The pea soup continued this morning, but I needed a walk anyway, so into Estabrook Park I went. I could see at least a bit of one owl on the island, I believe, and an eagle stopped by to perch above the far shore for a bit, but neither made good pictures in this weather. Instead, here’s our male belted kingfisher who was kind enough to perch above the near shore.
At the pond, the closest thing to a surprise these days is a glimpse of our resident catbird, and here it is almost hiding behind some sticks.
With no river ice, and even the pond ice melted, our more exotic winter visitors are staying up north, but I’m heading to Connecticut tomorrow, so maybe I’ll find something there new and interesting to show you.
The weather must have heard me complaining about how dark it was yesterday morning and took that as a challenge because the fog is as thick as pea soup this morning. If a coyote was fighting a bald eagle over a green-winged teal on the pond that they both wanted for breakfast, I don’t think I would be able to capture a single image for you. Therefore, I propose instead that we start the fun process of looking back on some of the amazing sights we got to see in 2023.
Oof! As if the dark, heavy cloud cover wasn’t bad enough, this morning we also had a bit of fog to help dim the sights. If I were taking moody pictures of bare trees, this would be great, but that’s somebody else’s blog. Luckily, a couple of nice big birds were content to sit real still so I could eke out a couple of pictures for you.
One of the eagles from yesterday morning was back and looking as handsome as ever. There were also a couple of crows around, but they weren’t making any trouble.
The pair of great horned owls was in again, and one was keeping an eye on the eagle or the crows, while the other one was almost completely hidden.
And that’s it, I’m afraid. I did see a trio of muskrats, for the first time, but they were across the river and didn’t make good pictures in this light. Oh well.
The dark grey skies have returned, with a vengeance, but I am happy to report that so have the critters. I don’t mean to say that today was the most amazing day ever, but it sure was a whole lot better than yesterday.
I had hardly taken a couple pictures of the muskrat when I noticed a bald eagle high above the north island had attracted the attention of a few crows. They never got very close and gave it not nearly as much grief as they gave the third great horned owl last week. Here they are seeming to look the other way as the eagle tries to keep its balance as it digs into a big fish it has under its right set of talons.
Here’s a second eagle that was perched over our riverbank and that I only noticed after turning around at the far north end and started my way back south.
Here’s the one on the island again after it moved and attracted the attention of a herring gull who made a few passes at it. Sheesh! Everyone’s a critic.
Meanwhile, our male belted kingfisher ignored all the action overhead and continued his fishing just over the water.
Finally, on my way back to the pond for a second look, I found the big flock of cedar waxwings, which has been visiting the pond lately, high in a tree across the parkway and just south of the dog park.
As nice as the weather was, it was a very slow morning in Estabrook Park. The only picture I managed to take worth showing is of this Cooper’s hawk who swooped over the parkway south of the pond and perched low in the woods south of the dog park. It sure looked like it was on a mission but would provide no further details.
It sure felt as cold as forecast, but the breeze was light, and the sun was out for a bit, so it was a pretty nice morning in Estabrook Park. The pond was completely frozen over again, and the river was starting to ice up, but I hear it is not supposed to last. Oh well.
Nevertheless, the ice that there was might have been enough to entice these surprise new guests on the river this morning to pay us a visit. They are five common mergansers: four drakes and a hen. Better yet, as I was trying to get their picture one of the drakes caught a big fish.
Here’s a closer shot in which that haze through the middle was caused by a stick that got in the way during all the excitement.
Finally, so you can get a better look at that fish, here’s a zoom-in on the first picture. “Well done, Sir!”
Wow, was it windy in Estabrook Park this morning! It took the actual 30°F air temperature down to a “RealFeel®” temp of 18°F. Brisk! The skies were clear, however, and that’s a nice change of pace for this month.
The big surprise guest today is this slightly shell-shocked-looking male red-breasted merganser on the river just above the falls. We haven’t seen one in the park since last April, so “welcome back, Buddy!”
I really wanted to take advantage of that pretty blue sky, and this American robin in the oak tree by the pond was kind enough to oblige.
Final;y, on my walk home along the Oak Leaf Trail, I spotted a red squirrel, who I thought would also make a nice picture, but it dashed off, and as I searched for it, I spotted this grey squirrel high above watching my feeble efforts.
The wind is forecast to die down by tomorrow morning, and we’ll be getting a similarly brisk feel by radiant cooling instead of convection, which will seem just as cold, but will at least make it easier to hear the birds. Yay!
It sure was a crazy morning in Estabrook Park today. The skies were grey, but the forecast rain never came, at least until noon as I write this, and the wildlife put on an amazing show.
The first nice treat was finding a mature bald eagle over the northern island in the river.
The first crazy sight was not one, not two, but three (3!!!) great horned owls! As I was hiking north, I could make out the same two on the island that we saw yesterday, and I figured I’d wait to get pictures on my way back south when there might be a little more light. When I was taking pictures of the eagle, however, I heard crows mobbing somebody downstream, and I thought there might be another eagle around, so I hustled back south to see. Instead, you can just make out the shape of this owl behind a narrow, vertical branch right in the middle of the picture and two of the five crows to its upper right.
I eventually returned to the north end to get a picture of the belted kingfisher I had heard.
Then I finally did my best with pictures of the two owls hiding on the southern island.
After all that excitement, I finally headed back south and took a left to swing back by the pond. On the path through the woods south of the dog park, this Cooper’s hawk swooped through and perched here for a moment.
The big surprise at the pond was finding cedar waxwings picking berries on the island.
The crazy part was finding at least two dozen of them high in a tree over the eastern shore.
I haven’t seen the hermit thrush along the river in a couple of days, but here’s one that was foraging in the lawn beside the pond today.
In between the waxwings and the thrush, here’s a female northern cardinal feasting on sumac seeds.
Finally, as if finding 3 owls wasn’t already crazy enough, look who came out of the woods to gallop past me and towards the pond! I haven’t seen a coyote in Estabrook Park since that magic morning just before I left for South Holland.
Lastly, for the Audubon bird count, which yesterday I feared might be a washout today, I counted 283 birds of 25 species, and I haven’t seen that many species since November.
Our recent run of nice weather continued this morning, so I was able to get into Estabrook Park nice and early again.
I was a little surprised that this eastern cottontail rabbit, beside the path along the western edge of the southern soccer fields and the likes of whom I see often in the spring and summer but much less so in the fall and winter, let me get this picture.
I saw a muskrat and a mallard drake on the pond, in the little patches of open water, but neither was in the mood for a picture today. Instead, the male belted kingfisher at the northern end was quite accommodating for a change.
There were no eagles, hawks, merlins, or falcons at the north end today, but I was pleasantly surprised to find a pair of common merganser hens on the water.
The great horned owl was in today and hardly hidden at all.
The big surprise of the day, however, was finding a second great horned owl in the same tree and so well hidden I almost didn’t see it. I have heard from a couple of reliable sources that a pair have been seen and heard in Shorewood recently, and here’s hoping that we’ll get to see more of these two in Estabrook Park in the coming weeks and months. Woo hoo!
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 