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!
The weather was beautiful in Estabrook Park this morning, and I didn’t have any errands to run, so I got there nice and early. So early, in fact, that my camera outright refused to focus on the quartet of deer I found at the sand volleyball court across from the southern parking lot. I sat down right away, and two of the smaller ones were curious, but I couldn’t get a picture until they were through with me and heading off to bed down in the woods. Oh well. The lights behind the trees are across the river and on Capitol Drive.
My string of good luck continued immediately when this Cooper’s hawk glided over the soccer fields and perched in one of the big oak trees on the west edge.
After all that excitement, I didn’t see anything worth writing home about until I got to the great horned owl, who happened to be in today and had attracted the attention of a couple of crows. That sure seemed to wake it up.
The owl didn’t move, but the crows eventually got bored, or simply declared victory and moved on, and one even took a bath in the river. Wow! I bet that sure was brisk!
The big surprise for the morning was hearing a northern flicker calling at the north end, remembering who made that call, and then actually laying eyes on the bird after climbing up on the bluff. Perhaps his call translates as “Hey! Where did everybody go?!?” The last time I saw a flicker was back in October, and the last time I showed you one was when they were flocking up back in September. “Safe travels, little buddy!”
Sorry for the late post, but my computer has been in the shop since I dropped it off at 6:30 this morning, and I was only able to pick it up around 2:30 this afternoon. Anyway, the skies were pretty clear this morning, at least off to the south and east, so I was able to get into Estabrook Park nice and early. As I was walking north on the path where the park gets narrow and you can see the river below, I could hear some mallards down on the river, and as I gave them a look to see how many there were, five, I saw an odd dark shape on a branch out over the river that I couldn’t quite make out. Luckily, stairway 9 was just a little bit ahead, so I hustled up there, down the stairs, and back south along the river path. I could not believe my luck when I found the dark shape was still out on the branch, and it had this darling little face. That’s the closest I’ve gotten to a mink portrait so far, and what a way to start the morning, eh?
The pond is still frozen over, so I didn’t see any activity there, and I continued on to the north end, where the situation was a lot better than yesterday. The belted kingfisher was back, and a mature bald eagle stopped by but didn’t stick around for pictures.
The great horned owl was back and as deep into those sticks as I’ve ever seen it.
Back south again, the hermit thrush was in its usual spot, but seemed to be much less thrilled with our arrangement than it did yesterday.
Finally, on my way back home along the Oak Leaf Trail, this chickadee was kind enough to demonstrate sumac seed extraction against that pretty blue sky.
