It was nice to be back in Estabrook Park this morning, even if the skies were cloudier than forecast, and here are a few of the critters who came out to welcome me back.

Our surprise gray catbird continues to hang out by the pond, well north of its usual winter range, and poked its cute little face out from the bushes on the island to say hi.

The pond is almost completely frozen over, so the muskrats there are keeping to their burrow, but the river is mostly clear, so this one just off the shore of the southern island was out and doing a little preening.

With the ground still bare and the temperatures still mild, the squirrels were as active as ever, and this red one was engaged in a heated enough argument with another one below that it let me snap this picture.

Finally, back by the pond, this darling female northern cardinal was kind enough to pose between a bunch of red sumac seeds and the sky starting to show some blue. “Thanks, Sweetie!”

Anne and I are back home safe and sound and thank you for all your well wishes. The weather forecast looks wonderful for tomorrow, so I can’t wait to get back into Estabrook Park to see what all the critters have been up to. Meanwhile, here are a few more pictures from yesterday in Connecticut that I didn’t have time to show you then, but I sure do now.

First off, here’s a red-tailed hawk perched high in a pine tree almost directly across West Main Street from the eastern bluebird I showed you yesterday.

The next big surprise, however, after the bluebird, was a quartet of black vultures kettling low over the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail. We don’t get to see them in Estabrook, but I see them pretty regularly in Connecticut, and here’s my best solo image,

and here’s my best group shot. I learned this trip that a better way to distinguish them in flight from the turkey vulture that we do see over Estabrook, is from their shorter, broader wings, and shorter tail, rather than trying to see if the skin on their face is red or black, since either of which will shine similarly in the sun.

A heck of a lot smaller, but no less a treat, was this golden-crowned kinglet, which are common in Estabrook, but not at this time of year. The last time I saw one here was back on December 4, and I didn’t even get a picture.

I am always thrilled to see a red-shouldered hawk over the old canal, and this time there were two talking to each other. They have been spotted in Estabrook, but I haven’t seen one here yet. They are not as common as red-tails, and the last reported sighting was spring of 2022.

Finally, I found a mockingbird willing to sit for a portrait in the warm morning sun, for a change. I haven’t seen one of these in Estabrook either, but given a sighting in 2021, it appears to be possible.

My schedule is a little discombobulated here out east, but the rain finally stopped, and I did get to see this darling male eastern bluebird this morning. Let’s hope he’s a good omen for the year to come.

I’m still in Connecticut, and the skies are still dark and a little leaky. Nevertheless, I did get a couple of images that you might enjoy.

Here’s a tufted titmouse,

a blurry Carolina wren,

and finally, a northern mockingbird.

Well, the fog seems to have followed me to Connecticut, and I don’t have any new pictures for you yet, although my sister and I did spot some cool birds this morning on our walk.

Instead, here’s one of my very favorite pictures from Estabrook Park this year. I’d been dreaming of a nice ruby-throated hummingbird portrait since I first spotted one by the pond back in 2020. The trick has been not only that they are infrequent, but also that they are small, fast, and I usually only see them in dim light. My luck finally changed back on June 7 when this darling perched for a moment on a branch not very high above the river trail. It was still small, and the light was still dim, but it let me get so close that I can almost count its feathers.

By crazy coincidence, that was also the one and only day that I’ve seen a green-winged teal in Estabrook. I should have gone straight out and bought a lottery ticket after that morning.

Since we’re not having a white Christmas in southeastern Wisconsin, and I’m traveling today anyway, let me show you some recent images that evoke the season for me.

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.

Speaking of green-winged teals, I got to be the lucky soul to first report seeing one in Estabrook Park, bird number 201, and I even managed to get it on film, though on the river, not the pond.

This was also the year that I was stunned to discovered that we have spiny softshelled turtles living in our little stretch of the Milwaukee river. Who knew, right?

I had been hoping to spot a legitimate “greater” yellowlegs ever since I spotted my first lesser yellowlegs, but it took until the surprise snow on Halloween forced a quintet of them to wait out the weather on the river.

I also discovered, while standing in nearly the same spot beside the river at the north end, that such a butterfly as the hackberry emperor exists, and they visit Estabrook Park.

I’ve known for years that red-breasted nuthatches exist and visit Estabrook Park from time to time, but I only glimpsed one for the first time this year, and soon after I the good fortune to capture this image of one.

Finally, to round out this sextet of firsts, this was the year that I got my first picture of the infamously elusive, and soon to be renamed, Wilson’s snipe. What a cutie, eh?

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’ve been seeing this muskrat, who appears to make its home on the southern island for a while now, but it also visits our riverbank from time to time, and this is probably the best portrait it has allowed me so far.

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.

As if two bald eagles were not enough, both horned owls were back in their usual spot, and this one was even pretty unobscured.

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.