Signs of Life in Estabrook Park

A fond look back on Utah in 2025…

Somehow yesterday I thought it would be warmer this morning, and it is a little bit. But the thermometer’s only at -11°F, and the breeze is pushing the wind chill down into the negative twenties, so when I asked my camera if this was warm enough, it wouldn’t even answer me. Thus, I have one more excuse to revisit a warmer time and place from 2025.

After our time in Arizona, which I recapped yesterday, we headed up to Monticello, Utah for the night, and there were some pretty birds around, but none that we haven’t seen before, so the highlight of the next morning has to be this little darling, my very first Hopi chipmunk (Neotamias rufus).

After visiting the spectacular Arches National Park later that day, we stopped for the night in Loa, Utah, and the first big treat of the next morning was our very first sage thrasher (Oreoscoptes montanus), who was quite persistent in getting his message out.

This next bird also look brand new to me, but then we discovered that house finches, of which we see plenty right in Estabrook Park, can be yellow “where natural foods are low in some … carotenoids.” Who knew? I sure didn’t.

Then we headed to the magnificent Bryce Canyon National Park, and on our way, we drove by Otter Creek Reservoir, which was full of water birds. We stopped, of course, and a bunch of those birds turned out to be western grebes (Aechmophorus occidentalis), which was a wonderful surprise. What amazing beauties!

Even better, at least for me, there were a few common loons (Gavia immer), which look anything but common.

Our last stop in Utah was the breathtaking Zion National Park, where this Anna’s hummingbird kept coming back to the same perch, probably to watch for interlopers into its territory, but also to give me more chances of a decent picture. We have seen one before in Sedona, but that was a female or immature male, and this handsome devil is an adult male in all his breeding finery.

The star of the show, however, at least for my sister and me, was this American Dipper (Cinclus mexicanus), “North America’s only truly aquatic songbird.” What made it even sweeter was the fact that we had already spent a bunch of time earlier that morning chasing one by sound at the creek behind our hotel without getting even a single glimpse.

So as we hiked along the Virgin River that runs through the park, I scanned almost every rock along the way, but my sister hit pay dirt first at the very far end of the Riverside Walk. I realize that it may not look like all that much, but wait until you see it in action, because dippers hunt for their food like no other bird I know.

Check out this video, which I miraculously thought to capture, of it repeatedly jumping into the rushing water to snatch insect larvae from the rocks on the bottom. Astounding!

This time the forecast calls for temperatures above zero tomorrow morning, so my camera and I will be back in Estabrook for sure. Mark my words!

A look back to a warmer time and place…

Well, the forecast extreme cold did arrive, and I’ve been out in colder, but I’ve noticed that my camera doesn’t like it much, so that’s my excuse for staying in this morning. Instead, let’s look back at another great trip to a warm place I had the good fortune to take in 2025: Arizona.

If you were following along then, you may recall that things got off to a great start when I found my first Costa’s hummingbird (Calypte costae), feeding from the plantings in the nice xeriscaping they added in front of the rental car center at Sky Harbor airport in Phoenix. How’s that for reinforcing my mantra of “always be birding!”

After we did the crazy hike that my sister, who had planned the whole trip, wanted to do in the canyon on day 2, we got my first good look at a pygmy nuthatch in the forest atop the southern rim.

Later that day we drove up to Page, AZ to visit Antelope Canyon the next day, but before we headed out on that adventure, we visited the golf course in town where we found dozens of gorgeous white-faced ibises (Plegadis chihi) frantically foraging for morsels in the grass.

Farther along the course, we spotted this darling black-chinned hummingbird, my first adult male.

Lastly, we eventually had to go for our scheduled slot-canyon tour, which was amazing, and when we emerged at the “upstream” end of the slot, look who was there to greet us, our very first lark sparrow (Chondestes grammacus). Ha!

Things are supposed to warm up a bit in Estabrook by morning, and the wind is supposed to die down a bit, so the wind chill should only be in the negative 20s. I’ll see if I can’t get my camera to cooperate, and I’ll let you know if I see anything pretty or interesting.

A nice day before temps fall off a cliff…

This morning in Estabrook Park was prettier than I had been led to expect. Temps and winds, however, were both in the low teens, so the windchill was right around 0°F, and there were not many critters out and about.

Sure, there were plenty of ducks on the river, including common goldeneye and merganser hens, but they can’t really pose in front of the nice blue sky, and we’ve seen them a lot lately. Instead, the one bird who had chosen a spot in which to hunker down that did make a nice picture was this American robin.

Finally, I see the forecast for tomorrow morning is down to -13°F, with winds at 15 mph, for a combined windchill of -36°F, but at least the sun should be out. If I can’t get any new pictures for you, however, I will be sure to dig up a couple from the archives. Don’t worry.

A rivalry on pause, likely due to cold…

It did snow again overnight, it did warm up into the twenties, and the wind did stay light, which was all very nice, but I sure could have used a little sun to coax the birds out to bask in its warmth.

On the other hand, I did get to see my first blue jay in Estabrook Park for the year, so the conditions were just right for something. The little “rascal”, since “sweetie” doesn’t quite sound right, given their reputation at the bird feeder, even perched right there for as long as it took for me to fiddle with my camera and focus in on it. That was likely due, however, to its having not yet shaken off the overnight cold, more than kindness, but I’ll take it!

By odd coincidence, given the many videos available of the two duking it out at feeders, this female red-bellied woodpecker, who also appeared a bit frozen, was parked nearly right above the jay.

And that’s all I captured on film this morning, so let me show you another look at the common merganser and the common goldeneye hens paddling together on the river yesterday, when the sun was shining beautifully.

Finally, here’s another look at the red-tailed hawk, also from yesterday. And yes, it is facing a slightly different direction, so it really is a different picture. You can check it yourself if you don’t trust me.

I see we’re due for a little more snow overnight and then a little more cold and a little more wind in the morning, but there might be more sun, and that’s a trade I’m willing to make.

About as nice as a day this cold can be…

This morning in Estabrook was just as cold as yesterday, but the breeze was much lighter, and the sky was just as blue, so it was a very nice morning for a walk in the park.

The common merganser hens are still with us, and either they are getting used to people walking up and down the riverbanks or the sun just felt too good to give up because they stayed parked on the ice for a change.

The surprise guests of the morning where these two Canada geese. Sure, the water around the islands will be full of them in a couple of months, as they vie for nesting spots, but they’ve been staying away for a while, and these are the first ones I’ve seen in Estabrook this year.

The pair of common goldeneye hens are still on the lower river, as well, and I’d love to get a nice picture of the two together, but the best I could manage this morning was one being photobombed by another merganser hen. At least it gives us a chance to see how similar their body plumage is. Fun, eh?

Finally, the biggest surprise of the morning was spotting my first red-tailed hawk in the park of the year. It was perched near the top of a pine tree at the north edge of the southern soccer fields, and I don’t believe I’ve ever seen one there before. Anyway, I’m also glad that somebody finally posed in front of that beautiful blue sky. Yay!

I see that we’re due for some more snow overnight and then it should warm up all the way into the twenties. A heat wave! Plus, the winds should stay light, and the sun might even show its face, so it could be another very pretty morning. Keep your fingers crossed!

A few familiar faces on a chilly day …

Well, it certainly was colder and windier than yesterday, with temps below zero and the wind chill in the negative twenties, but the sky was blue, and the sun was shining bright, so that was a very pleasant surprise. The critters were keeping close to the ground to keep out of the wind, which made eye-level shots easy, but that didn’t give me much of a chance to capture any of that pretty sky on film, unfortunately.

The first critter I found appearing to soak up a little of the warm sun was our red squirrel by the pond. I didn’t see any walnuts this time, so I sure hope it has more stashed somewhere.

There was also a female cardinal, and based on the strategic placement of that stick in front of her face, she could well be the same one we just saw on Wednesday.

On the other hand, this downy woodpecker was by the river, so it is unlikely to be the same one we saw on Saturday. You can almost see some blue sky in the background, at least.

Finally, the pair of common goldeneye hens were still on the river, and the nice light gave me an chance to get some new pictures with a prettier reflection on the water and some flecks of ice on their feathers.

I see we’re in for similar temps and skies tomorrow but with much less wind, so I’m looking forward to that, and I bet I’m not the only one.

More oddities from far, far away…

Temps were in the single digits this morning, with a nice breeze out of the west that pushed the “feels like” temperature down into the negative teens. I’d even call that “brisk”, if not necessarily “bad news”. This is the middle of January in Wisconsin, after all. The unambiguous good news, on the other hand, is that the sky was mostly clear, so there was plenty of light to work with, and the water looked a pretty blue instead of the steely gray we’ve been seeing lately.

Since things have been so slow in Estabrook recently, I opted to give it a rest today, and try my luck along the lake shore again, and my first stop was Lake Vista Park in Oak Creek, where rumor had it that a snowy owl (Bubo scandiacus) had been spotted just yesterday. I’m sure I glimpsed one once before beside the road on a drive up north, but I’ve never had the opportunity to photograph one before. The dark barring on this one marks it as “female/immature”, and we’re just inside the southern edge of their winter range, so they are merely considered “infrequent” here and not “rare”, but they sure do get folks excited.

This isn’t a portrait, by any means, but a crowd was already gathering at 7:15am, and I didn’t want to be “that guy” or even one of “those guys”, so I took a few shots from across the field, about 200 yards away, and high-tailed it out of there. I’m sure I’ll get a better chance someday, but this will do for now.

From there, I moved north to Grant Park, in hopes of spotting the titmouse that had been reported there yesterday, but I had no luck. Instead, I did find the mute swan reported at the South Shore Yacht Club. I had glimpsed it in the distance on my previous visit, and I hoped to get a picture today, but the bird wasn’t really in a cooperative mood. We’ve seen them in Connecticut and South Holland, of course, but this is my first one in the Milwaukee area.

Finally, I stopped in at Lakeshore State Park, and as I was trying to count the goldeneyes and scaups in the lagoon, one duck was not like the others. That’s because it is our first redhead of the season. Woo hoo, and I sure hope we get to see one in Estabrook Park soon!

I see that the weather tomorrow is supposed to be colder, windier, and cloudier. Brrrr. That’s not the best news ever, but at least it won’t be raining!

Hunkering down in Estabrook Park…

After a short warmup following the snow yesterday, it cooled back down, we got another 3-4 inches overnight, temps are back down into the teens, and it has continued to snow lightly all day. Plus, I see we are not due to get above freezing for the rest of the month, so winter is back and back for a while. Nice.

By crazy coincidence, here’s a face we haven’t seen since winter first got off to such a great start back at the beginning of December. In case you’ve forgotten after all this time, this is a hermit thrush, and the northern edge of their winter range is about 300 miles south of here, so it is a bit unexpected to see one, if not exactly “rare”. You probably can’t tell from the image because I cropped it so closely, but it’s sitting in the gap under a fallen tree trunk.

The rest of the critters were similarly seeking shelter from the snow, and here’s a female downy woodpecker working on the bottom side of a branch by the pond.

The pair of goldeneye hens were still on the river, but no drake has joined them yet, and here’s another image from the nice viewing I had yesterday. They dive for their food in 32°F water all winter long, so snow doesn’t seem to faze them.

I see we’re due for less snow, more cold, and about the same cloud cover tomorrow morning, so nobody’s gonna be out basking in the sun, but at least they shouldn’t be hiding from the snow. Time’ll tell, eh?

Snow day or bath day? Why not both?

The promised snow did arrive this morning, and it kept me out of Estabrook Park till 10:30am. Happily, not all the critters were done with their mornings by then, and I was able to see a few. Here are the ones I managed to capture on film:

A mature bald eagle over the far riverbank. They are not even considered “infrequent” on ebird, I noticed for the first time today, let alone “rare”, so let’s hope that’s really as good a thing as it sounds.

A male red-bellied woodpecker picking sumac seeds from a bunch over the pond.

A dark-eyed junco bathing in the stream that flows from the pond to the river. The air was just above freezing, after all.

One of the two goldeneye hens on the river below what’s left of the falls.

I see it’s supposed to be cold, cloudy, and windy tomorrow morning, so maybe that will entice a goldeneye drake to fly up from the lake for a visit. One can dream, right?

Shy birds…

It was a gorgeous, if cool, morning in Estabrook Park, with even nicer weather than predicted. The critters, however, must have had something else on their minds, because they were not in a cooperative mood today.

For example, this is the best look a fox sparrow on the island in the pond would let me have. Boy, it would have made a beautiful picture, with the sun shining like that, if it had only come out of the bramble for a second. Oh well. Partial looks are better than no looks, right?

Speaking of partial looks, this white breasted nuthatch, in an oak tree beside the pond, really took that to the extreme, especially compared to their favorite pose. At least it gave me an excuse to get some of that blue sky on film.

Finally, and this came even earlier than yesterday, here’s a second look at the red squirrel from yesterday after it had retrieved that walnut and got to work on it. I’m not sure I even laid eyes on a single red or gray squirrel at all today. Sheesh!

I see that we’re due for some more snow overnight and a bit of a warmup, so maybe the critters will be too distracted by the change in scenery to worry about lil’ ol’ me.