Yet another bird joins the first timers club…

The sky is starting to haze up a bit now, but it was a beautiful morning in Estabrook Park, with mild temps again, still air, and clear skies for a while. The first pretty sight I found taking full advantage of the golden sunlight was this common merganser hen up on the ice above theContinue reading “Yet another bird joins the first timers club…”

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…”

The birds take a break…

The skies have cleared up now, but they were pretty dark and cloudy this morning in Estabrook Park. The good news is that the clouds hardly leaked at all, and they rode into town on a warming trend, so it’s 40° now, and it was just below freezing at sunrise. Things got off to aContinue reading “The birds take a break…”

Plenty of woodpeckers in Estabrook…

After taking a couple of days off, winter came roaring back with a vengeance overnight, and temps were back into the low teens by morning. On top of that, the wind was forecast to be 24 mph at sunrise, so the windchill was below zero. Yikes! At least the sun was out, so if IContinue reading “Plenty of woodpeckers in Estabrook…”

A short-eared owl at Killsnake

The December thaw continues to deepen this morning in Estabrook Park, and the air is full of moisture, either falling from the thick cloud cover above, or rising off the snow below into the warm air, so it’s not a great morning for taking pictures. Instead, let me show you some from a little fieldContinue reading “A short-eared owl at Killsnake”

A December thaw…

I love a cold and snowy winter as much as the next guy, maybe even more. Why else would I live in Wisconsin, right? Nevertheless, I sure did enjoy a morning in Estabrook Park with temps above freezing, nearly still air, and a warm sun. It would appear that the critters did, too. I’ve beenContinue reading “A December thaw…”

The current deep freeze bottoms out…

The temperature this morning in Estabrook Park was the negative of yesterday’s, and the breeze was still blowing pretty good, so the wind chill was down into the negative twenties. Yikes! I’ve certainly felt colder, but I’m not sure if I have in December. At least the sky was clear and the sun was out,Continue reading “The current deep freeze bottoms out…”

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…”

Critters keeping warm on a cold day…

It wasn’t the coldest day of the month, so far, but it was nice and chilly, nevertheless, this morning in Estabrook Park. Fortunately, the winds were pretty light, and the sun came out every once in a while, so it was a nice enough time for a visit, if you were dressed for it. TheContinue reading “Critters keeping warm 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…”