Our recent interlude of mild winter weather continues in Estabrook today, and it was a beautiful morning for a walk in the park.

Our American coot is still with us, and here it is in the exact same spot as the last two mornings. Man, it must really like it there.

A red-breasted merganser drake is back on the river at the north end again, and this is what happens when I spot it far away, try to sneak up on it for a better picture, but it moves while I can’t see it to a location on the river a lot closer than I expect when I emerge from the woods, then we both spot each other at the same moment, and my shutter speed is set way too slow for such an action scene. “Sorry, Buddy!”

Here he is again after taking a moment to settle back down.

This nuthatch, on the other hand, flew up to a branch right in front of me, with the sun at my back and that beautiful blue sky behind it, but then it commenced foraging so energetically that this was the best shot I could get.

Finally, this chickadee followed the nuthatch but then let me take my sweet time getting this nice portrait. “Thanks, Sweetie!”

It was a greyish morning in Estabrook Park, with bright spots in the cloud cover, and a bit warmer than the previous two days, but still cool enough to firm up the mud in the river path.

As I hiked north along the river, I was thrilled to find our American coot again, in the same spot as yesterday, even though I was a bit late today. Better still, the lights over the UWM parking lot above the far riverbank reflected beautifully off the water. Best of all, the coot’s shadow on the water surface lets us have a glimpse of its amazing, huge, and almost-webbed feet.

At the far north end, I spotted our common merganser drake, but he stayed out past the island, so I left him alone. The red-winged blackbird was singing from atop the island again, while a couple dozen geese were still sorting out nesting sites below. The exciting show, however, was our white-bellied red-tailed hawk swooping low over the river and appearing to make a try for a mallard, at least the mallard sure seemed to think that was the plan, but coming up empty. Finally, the hawk parked over the island where I could get a picture.

At the pond, I could hear another red-winged blackbird and a couple of white-throated sparrows, but this white-breasted nuthatch struck the best pose.

From the pond, I hiked back down to the river, just to see what might have changed since my first pass, and look who was up on shore for their naps. The near common merganser hen even seems to have something to say about the goose photobombing her portrait.

As I headed back to stairway number 8 to climb back up the bluff, I found at least a half dozen robins taking turns bathing in the stream that drains from the pond into the river.

Finally, right at the base of the stairs, this winter wren, whom I’d been hearing and occasionally glimpsing since last week, finally gave me a chance. “Hello, Cutie!”

What an absolutely fabulous morning it was in Estabrook Park. The air was cool, crisp, and still, the skies were crystal clear, and the river path mud was frozen solid. There was even enough light for me to head out before 7am for the first time this year.

My first reward for starting so early was finding the American coot from yesterday still just waking up from the night and not yet busy rustling up its breakfast.

A bit further north I found another sleepy head, a common merganser drake, perhaps waiting for the sun to rise before getting to work diving for his own breakfast.

The big surprise for the day came at the north end where I found my first red-winged blackbird of the season perched high over the northern island and loudly announcing his arrival.

He was soon joined by a male northern cardinal, who chimed right in with his own song.

As I was trying to get a decent picture of the cardinal and blackbird on the island, I caught a glimpse of this grey squirrel sneaking into its nesting cavity in a huge maple tree. I gave it a few “tsk, tsk, tsks”, in hopes that it might come to see who was making that noise, and sure enough, here it taking a peek.

Finally, the pond is completely refrozen, although I wouldn’t walk on the new ice if I were heavier than a squirrel. I found five cardinals perched together in a tree above it and warming up in the bright morning sun. Here’s the one least obscured by branches and against that beautiful blue sky.

It appears that winter is not quite done with us yet, and actual air temperatures were in the low 20s this morning. The sky was cloudy, but not too dark, and the air was nice and still, so it was a pretty nice day to visit Estabrook Park.

The first big surprise was spotting this American coot foraging on the river amongst the mallards and geese. We don’t get to see them a lot, most recently on the lake back in November and before that on the river in September, so they are always a treat.

On the river at the north end, there was a single common merganser hen, a pair of common goldeneye hens, a few more mallards, and a big group of noisy geese still sorting out who gets what nesting site on the island. I didn’t see any pictures I could take, so I headed toward the pond, and I was greeted by this Cooper’s hawk in a tree over the north end as I got close.

Finally, as I was listening for white-throated sparrows in the woods around the pond, this young bald eagle glided over, and I figured that was all I was going to see of it, but then it perched in a tall tree nearby for a few moments, so here you go.

The actual temperature is supposed to be 33°F this morning in Estabrook Park, but the breeze and humidity make it feel like 24°F, and the thick layer of clouds between us and the sun does not help at all.

I was pleasantly surprised to find a common merganser hen on the river again, so she doesn’t think that winter is over yet, either.

Even this little red squirrel got in out of the cold.

There wasn’t much else to see this morning, so let’s have another look at that hairy woodpecker from yesterday, when the sun was warm, and the sky was blue.

If you don’t live around here, and/or you didn’t watch live television last evening, you may not yet have heard that Wisconsin had its first ever February tornado touch down last evening. So, there’s been a change in the weather. The sun is bright, the sky is blue, and I even had enough light to venture into Estabrook Park before 7am this morning for the first time in 2024, but it is still quite breezy out there.

I don’t know if it is just a coincidence, or if they could feel it coming and got out of Dodge, but all the recent aquatic winter visitors were gone this morning: the goldeneyes, red-breasted merganser, and common mergansers. Instead, we’re left with our hardy year-rounders, and here’s a male downy woodpecker beside the pond.

For a moment, things got busy there, and I also managed to catch this goldfinch in winter plumage against that pretty blue sky.

Finally, I had almost given up on spotting a hairy woodpecker and was just about to head home when a pair started flitting around in a tree right by the middle playground, and here’s the male.

Lastly, I had one more decent picture left over from yesterday of the goldeneye drake, before he caught that crayfish, so here he is again, in case the next time we get to see the likes of him isn’t until next winter.

Now that’s more like it! The skies were not crystal clear in Estabrook Park this morning, by any means, but they sure were clear enough to let some sun shine in and let some blue reflect off the river water. For these pictures, that makes all the difference in the world.

The critters were not necessarily any more obliging than yesterday, but my camera and lens worked a heck of a lot better today. Here’s a red-breasted merganser drake, probably the same one who’s been hanging around for days, and looking gorgeous against that backdrop of blue and gold.

This picture is more for documentarian purposes than pretty. Today is the first day I’ve seen a bunch of geese up on the northern island in the river, and I was a little surprised that they weren’t all honking at each other. That’ll come soon enough.

Meanwhile, back on the water, here’s a pair of common goldeneyes, and it appears that the drake has caught himself something big to eat. Those legs sticking out of his bill make it look like a crayfish, which I read is right in their diet. Good for him!

Another first for the season is this pair of mallards on the pond, which is still mostly covered in ice, but is now starting to show little slices of open water around its edges.

Finally, how could I resist this face?

The recent grey weather continued in Estabrook Park this morning. I did manage to hear plenty of birds on my walk, and I even saw some out on the river, but I didn’t see a single picture worth taking today. Oof.

Instead, let me show you a fun flashback from almost exactly one year ago today in South Holland. I had just returned to Delft from visiting Slovenia with Anne, and on my walk home for lunch, there were brand-new goslings out on the lawn. In early February!

There were four of them, and here they are with their mom, an Egyptian goose.

Finally, here’s one more look from a little further away to get Dad in the frame, too.

Canada geese have begun scoping out nesting territories here already, but we’re probably still a couple of months away from goslings, and I thought you wouldn’t mind a preview.

It’s another grey day in Estabrook Park, but the show must go on, so here’s who was out and about this morning.

The buck with just one antler, who we last saw on the northern island back in October, was up and on the move.

And today he had a doe with him. Yay!

The eight-or-so common mergansers on the river must be getting a little comfortable with their celebrity status because this hen hopped up on a log, gave me a glance, and went right on with her grooming.

Finally, it’s been a while since I found any park money, but today was my lucky day. Woo Hoo! There was even some park food, too, but it wasn’t nearly as photogenic.

Jeepers! February just won’t give me a break. The skies are as grey as ever, and the critters won’t come out to play, but here are a couple that I managed to capture on film anyway.

The red-tailed hawk, which we saw appearing to dry itself off beside the river last Thursday, was still dry but perhaps contemplating getting wet again as it gazed upon about a couple dozen mallards on the river below. It eventually opted to skip the bath this morning and took a swing instead at a flock of starlings making a racket high in a tree across the river.

I only took this next picture because crows seldom let me get this close. This one must have really like the taste of whatever it was digging up from the bottom of that puddle.

Finally, I’ve been hearing and spotting winter wrens recently, as they begin pushing their way back north already, but they’ve been eluding my camera so far. Instead, here’s a feisty one from April 25, 2022 who was a bit more willing to let us have a good look.