April fools with us, but good!

Yikes! This month sure started out with a cold snap. It wasn’t raining, and the actual air temperature was only down to freezing, but the clouds were thick and the whipping wind out of the north pushed the wind chill down to 20°F. Brrrr! Good thing I hadn’t yet thrown away all my winter clothes!Continue reading “April fools with us, but good!”

More new sights and sounds for the year…

It was a little warmer, a little less windy, and a little sunnier than yesterday in Estabrook Park this morning. Woo hoo! Baby steps. I don’t know if it was the improving weather or just hunger, but one of the chipmunks I’ve been seeing for a few days finally relented and let me have aContinue reading “More new sights and sounds for the year…”

A cold and quiet start to the new year…

It was cold and cloudy this morning in Estabrook, but the wind was light, we already have a nice new coating of snow on the ground from the previous couple of days, and the snow that is coming down now hadn’t started yet. Plus, the park was nearly empty of people, and traffic noise wasContinue reading “A cold and quiet start to the new year…”

Some dashes of brown to dilute all the gray…

Wow! It sure is a very gray day in Estabrook Park, but the good news, at least for folks who have been less than thrilled with the recent winter weather, is that the temps are mild, the breeze is very light, and there has been hardly any precipitation at all. Even better, three folks turnedContinue reading “Some dashes of brown to dilute all the gray…”

A nice wintery start to December…

It sure was a pleasure to start out December in Estabrook Park with it looking and feeling like winter, for a change. As forecast, the air was cold and nearly still this morning, and the wind hadn’t yet blown all the snow off the branches, which really helps soak up sound. Thus, there was veryContinue reading “A nice wintery start to December…”

Autumn doubles down…

Man, if I thought yesterday’s cool weather marked the return of fall, the cold air this morning in Estabrook Park really cemented it. Yikes! I had to break out a poofy coat, and I wished I had also opted for gloves during the first hour or so. There were still plenty of kinglets foraging inContinue reading “Autumn doubles down…”

A few dashes of color on a gray day…

The clouds were thick, but the winds and the temps weren’t too bad, and the rain hadn’t started yet, so it certainly wasn’t the worst April weather I’ve seen in Estabrook Park. Before I even reached the river, this reddish-brown fox sparrow reminded me that they haven’t all left yet. The ice that may haveContinue reading “A few dashes of color on a gray day…”

A little more shyness melts away…

The critters in Estabrook Park have put on quite a show this week, and as I hiked north along the river, I was beginning to think that they might be resting on their laurels today. I’m glad to report, however, that my thinking was a bit premature, because look who opted to sit for picturesContinue reading “A little more shyness melts away…”

Little birds abound…

The forecast snow has not yet arrived, but the clouds have been super thick all morning, the winds were light, and the temps were just below freezing. So, it was a good morning for finding birds, but a little dark for my camera. The first bird I found was our hermit thrush, in its usualContinue reading “Little birds abound…”

A cold day…

Before it shut itself off, my phone reported -9°F, with windchills to -25°F, in Milwaukee at 8:00am this morning, and local schools, including UWM, have canceled classes for today. The sun was out, however, and the sky was mostly clear, so it was still a nice day for taking pictures of the critters in EstabrookContinue reading “A cold day…”