happy to oblige.

Finally, as I was making my way home, I found yet another raccoon resting spot, which looked plenty secure from predators but none too warm.

I see that it is forecast to warm up and snow again tomorrow morning, but who knows for sure what we’ll get this time.

The beautiful weather has returned, and it was a gorgeous Wisconsin winter morning in Estabrook Park. The ice on the river is holding steady and perhaps growing on the lake, so our count of common mergansers is up to 16: 4 drakes and 12 hens. On the flat water that stays open above the falls, 4 hens appeared to be ready for a nap by the time I was making my way south again, and here’s one up on the ice settling in.

At the pond, our stray brown-headed cowbird was back, and striking a nicer pose today.

Finally, the big news is that the goldeneyes have finally found each other. In fact, there were even two pairs: these two by themselves just south of the half-way point, and a second two swimming with the mallards and mergansers at the far north end.

I’d say that’s cause for a little celebration, eh? At least this drake thinks so.

Our recent string of beautiful weather hit a bump last night, and we got about an inch of fresh snow in Estabrook Park by sunrise. The air is still nice and crisp, at 10°F, but the skies are grey, grey, grey.

The goldeneye love connection I’ve been following lately made a little progress this morning, and for the first time this season that I have seen, there was both a drake …

and a hen on the river simultaneously, just in different spots. Luckily, they still have plenty of time, and during my last visit to Lake Michigan, there were dozens more of each from which to choose.

Meanwhile, the common mergansers seem to have no trouble finding each other, and I counted three drakes and eight hens today.

Speaking of finding each other, our pair of great horned owls were back in their usual spots, and one was a lot easier to see than the other, as usual.

Finally, I was thrilled to spot this Cooper’s hawk perched high over the little meadow beside the river at the north end.

All the little birds seemed to be on break this morning because none wanted to sit for a picture. Maybe next time.

The weather was still pretty nice in Estabrook Park this morning with temps in the teens and skies only partly cloudy. There were a few common mergansers and no goldeneyes on the river, but the nice surprise was finding a bald eagle perched over the far riverbank at the north end. We haven’t gotten a good look at one since late December.

The big surprise at the pond was this male brown-headed cowbird hiding in the bushes on the island with the house sparrows and house finches. We are right at the northern edge of their year-round range, and we see plenty in the spring and summer, so I guess we’re bound to see one from time to time over the winter.

The cardinals were as thick as ever, and I’m a sucker for them when they perch on the sumac against a blue sky like this.

Finally, to round out the trio of woodpeckers I see almost every day all year long, after the downy and hairy ones earlier this week, here’s a male red-bellied woodpecker striking a nice pose on an old snow-covered tree trunk.

It was yet another beautiful morning in Estabrook Park, and the open river water near the south end attracted another first-of-the-season bird for us. This one is a female goldeneye, and it’s a shame the drake from Saturday didn’t stick around to meet her. She was quite skittish, and this is as close as she let me get. If you click on the picture to see the original image on flickr, you can zoom in to see that her eye is indeed golden.

I didn’t see a critter that I hadn’t already shown you this week until I was walking back south from the pond and this hairy woodpecker perched just overhead.

It appears he just wanted a bit of that frozen snow. I read that cold weather is dehydrating.

Speaking of frozen, all this cold has created some amazing hoar frost on any open ice. It’s on the river, the pond, and this is a little patch on the stream that runs between them. Those flakes are about the size of postage stamps, if you are familiar with that technology.

I hiked along the entire length of the river again this morning in hopes of spotting some exotic visitor from up north, especially while the weather is so nice, but I didn’t see a bird on the water except for a pair of common mergansers and a couple of mallards at the far south end and a dozen geese, and a dozen mallards at the far north end.

At about the halfway point, however, I did see a quartet of American goldfinches in their winter plumage, and here’s the one I could get my camera to focus on.

Farther north, the great horned owls were back, after a couple-day absence, and in their usual spots again. Here’s the one that was less hidden.

All through the park the black-capped chickadees are acting bolder than ever lately, some perching barely out of arm’s reach, and I don’t know if they really are braver or they are so cold they just don’t care, but they seem to be their usual selves in all other respects. In any case, I’m happy to enjoy it while it lasts.

I’ve been glimpsing cottontails from time to time during the winter since I started this little journey, but they are always extremely shy, and I believe this is the first time I’ve ever managed to capture an image of one in the snow. Woo hoo!

At the pond, I found this male house finch male purple finch mixed in with all the similar-looking house finches, which also have red faces, only less so, but they do not have red backs like this guy.

Finally, here’s a second nuthatch from yesterday, when it seemed to be nuthatch picture day.

The gorgeous weather in Estabrook Parked continued this morning with bright blue skies, a little less wind than yesterday, and crisp, cool air, at only -4° instead of the forecast -8°F. Woo hoo!

With the expectation that more of the river had frozen overnight, I headed straight to the river path to see if that had brought with it any new visitors from up north. Things got off to a great start with a pair of common mergansers right at the south end, and here’s the drake, but then I hardly saw a bird on the water until I was at the north end looking farther north toward the bridge with my binoculars. There I could see about a dozen Canada geese, a couple dozen mallards, and even our male belted kingfisher, but not even the goldeneye drake from yesterday. Oh well.

I had skipped the pond on my way north, so I turned east at about the halfway point on my way back south to take the path to the pond that runs along the south edge of the dog park. I had already heard a couple of nuthatches by then, but they were all up pretty high, as it seems they have been all winter, and then this little cutie flew in right at eye level to work the bark of this box elder. I captured a slew of images as it bounced around and worked its way up the trunk, and some are even presentable, but then it just stopped and stared at me and held this perfect nuthatch pose, as if to say, “All right, all right, you’ve been a good boy, so let me make this easy for you.”

When I finally made it to the pond, it was a mob scene. There were dozens of house finches, at least another dozen mourning doves, and even a blue jay, but this male downy woodpecker put on the best show.

This dark-eyed junco managed to get some blue sky in the background.

This robin found itself about the lowest perch possible.

And if this is the male house sparrow from Saturday, it sure did a good job drying itself out.

There was a nice blanket of snow on the ground, not a cloud in the bright blue sky, and a nice, crisp air temperature of -2°F, which 17 mph winds out of the northwest made feel like -20°F, in Estabrook Park this morning. It is finally starting to feel like winter in Wisconsin! I saw only one other pedestrian during my visit, but there were plenty of hardy critters coping with the conditions, and here are some of the ones I captured on film.

The flat river water is almost completely frozen over already, and there were about three dozen Canada geese out on a patch of it between the islands and all lined up with the wind.

In the few channels of open water that remain, along the far shore, a few common mergansers were diving for fish, …

and a lone common goldeneye drake was diving for snails.

Back on shore, a male downy woodpecker was busy pecking the heck out of that branch.

Back at the pond, the bushes that surround it were jam-packed with poofy little birds, and here are a few I haven’t shown you too recently: a black-capped chickadee, …

a white-throated sparrow, …

and a female northern cardinal.

The forecast is for -8° tomorrow morning, with a slight reduction in wind, but I’m keeping my hopes in check for now after a string of recent forecasts that over promised but under delivered. We’ll know the real score soon enough.

We finally got some real snow, despite the best efforts of the warm Lake Michigan water directly to our east. Between waiting for the snow to move out, playing with the visiting grandson with the Erector Set my mom and dad gave me for Christmas 100 years ago, and then shoveling the driveway so said grandson could attend a birthday party, I can’t believe I managed to fit in a visit to Estabrook Park.

Happily, the critters seemed distracted enough by the change in weather that I managed to capture a few images. Here’s a male northern cardinal by the pond.

And here’s a flock of house finches, with one mourning dove in the mix, a few steps north.

At the risk of overdoing it with mourning doves lately, here’s one showing off some pretty blue tail feathers that I have not noticed before.

Finally, as far as the pond is concerned, here’s a soaking wet male house sparrow, which I would normally skip, but who looks quite interesting when soaking wet, and who makes me wonder how he got soaking wet.

At the river, the two great horned owls were in their usual spots, but this one wasn’t too hidden.

Lastly, at the north end, there were nearly a dozen common mergansers, but they stayed near the far shore, so here’s a friendly robin willing to pose right overhead.