A little excitement on a cold day…

It was a chilly morning in Estabrook Park, with the thermometer at 3°F for sunrise, despite a blanket of clouds that prevented the sun from warming things up much. At least the wind didn’t feel too bad in most places. My first surprise of the day was finding the muskrat up on the ice again,Continue reading “A little excitement on a cold day…”

All over the map…

The thick clouds that have been making gray skies all week finally drifted away overnight, so we had a beautiful, if chilly, morning in Estabrook Park. I was thrilled to see one of the mature bald eagles high over the far riverbank again, but with just one of them, I can’t tell if this isContinue reading “All over the map…”

Winter gives us a taste of things to come…

It was cloudy, cold, and windy this morning at Lakeshore State Park, but at least the snow had stopped by sunrise. I don’t know which shock did it, or if it was the combination, but most of the birds were in hiding, and we only counted 7 species. Happily, one of those species was theContinue reading “Winter gives us a taste of things to come…”

Are they green, or are they blue?

As I suggested yesterday, I did ride down to Lakeshore State Park this morning to join the Milwaukee Birders again. There was a stiff breeze coming off the lake, so thank goodness temps were milder than they’ve been recently. When I spotted this little cutie, I got all excited because the white-ish bib and collarContinue reading “Are they green, or are they blue?”

Slim pickin’s at the Lakeshore…

It was a fabulous day for a visit to Lakeshore State Park in downtown Milwaukee. The sky was clear, the breeze was very light, and the temps soared from the high 60s at sunrise into the low 70s by mid morning. My only quibble would be with the relative dearth of birds. Sure, there wereContinue reading “Slim pickin’s at the Lakeshore…”

And the award for most-lost visitor goes to…

Oof! What a day. My plan was to skip Estabrook again and go straight to the lake front to join the Milwaukee Birders one more time at Lakeshore State Park. My recent outings with them have been so fruitful that I had high hopes. There were some flies in my ointment, however, because I hadContinue reading “And the award for most-lost visitor goes to…”

A wild morning at the lakeshore…

Temps were pretty mild this morning, but the clouds were thick, and the breeze was strong, so it might not seem like an ideal morning to visit Lakefront State Park with the Milwaukee Birders. The wildlife was amazing, however, and I was lucky enough to have packed the right clothing, so I had a fantasticContinue reading “A wild morning at the lakeshore…”

Lots of ducks at Lakeshore State Park…

As advertised, I joined the Milwaukee Birders this morning at Lakeshore State Park, and we had nice, if chilly, weather for our outing. The “Quiet Water Basin” was mostly frozen over, and the little bit of open water, near the bridge, was chockfull of ducks. The most common appeared to be greater scaups, with easilyContinue reading “Lots of ducks at Lakeshore State Park…”