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.

With all the obligatory pictures of the canyon out of the way yesterday, I could focus on the wildlife this morning, and this is what I have to show for it.

Here’s the best I could do, so far, for a mountain chickadee, a brand new bird for me.

Even more elusive than the chickadee, here’s a pygmy nuthatch, another new bird.

For contrast, here’s a Steller’s jay, whom we first saw in Glacier National Park back in 2021, almost begging me to take its portrait.

Here’s another spotted towhee portrait. After all the excitement of seeing one yesterday, there was a sextet of them foraging on the ground this morning more boldly than house sparrows.

Finally, while I was searching for birds in the woods, Anne took a nice hike along the rim trail, and over breakfast afterwards she asked me if I had seen the elk. When I admitted that I had seen none, she had us drive along the rim on our way out of the park until we encountered this beauty. By the time we found them, there were only two left, but they were quite inured to people and about twice the size of the white-tailed deer I see in Estabrook Park.

That’s it for the Grand Canyon, and tomorrow we’re off to Zion National Park. Wish me luck!

Anne and I arrived safe and sound at the Grand Canyon this morning, and Arizona’s big erosion problem is truly a sight to behold, but the critters we encountered along the south rim were just plane amazing.

The western bluebirds were thick, and this one was the pick of the litter.

This red-breasted nuthatch was too busy for pictures, but this is only the second time I’ve gotten a picture of one, so here you go.

I’ve seen spotted towhees only a couple of times before, and I even got a picture once in Big Bend National Park, but this is my first portrait of one.

The Woodhouse’s scrub jays were almost as plentiful as the bluebirds, but they were a lot noisier.

Ravens appear to have learned that humans drop food on the ground, and this one was trying to convince a woman to move along so it could have the Fritos that she had dropped.

We also saw a couple of mammals, and here’s a rock squirrel (Otospermophilus variegatus).

There was a good-sized group of dark-eyed juncos, and this one appears to be of the so-called “pink sided” variety (Junco hyemalis mearnsi).

Finally, the other mammal we saw was this cliff chipmunk (Neotamias dorsalis).

Anne and I are on the road again, and I won’t get to take any pictures today, so here’s one more glimpse of the winter wren from a couple of days ago.

We got some snow overnight in Estabrook Park but not a lot, only an inch or so, and it’s above freezing out, so I don’t think it will stick around for long. With a pretty thick cloud cover, the day took its time getting light, so I was out later than usual. Luckily, the snow seemed to discouraged some folks from visiting, or kept them to the pavement, so I had the river trail mostly to myself, which is always a treat.

I didn’t see or hear any winter wrens or red-winged blackbirds this morning, but I was relieved to find our American coot waiting for me in its usual spot. I must have spooked it at first, and it started to swim off before I could take a picture. But it soon calmed down and swam right back to where it had been standing. It even turned its head for me so what little light there was could light up its pretty dark red eye for us.

At the far north end, there was a Cooper’s hawk perched high above the meadow, and perhaps I’ve finally learned to show enough deference because it let me walk around to the north side of it so we could see that gorgeous chest.

Meanwhile, out on the water, all the common mergansers appear to have moved on, at least for today, but the red-breasted merganser drake was still fishing in the waters around the northern island.

Finally, by the pond, I almost got a nice picture through the sticks of one of the white-throated sparrows that have begun to sing there on occasion.