No pranks today…

My first big treat of the day was finally capturing this darling pied-billed grebe on film, after only catching glimpses of it for the last couple of days. It has been fishing around the upstream island, and once it has spotted me, it has usually disappeared after just its second dive. Happily, it relented todayContinue reading “No pranks today…”

Closer to a lamb than a lion, I’d say…

We had a great morning for the last weekly wildlife walk of March in Estabrook Park. Sure, it was cool, cloudy, and breezy, but I didn’t feel a drop for a change, we were often able to hide from the wind, and the sun slowly emerged. Ten folks came out to join me, and weContinue reading “Closer to a lamb than a lion, I’d say…”

A rainy day in March…

Well, just as they predicted, it was quite rainy in Estabrook Park this morning. On the radar, however, it looked as though there would be some gaps in the rain, so I grabbed an umbrella and ventured out. On my way from the river to the pond, I saw the screech-owl in its nook again,Continue reading “A rainy day in March…”

A couple more new arrivals…

It seemed pretty nice out at sunrise this morning in Estabrook Park, even with the thick cloud cover. Temps were in the low 50s, winds were light, and it wasn’t raining. What I failed to realize is that the winds were blowing off of Lake Michigan, and the temps were on their way to theContinue reading “A couple more new arrivals…”

Back to work…

The air was still and warmer than it has been recently, but the clouds were thick and leaky, so looking for critters in Estabrook Park this morning was a mixed bag. One happy consequence of the conditions, or just pure luck of the draw, and I don’t know which yet, was finding our little grey-morphContinue reading “Back to work…”

Happy 5th Anniversary!

It was five years ago today, on March 26, that I breathlessly emailed family and friends that I had spotted a wood duck on the pond in Estabrook Park. Before that day, I don’t believe I had ever seen one, let alone known their name. Here’s a look at that original picture. For those ofContinue reading “Happy 5th Anniversary!”

Back in Estabrook again…

My siblings and I all arrived home safely from Colorado yesterday afternoon, but before we left, my sister who lives there and her husband really wanted to show us the bald eagles’ nest just down the road from their place, and here it is. I wrote yesterday that it was very windy out there, andContinue reading “Back in Estabrook again…”

Happy Spring!

Despite the crazy weather that rolled in yesterday afternoon, with pouring rain, hail, howling winds, and even some snow, spring arrived anyway, and it was a pretty nice morning in Estabrook Park. My first treat of the day came early when I spotted my first golden-crowned kinglets of the year. This picture is actually fromContinue reading “Happy Spring!”

Some quick sights before the rain…

It was cool, cloudy, and breezy this morning in Estabrook Park, but at least the rain held off for a while. The critters may have been sensing that a storm was on its way because they seemed more skittish than yesterday. I didn’t take a picture until I was beside the downstream island in theContinue reading “Some quick sights before the rain…”

March settles back down…

After the crazy weather lately, it was nice to have some normal March conditions for a change. Temps were seasonably cool, and it was partly cloudy, but the winds were light, and it definitely was not precipitating. The critters seemed to be enjoying the return to normalcy as much as I was, and here’s theContinue reading “March settles back down…”