The line of thunderstorms forecast to roll through this morning got delayed a bit, perhaps in Chicago traffic, and I had some time to sneak into Estabrook Park. The skies were pretty dark, but I found some subjects willing to sit still for 1/125 of a second.

The first one is this pretty green heron hunting on the pond.

As I watched, it appears to have found this fish on that log, gave it a few tastes, and eventually opted to leave it for a gull and move on.

Our old buddy, the common merganser drake with a wing that doesn’t look quite right, was on the river north of the northern island. So, it appears he can still swim and hunt just fine, but he’s now stuck with us, poor guy. “Hang in there, Buddy! Your pals will return with the winter.”

I continued north from there because the trees atop the bluff were providing nice shelter from the breeze, and I could hear birds a-chirpin’. It didn’t take long to find another rose-breasted grosbeak.

Better yet, he had a lady-friend with him. This is the first time I’ve managed to catch a male and female together like this.

There was more chirping ahead, so I pressed on, and I soon found this little devil that has been eluding me for the past four years. Give a warm Estabrook welcome to our first orange-crowned warbler (Leiothlypis celata).

Finally, at the far, far north end, just before the trail passes under the bridges, a spotted sandpiper alerted me to its proximity with its signature call.

With the threat of rain, I was afraid I’d come up short on images, so here are a few of the flowers in bloom now. Plus, they mostly stay still for me.

First up, there are a couple nice patches of white trillium on the sides of the ravine north of the beer garden.

Here’s a closeup.

Farther north, there are several patches of prairie trillium, aka toadshade.

Lastly, the wild geraniums are starting to open throughout the park.

Weather-wise, this morning in Estabrook Park was almost a perfect repeat of yesterday. The sky wasn’t quite as clear, but the cool breeze out of the northeast was a bit lighter, so I’ll take it!

I had only reached the narrow part of the park, where the paved walking path goes right along the edge of the bluff over the river and is separated from the parkway by a guardrail, when our first big visitor dropped in. What a great way to start the day, eh?

From the walking path, I took the first stairway down to the river, and I found the geese and goslings right where I left them yesterday, at the edge of the river, and appearing to be just waking up. “Good morning, you sleepy heads!”

As I was trying to capture the tranquil nature of that scene, look who steamed by. It’s been a while since we’ve seen a beaver on the river, and I’m glad to see them still venturing so far south.

On my way to the pond, I could hear the brown thrasher singing again, which I heard yesterday morning, but this time I was able to find it in a tree over the dog park.

At the pond, I found six wood ducks: a drake and hen swimming together, and these four bachelors beside the island looking as glum as groomsmen who can’t find a dance partner.

There wasn’t much else to see at the pond, so I headed back to the river and continued north. As I neared the spot where I saw the owl yesterday, I heard a distinctive raptor call, forgot all about the owl, and hightailed it to the north end in hopes of spotting the caller, who turned out to be this peregrine falcon over the northern island. Yay!

After getting the best picture I could, at that distance, I continued north to see who might be on or over the water north of the island. There were no surprise mergansers today, but the big swarm of swifts was back. Anyway, on my way back south, I saw that a second falcon had flown in, and the two were busily chatting each other up. How fun!

The two falcons didn’t stay perched long, so I turned my attention inland and finally got a pretty good image of one of the yellow warblers I’ve been hearing for days.

As I continued south, I did manage to check on the owl, who was in again today, woo hoo, and much more exposed than yesterday. Plus, based on the direction of its wide-eyed stare, I’ll bet that it was the noisy falcons who were keeping it awake this morning.

Finally, before I climbed back up onto the bluff to head home, I found the geese and goslings out for a swim on the river.

We had some thunderstorms roll through last evening, but they took all the clouds with them, so it was a very nice morning in Estabrook Park. I stopped by the river on my way to the pond, and I was thrilled to find a family of Canada geese there. I have no way of knowing if they are the same family that started out at the pond three weeks ago, and I could only see seven goslings, but they look like they could be three weeks old, so maybe it is them.

When I did reach the pond, I was greeted by this tranquil scene of three wood duck drakes preening in the warm morning sun.

From there, I continued northwest back toward the river, and along the way I spotted a white crowned sparrow, …

this dazzling Nashville warbler, …

one of the many house wrens belting out their tune throughout the park, …

and this indigo bunting, who almost let me have a portrait, but was just too busy hopping around looking for something to eat.

The next surprise was waiting for me out on the water: this stunning hooded merganser drake with his “hood” fully extended. Sweet!

As I stood on shore and tried to see who else might be on the water, this darling solitary sandpiper landed nearly right in front of me. “Hello, sweetie!”

Meanwhile, the skies overhead were full of swifts and swallows. I estimate at least four dozen birds. They’re small and fast and give my autofocus fits, so we did our best.

This is as close as I got to a closeup, but you can definitely tell it is a chimney swift (Chaetura pelagica), the so-called “flying cigar.”

While I was struggling to capture a swift on film, I saw a large bird, out of the corner of my eye, swoop down toward the water and head toward the islands. Just before it disappeared, I could make out the big, round head of an owl. Could it be? Might our old friend have returned to its roost on the southern island? I hustled right down there to find out, and sure enough, the leaves are already thick on the tree, but right in the middle of this picture you can just make out its belly feathers. Yay! “Welcome back, and how are the owlets?” Man, I sure hope there are owlets, even if we don’t get to see them.

Anyway, I eventually tore myself away and started my walk home along the river. When I reached the bottom, where I had seen the goslings earlier, I checked to see if they were still there, and look who else flew in.

Lastly, as I was taking pictures of the green heron, I could hardly believe my eyes when I spotted our firstsoft shell turtle of the season and in a spot where I have not yet seen them before. Outstanding! Now that’s what I call a great morning.

Anne and I are in Chicago this morning to visit some relatives passing through, so here are the rest of the pictures from yesterday that I couldn’t cram into yesterday’s post.

Right after seeing the grosbeak, I was thrilled to also get one more chance at an eastern towhee portrait. This guy was more elusive, but I followed him for a bit, and eventually captured this image. I wish I had more light, but what can you do with birds that like to lurk in the underbrush.

Happily, this northern parula was not so shy.

In fact, it appears that he was hoping to be seen.

Down at the river, this common yellow throat behaved more like the towhee.

Just a few yards up river from the nesting great blue heron, I also spotted a couple of green herons. Now that I know what their nests can look like, I will have to keep my eyes peeled.

After I was done with the oriole, I turned around to see this crazy scene unfolding on the pond. The mallard hen was talking, too, which might have made an even better picture, but she always turned her head a bit when she spoke so that her face was in shadow. Anyway, the turtles seemed transfixed.

There were also a few wood ducks on the pond, and here’s a hen coming to check the lawn in front of the bench to see if I left her anything. I keep telling them, though, “I’m not that guy.”

Here’s one of the drakes in tow, just in case she needs help with anything.

Finally, this American lady butterfly seemed more interested in sipping some moisture out of the damp soil while basking in the sun and left the fruit tree blossoms to the red admirals.

This morning started out wet and grey, though not as wet as forecast, thankfully, and I was able to hit Estabrook soon after 6 am. Man-oh-man, was the place ever hoppin’ with birds! I counted 66 species.

Here’s my first rose-breasted grosbeak of the season. I also saw a female with him, but she soon bugged out while he continued to chow down on catkins. Classic, right?

Here he is pausing for just a moment so we can have a good look at him.

As I finished up with the grosbeak, I could hear the highest little chirps overhead, and they were being made by a flock of cedar waxwings. Most of the flock soon took off, except for these two lovebirds.

Down on the river, I haven’t seen any exotic ducks in a while, but the sandpipers are starting to arrive. I saw two spotted, which we can hope will stick around for the summer, and this one solitary, which is just passing through. Perhaps that’s why it looks a bit glum.

Meanwhile, back on shore, chickadees are preparing to make more chickadees.

This immature great blue heron, without the stringy head plume feathers of a breeding adult, appeared to be play nesting on the far side of the river. It stepped out onto a mat of sticks, squatted down on its “ankles“, and proceeded to rearrange the sticks as though it were finalizing a nest.

I’ve never seen anything like it, and I found it mesmerizing. I read that they “usually start breeding during their third spring,” so maybe this one will get the chance to prepare a nest for realsies next year.

I eventually tore myself away from the heron and hiked back over to the pond. By then the clouds had all moved on, and I finally found a Baltimore oriole willing to ignore me as I took advantage of the beautiful blue sky to snap some pictures. I suspect it helped that he was hungry for those blossoms, and that I kept a tree between us. You can just make out the branches it “contributed” to the picture below in the upper left and lower right.

Just as with the grosbeak, he eventually came up for air and let us get a better look at him, too.

Finally, the fruit trees are in full bloom, and even the butterflies, in this case a red admiral, are joining in on the feast they provide.

I made it back to Wisconsin safely last evening, after a great week in Connecticut, and ventured back into Estabrook Park this morning, despite the cloudy skies, to see who might have arrived while I was away. Holy Moly! What a difference a week can make at this time of year. I counted 19 species for the first time this year, including 9 warblers, 3 thrushes, 2 orioles, and 1 bunting. Yikes! Best of all, I even have pictures of some.

I was greeted right away by this palm warbler at the south end, and I eventually counted a dozen of them throughout the park.

At the north end, I also grabbed this image of a black-and-white warbler.

The rest, however eluded me today, so let’s move on to the thrushes, and the only one sitting still for a second this morning was this darling veery.

Baltimore orioles are here, and I counted at least 7 males singing from various treetops, but they were too high and against an ugly sky for any pictures. Instead, this one orchard oriole, only my third in Estabrook, was a bit more accommodating.

Finally, I also spotted my first indigo bunting of the year. Woo hoo!

In other news, a great blue heron is back to fishing at the falls below the beer garden.

A grey catbird seemed more interested in catching some rays while the sun shone for a moment than he was in singing his song or evading my gaze.

I spotted my first baby bunny of the season.

Crane flies have arrived or emerged, as the case may be, and this giant one appears to be a Tipula furca

Here’s my first question mark butterfly (Polygonia interrogationis) of the year.

Lastly, while the sun shone for a bit, and parts of the sky even turned blue, and that made this palm warbler …

sing with joy!

I’ve got a plane to catch today, so I’ve gotta be quick with this. The skies were dark again this morning, but the air was very still and not too cool, so the bugs were up, and the birds were happy. My sister, Deb, had to go to work early, so I was on my own, and I opted for one last look at the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail.

The first big surprise was spotting my first green heron of this trip, and even better, it appears to be sitting on a nest! Long-time readers should recall that we’ve seen plenty of green herons in Estabrook Park over the years, but I’ve never seen one nesting before. Woo Hoo!

The recent weather has warbler migration in full swing, and I also spotted my first northern waterthrush of the trip.

In a nice bit of symmetry, I found two nesters today to balance the two from yesterday. This next one is a red-shouldered hawk, and perhaps even the same one we saw last week.

As I already mentioned, the warblers were thick in the trees, but the trees are pretty tall here, and the lighting was terrible today, so this is my best attempt at capturing a black-throated green.

Finally, the white-throated sparrows are still around and singing as loudly as ever.

The clouds were thick and dark in Connecticut this morning, but they weren’t leaking, and my sister was game anyway for going to see who might be up, so we headed back to the Broad Brook Reservoir. The herons and cormorants were still congregating in the trees on the island, and here’s a heron bringing in more nesting material.

The huge raft of ruddy ducks was no longer on the water, but there were still a few around, and here’s a non-breeding male just up from foraging on the bottom for a moment to catch his breath.

Baltimore orioles have arrived and are singing from the treetops, and here’s one that came down to my level, if only for a moment. I already mentioned that the skies were dark, right?

We eventually checked on the goose nesting on the causeway beside the road, and look who joined us! We eventually saw three goslings, and I bet there are more eggs still to hatch because Mom was sticking to her nest and keeping everyone under her wings.

The swans were still flying back and forth over the causeway, and here’s one just about to pass low over head, …

while here’s another on the water that got all poofed up in response to the flyby.

Finally, there were plenty of raptors overhead, and we saw a red-tailed hawk soaring, an osprey with a fish in its talons, and three bald eagles flying together. Two of the eagles were mature, and one did not yet have its white head and tail. Later, we watched one or both of the mature birds making a few sorties to haul nesting material.

Best of all, we followed the sound with our binoculars of one calling nearby, and were thrilled to get a glimpse of this sight without even leaving the side of the road.

Despite raining over the last two nights, the daytime weather continues to be beautiful out here. Yesterday afternoon, my sister, my niece, and I revisited the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail, and I was surprised to find this blue jay uncharacteristically perching out in the open and staying put as I took pictures.

Farther south, my niece spotted the melanistic squirrel again, and I was happy to have the chance to get a picture that better shows off its nice, black fur.

Then, as I was trying to line up a good shot through the sticks, it stretched out, reclined on the branch in front of it, and I swear mouthed to me, “Take a picture, why don’t you? It’ll last longer.” Cheeky little devil.

Near the south end, at the water feature in which my sister was hoping to spot wood ducks, instead we spotted dozens of painted turtles basking in the warm afternoon sun.

Then finally, Deb got her wish, although the poor wood duck could barely find an open bit of log to preen on.

This morning, we tried again, and this time at the Quinnipiac River Gorge Trail. There were a lot of birds singing in the trees there, including Baltimore orioles, warbling vireos, and black-and-white warblers, but the canopy is very high in the gorge, and the air was nice and warm, so the bugs were up high, too, and most of the birds followed them up there and were beyond the reach of my gear.

This little chipping sparrow, however, was hungrily munching on something it was finding on the ground, and so made a nice exception.

Finally, this house wren was more concerned with staking out his territory, a wren house, of course, and so stayed down at eye level, too.

It was grey and rainy this morning in Connecticut, so I wasn’t able to get any pictures to show you, even though my sister and I did go out and look. Instead, let me show you a couple more pictures from that fabulous photo shoot I had with the titmouse on Friday.

And now with the sound on.

The sun is finally out now, so here’s hoping I can get something new to show you by tomorrow.