The beautiful weather continued this morning in Estabrook Park, and we only have a short drive to the in-laws for dinner, so I had a few minutes to slip in and take a look around.

The hoodie was not on the pond again, and may have finally taken off for the season, but the woodie was still there, so here he is.

I spotted a doe, but she had no time for me, so I continued on to the river.

The great horned owl was in this morning but in a slightly different spot, and I couldn’t get it to look our way today.

The belted kingfisher was back and busy at fishing. He kept switching directions on that perch, so I had my choice of poses today.

The gadwalls were back, and here’s the drake catching a bit of sunlight while the mallards around him stayed in the shade.

The big surprise this morning was when I heard the osprey calling, and just when I found it perched over the far riverbank, it took flight in reaction to a bald eagle gliding south over the river. The two chased each other a bit over the northern island, which was very exciting to see, and then the osprey took off, and the eagle perched near where the osprey had been.

Finally, here’s a little red squirrel enjoying an early start to its Thanksgiving feast.

It was still cloudy in Estabrook Park at sunrise this morning, but at least the clouds weren’t leaking any more, and within an hour or so most of them blew away. Thus, when I heard some chatter high above and looked up to find a huge v-formation of swans flying south, they were lit by the sun and against a nice blue sky. Sweet.

At the north end, our on-again-off-again great horned owl was on again, which is always great to see.

The great blue heron was fishing at the falls, and I wonder if it doesn’t have some kind of ASMR situation going on with the rushing water, but this heron farther south and on our side of the river made a nicer picture.

Finally, the hooded merganser was nowhere to be found on the pond, but the wood duck drake came out to put on a show for us in the warm morning glow.

Welp, it’s raining pretty good this morning, and the forecast suggests that it will continue through lunch. Now, I know I’m not made of sugar, and my camera isn’t exactly either, but it works better if I keep it dry, so we’re just gonna have to dig into the archives for today’s post.

Let’s start with another look at the muskrat at the pond yesterday. Here it is just before it slipped back into the water to dig up another root to eat and showed us its cute little half-namesake tail.

Here’s another look at the nuthatch hatching nuts beside the river on Saturday.

Here’s another look at the great blue heron, just before it caught the little fish out of the river on Saturday.

Finally, here’s another look at the red-tailed hawk in Lincoln Park on Saturday, when the sun was up and the sky was blue, just before it took off to buzz the two bald eagles perched nearby.

Lastly, the forecast is dry for tomorrow morning in Estabrook Park, so keep your fingers crossed!

It appears that our recent run of beautiful weather has finally ended, and today we have gray skies and a bit of a breeze, but at least the temps aren’t too cold yet.

Things were pretty quiet in Estabrook Park this morning, and I didn’t see much until I got to the pond, where I found our hoodie and woodie just hanging out together like old pals. There were also three mallards dabbling around, and then the six Canada geese dropped in to make a full house of it.

The fun sight, however, at least for me, was this muskrat at the far water’s edge munching away on something.

At the river, I was surprised to find the osprey only a dozen yards or so upstream from the falls, above the far shore, and nearly at eye level.

The owl was out, and the gadwalls have moved on, I’m sorry to say, and so there was almost nothing to see at the far north end. Instead, on my way back south I took yet another picture of the great blue heron fishing at the falls.

Back at the pond, I could hardly believe all the mourning doves I found foraging on the path. I counted fifteen, and these are the seven kind enough to squeeze together for a picture.

As I was trying to line up as many doves as I could, this male downy woodpecker flew right over my head and perched in this tree behind me for just a moment, perhaps until it realized how close to me it ended up. “Gotta pay attention, little buddy.”

And that’s it for Estabrook Park today, so since I have the time and we’ve got the space, here are a couple more pictures from Saturday in Lincoln Park. First, when the red-tailed hawk took off, it glided right over the two eagles, as if to say, “you may be big, but you don’t scare me.”

Finally, here’s one more look at that slightly-off-track Ross’s goose.

I gotta be quick today. I’ve got a lot to do, but not so much that I couldn’t sneak into Estabrook Park nice and early. I stopped by the pond first, and everyone was there: the hoodie, the woodie, a few mallards, and the same six Canada geese that have been dropping in all month. It was still early, however, and the sun hadn’t come over the trees, so I left them to their breakfasts and continued to the river.

The north end, which has been pretty quiet lately, was really hopping for a change. First, the great horned owl was back, and even looked my way.

The osprey was back, and perched over the far shore this time looking for a fish to catch.

The heron at the falls was also on the far side, but this one by the northern island was right in front of me.

The big surprise for this morning was this pair of new arrivals: a gadwall drake and hen. I saw them a lot in South Holland, but they are not very common here, and it is always a treat when they stop by.

Finally, by the time I took those two pictures, the osprey had already caught a fish and was devouring it in a new perch.

Let’s cut right to the chase, shall we? As I neared the north end of Estabrook Park this morning, the alarm went out again that a Ross’s goose (Anser rossii) was just seen in Lincoln Park. Well, it was another nice day for a long walk, and now I knew the way well, so I trekked on up the river. This time, I found it right away feeding amongst the Canada geese, and here it is. Ta da!

The reason for all the hoopla, besides the fact that it is a handsome goose, is that their migration range does not quite stretch to Milwaukee, so we don’t get to see them here often.

Anyway, with that taken care of, here is who else I saw on this cool but beautiful morning in Estabrook and Lincoln Parks. The hoodie was on the pond again, and hardly looks up any more when I arrive.

The woodie is still shy, but perhaps the Canada geese lend him courage.

Great blue herons are still here, and I counted three again this morning. For a small change of pace, the second of the three caught a little something for breakfast.

The male belted kingfisher continues to rule over the northern island and its surrounding waters, with bravado if not size.

Back on shore, the squirrels were all in a tizzy, and I was sure there must be a raptor lurking above them somewhere, but I never could find it, and took this picture instead.

Just a bit upstream from the squirrels, I was happy to find a hermit thrush still scrounging up enough to eat.

And today, for the very first time, I watched a white-breasted nuthatch perform their name-sake maneuver: stuffing nuts into tree bark crevices in order to crack them open with their sharp little beaks and thus hatching out the kernel from the nut. Here it is with a seed before stuffing it into one of the crevices in that bark to which it is clinging.

Then I went to go see a goose in Lincoln Park, and while I was there, I also spotted this pair of mature bald eagles across the river.

Plus a red-tailed hawk, for good measure.

On my way back south, I came across another four wild turkeys.

But before I could get a nice portrait, somebody woke up this sleepy-looking buck, either me or the turkeys, and then they all mosied away from me.

Finally, when I made it back into Estabrook, look who I found fishing over our riverbank! The osprey is still here, and it granted us a well-lit portrait with a pretty background today. Woo hoo! What a morning, eh?

It was a weird morning in Estabrook Park. The weather was nice enough, seasonably-cool and with blue skies eventually showing up as the morning wore on, but I misjudged the windchill and so was a little underdressed. Also, I saw a lot of birds, more than usual, but not a single raptor, and nobody wanted to make a portrait with me today. Oh well. The show must go on, and this is what I’ve got.

The first surprise was finding yet another late-season catbird lurking in the bushes at the north end of the pond. It never showed itself more than this, and I’m surprised this picture even came out as well as it did.

After the catbird bolted, I spent a few minutes scouring the bushes with my binoculars, in hopes of a better shot, but I had no luck, although I did spot this busy white-throated sparrow instead.

At the river, there was hardly anyone around, although I have heard that someone who stopped by after me saw an osprey and an eagle. Instead, the only picture I took was of the heron that seems to really like fishing in the falls.

South of the falls and beside the river, I did come across this white-breasted nuthatch who was busily hopping around this branch, and I was able to sneak one presentable image.

I stopped back by the pond again and arrived just in time to catch this muskrat steaming towards the island.

I also saw the hooded merganser but didn’t take the picture when I had the chance, and then the little stinker went into hiding. Luckily, I didn’t make that same mistake with the wood duck drake.

Finally, the second surprise of the day, also at the pond, was this bird that I’ve glimpsed a couple of times before but have never managed to photograph until now. This certainly isn’t a portrait, it kept to the top of a tree over the island, but it is enough to positively ID our very first pine siskin (Spinus pinus), with its “sharp, pointed bill” and “subtle yellow edgings on wings and tail.” I read that one reason which could explain why we haven’t seen them till now is that “this nomadic finch ranges widely and erratically across the continent each winter in response to seed crops.“

It was a little cloudier and a little breezier than recent mornings in Estabrook Park, but mild and very nice for November. I found our dynamic duo still together on the pond, and here’s the woodie, …

and here’s the nearby hoodie.

At the river, there was a great blue heron fishing at the falls on the far side, our on-again-off-again owl was off today, and our belted kingfisher was perched over the far side of the northern island, so nothing amazing. Instead, the big surprise was this mature bald eagle, the likes of whom we haven’t seen in a while, and who flew across the river to perch over the far shore and dig into something it had caught that I can’t quite make out.

Then I got word from my old pal Brian that a Ross’s goose had been spotted on the river in Lincoln Park, and since Estabrook Park abuts Lincoln Park, and I was already at the north end, I decided to just keep hiking north to see what I could find.

On my way, I encountered a small bunch of American tree sparrows, and this one must have liked enough the junco portrait from yesterday, that it struck a similar pose.

At the north end of Lincoln Park, I came across about a dozen wild turkeys, which I haven’t seen in Estabrook since May, and here’s either the boldest or the hungriest one.

Finally, on my way back south, another kingfisher offered me a better shot.

There was also a red-tailed hawk and a pair of merlins, but they were all too far off for my equipment, and neither Brian nor I could find any geese other than Canada geese. Oh well. It was a very nice day for a walk.

The gorgeous weather in Estabrook Park just keeps coming, and look who was back on the pond to enjoy it this morning, our little woodie. I wonder where it was yesterday.

As I was trying to get a decent picture of the hoodie and woodie together, a red-bellied woodpecker perched above me on a light pole and watched the sun rise.

Down at the river, a great blue heron was fishing at the falls again, but I thought the better picture was the male belted kingfisher perched over the far shore.

At the north end, the big surprise was the osprey landing on a branch above the far shore with its fresh catch.

In this picture you can see that it is holding up its fish in its left talons to take a bite, which makes it easier for us to see.

Here it is pausing from breakfast to take a look around.

On my way back south, I stopped to check on our owl again to see if I could get a better picture because it was really buried deep in the sticks today, and this is the best I could muster.

As I was concentrating on that, a pair of crows flew in, and I figured they were there to mob the owl, but I never saw it flinch. Part of the reason, I soon realized, is that they were there to mob this Cooper’s hawk instead. Ha! That makes this a three-raptor day!

After all that excitement, I continued south along the river, and just when I was about to turn inland to visit the pond again, I came across my third and most-photogenic great blue heron of the morning fishing right off the near shore.

I did eventually make it back to the pond, and this dark-eyed junco rewarded me for my effort with a nice portrait.

Finally, this female northern cardinal might wish I didn’t capture this, slightly-less-flattering image.

The recent beautiful weather continues, and it was another wonderful morning to be in Estabrook Park. Our wood duck drake continues to float around the pond, and I took a picture on my first visit today because sometimes he’s gone into hiding when I come by again later.

I didn’t see our hooded merganser on the pond, during either visit, for the first time since November 2. I hear that “birds have wings”, so for them, it is often “easy come, easy go.” And speaking of coming and going, look whoo-wh’HOO-whoo-whoo’s back at the river again. Yay!

The north end was quiet again, but on my way back south, this little red squirrel was in a noisy dispute with a neighbor. I read that “red squirrels are highly territorial and asocial with very few non-reproductive physical interactions,” so that fits.

Back at the falls, one of the three great blue herons I saw today was fishing again.

On the path back from the river to the pond, I spotted this rotund little bird, and I thought it was another late-season hermit thrush, but upon closer inspection, that beak clearly makes it a fox sparrow instead.

That’s it for Estabrook today, but yesterday afternoon was so nice, I stopped by the lake front on my way to campus, and I was thrilled to spot this mystery bird far offshore. The dark plumage and white spot behind the eye suggest that it is either a female harlequin duck (Histrionicus histrionicus) or a female surf scooter (Melanitta perspicillata), I believe, and either one would be a first for me, but I’m going with harlequin. Woo hoo!

While I was trying to get the best picture I could of the duck, this red-tailed hawk was trying to find some lunch.

Further down the lake shore, there were a couple dozen American coots diving for their lunches.

And finally, on my way back north, when I checked to see if I might get a better picture of the mystery bird, I found a couple dozen buffleheads, and this one drake let me have the best picture of the bunch.