Wowzah, it was warm in Estabrook Park this morning! Skies were crystal clear, so I got out well before sunrise, at 6:20 am, and it was already 52°F and on its way to a forecast 67°F this afternoon.

One critter that was out taking advantage of the unusual weather was this beaver, busily hauling a long, slender stick back to its burrow. Long-time readers may recall that just three years ago during the last week of February, there was still enough ice on the river for a pair of beaver to climb up on it and cuddle.

Another critter trying to capitalize on the early warmth is this grackle, perched high over the river, …

and five of its best friends.

I didn’t see anybody besides mallards and geese at the north end, so I headed to the pond, where I found the wood duck drake whom we first saw on Sunday, but still no hens yet. “Hang in there, Buddy! They’ll get here soon enough.”

The cardinals were quite active at the pond, and here’s one munching on some sumac seeds.

Finally, the dark-eyed juncos have changed their tune recently and are becoming less plentiful. Here’s one who hasn’t left yet and instead has found a prominent perch from which it can sing its new song.

It is a little hazy and breezy now, but earlier this morning, the sky was clear, and the air was still in Estabrook Park. Temps were in the high 30s already by sunrise, but there was enough radiant cooling overnight to frost the grass and firm up some of the river trail mud.

I suspect it was the still air and subsequent quiet that enabled me to find in short order the winter wren that the Milwaukee Birders and I searched for in vain along the river yesterday.

At the north end, all the goldeneyes and mergansers we saw yesterday have moved on already, but I finally was able to get my camera on this handsome kingfisher, for the first time since January. The Milwaukee Birders heard him yesterday, but none of us could spot it, and I glimpsed one earlier in the week as it rocketed past, but I need more time than that.

At the pond, the wood duck has also moved on already, but this white-throated sparrow was kind enough to sit still for a moment.

Another first for the season was this eastern chipmunk by the pond and glowing in the morning sun.

Finally, on my way back south, I could hear squirrels crying overhead as I walked by the entrance to the underpass, and a quick scan of the trees soon found this beautiful Cooper’s hawk on the hunt.

Donna’s Sunday morning birding group came to visit Estabrook Park this morning, and I showed them where I have seen the winter wren recently, but it didn’t want to come out and play today. Instead, we saw a bald eagle glide over the north end, and there was a goldeneye hen on the water, but I didn’t manage to get any pictures.

Well, the group eventually had enough birding for one morning, we parted ways by the beer garden, and as I walked past the pond on my way home, look who I found floating in the sun. It’s our first wood duck of the season. Woo Hoo! He was quite shy and after I grabbed this picture from up by the parkway, he hid under the bushes that overhang the water from the island and refused to come out. Oh well. I’m sure we’ll be seeing plenty more of him soon enough.

Anyway, while I was sitting on the park bench and enjoying the sun that had come out, the mallards mostly ignored me, and this drake really put on a light show with his iridescent head feathers. First, they glowed green, …

then blue, …

and finally, both blue and green at the same time!

Lastly, the goose couple were up on the lawn right in front of me, and I wonder if the female is bracing herself for the arduous 28 days of incubating she’s got in her near future.

Wow! What a difference 24 hours can make. We went from high 30s with blue skies yesterday morning in Estabrook Park to low 20s with grey skies and snow on the ground this morning. It sure seemed to wake up the critters, too.

I had just gotten on the, now nicely frozen, river trail at the far south end, when this red-tailed hawk swooped in looking for squirrels. It must have been quite hungry because it nearly ignored me. I’m pretty sure it was the one with the almost all-white belly we’ve been seeing recently.

At about half-way to the north end, near where the stream from the pond empties into the river, this red squirrel was busy with its own breakfast.

As I approached the north end, I was thrilled to find this handsome pair of common goldeneyes diving in the shallow water between the islands. We haven’t seen the likes of them since the last cold snap, about two weeks ago.

There was also a female common merganser floating with the Canada geese near the northern island.

A little ice was forming on the pond, but that wasn’t enough to daunt this intrepid muskrat, and I don’t believe I’ve been able to show you one from the pond since back in December.

There was also a sextet of male red-winged blackbirds, and they were perched together and calling in a tree over the north end. They were making quite a racket, and I don’t believe I’ve seen them behave this way before.

Back on the water, a half dozen mallards were paddling around with the pair of geese, and this one hen took a moment to spread preen oil all over her feathers.

Finally, back at the south end, there is a big old tree on the lawn of the Benjamin Church House that is still full of fruit, and it was attracting a few starlings, including this non-breeding adult or youngster, …

And a slew of hungry robins.

This morning the weather in Estabrook Park was just about as nice as yesterday, but I didn’t see nearly as many critters out enjoying it. Maybe they’re just pacing themselves.

Anyway, here is yet another muskrat picture, but in my defense, it is a different individual on a different part of the river, and the water is reflecting some pretty colors, so here we are.

The only other sight that caught my eye was this chickadee furiously foraging for breakfast.

With the dearth of pictures today, here’s another look at the red-tailed hawk from yesterday.

I saw no sign of the red-breasted merganser on the pond or the river, but here’s another look from yesterday.

Finally, someone reported seeing the yellow-bellied sapsucker yesterday, but it eluded me then and again today, so I have to go back to Wednesday for one last picture of it.

It was another very nice sprinter morning in Estabrook Park, but a little cooler than yesterday, and the mostly clear skies overnight allowed for some additional radiant cooling that even froze up the river path mud in many spots.

The songbirds are really starting to sing throughout the park, but the first critter to properly greet me this morning was this muskrat on the river.

I didn’t see anybody other than mallards, geese, and a couple of gulls on the river at the north end, but when I climbed the bluff to head toward the pond, this red-tailed hawk swooped in to say “Hi!” Actually, it was probably far more interested in any of the several squirrels in the trees around it, who were all making their warning sound.

When I finally did reach the pond, I was happy to find a red-breasted merganser drake busy fishing, but also looking magnificent in the sun while catching his breath.

I stopped back by the river again on my way home to see if I could get another picture of the winter wren. I did manage to see a glimpse of it, but I failed to get a picture this time. Instead, here’s a song sparrow, of which we haven’t seen much lately.

While there, I was surprised to find the muskrat still active on the river, and here it is with a nice fresh shoot it just pulled out of the river bottom.

Finally, I also searched for the sapsucker, but I saw no sign of him today. Instead, here’s another picture from yesterday.

Anne and I arrived back in Milwaukee safe and sound yesterday afternoon. The American southwest is amazing, of course, but it is also always great to be back home. This morning was cloudy, breezy, and a little sprinkly in Estabrook Park, but it was also warm, the breeze eventually died down, and the sun even came out for a bit.

The first critter to welcome me back was this little red squirrel, who appears to be sampling the bark on that twig, a behavior which I have not seen before. I can’t find bark listed in their diet anywhere, so perhaps it was just putting on a show to fake me out.

I saw no signs of the American coot, common mergansers, or goldeneyes, but there were a couple of red-breasted merganser drakes around, and here’s the one on the river.

The pond still has a little ice cover, but the water is mostly clear now, and here are a pair of Canada geese taking advantage of it.

There were also about a dozen mallards on the pond, and here’s one pair.

Meanwhile, this red-winged blackbird was calling from atop the tree directly over the park bench on the west lawn.

Finally, all the way back at the south end, by the sand volleyball court, I spotted my first yellow-bellied sapsucker of the season. Woo Hoo! Now that’s a fine “Welcome Home!”

After a full day at Snow Canyon, we drove to Mesquite, Nevada to stay overnight before flying home out of Las Vegas the next morning, and I thought I was done birding for the day. As we walked to our hotel room, however, I heard an interesting call.

It turned out to come from this striking lesser goldfinch (Spinus psaltria) in a bush beside the parking lot. I glimpsed them in Sedona last fall, but never managed to get a picture until now.

As I was looking for the goldfinch, I also spotted this Eurasian collared dove, like the ones we saw in South Holland.

Finally, the palm trees over the RV park across the street were full of great-tailed grackles
(Quiscalus mexicanus), which I glimpsed in Big Bend last year, but never managed to get a picture worth showing.

As you read this, Anne and I should be in the air on our way back to Milwaukee, and so I have a hope of returning to Estabrook Park tomorrow morning. Wish us luck!

Today we visited Utah’s Snow Canyon State Park, which features both petrified sand dunes and lava flows, and the views were spectacular.

As soon as we arrived, I spotted a sextet of Gambel’s quail, and here’s the hen that was too slow to avoid my camera.

The canyon wrens from Zion were replaced by rock wrens, and here’s the boldest one.

We spotted another cliff chipmunk.

There was a flock of white-crowned sparrows, just like the ones we see in Estabrook once in a while, and this individual was still too busy with its morning grooming to flee my camera.

The Woodhouse’s scrub jays were as present as ever, and here’s one more.

We finally spotted our first raptor of the trip, and it was this red-tailed hawk.

Lastly, there are already flowers in bloom, and this one is common stork’s-bill, aka redstem filaree, redstem stork’s bill, or pinweed (Erodium cicutarium), which I read “is native to Macaronesia, temperate Eurasia and north and northeast Africa, and was introduced to North America in the eighteenth century, where it has since become naturalized, particularly of the deserts and arid grasslands of the southwestern United States.”

After a couple of days at the Grand Canyon, Anne and I drove up to Utah to visit Zion National Park today. The weather was absolutely gorgeous with blue skies, still air, and temps in the low 60s, so we did our best to take full advantage of it. We had a nice hike at the south end before lunch, and here are some of the critters we saw.

This first one was a huge treat for me, and the National Park Service suggests that it is a plateau lizard (Sceloporus tristichus).

We could hear a couple canyon wrens, but they kept out of sight, and this Woodhouse’s scrub jay put on a nice show for us instead.

After lunch, we drove up to the north end, where the canyon narrows, and the roadway ends. From there we continued along the river on foot, and this rock squirrel appeared to be out sunning itself on a bolder overlooking the river while ignoring the stream of tourists trudging up and down the trail behind it.

I was quite surprised to find a hermit thrush, just like the ones we see in Estabrook Park, but here it is.

The canyon wrens were even more plentiful than in the morning, and this one finally showed its darling little face.

Finally, as we headed back south on our way out of the park, mule deer seemed to be everywhere along the river, and this one was kind enough to wish us a safe journey home.