It was an absolutely gorgeous morning in Estabrook Park, and if you live anywhere nearby, I hope you were able to get out into it. As I approached the river at the north end, I inadvertently flushed a raptor that was close to the ground, and I assumed it was a Cooper’s hawk. In myContinue reading “Mid-October really puts on a show…”
Tag Archives: nature
“Get your own crabapple!”
I had an online meeting early this morning, so I wasn’t able to get into Estabrook till nearly 9am, and it was a little disconcerting. I eventually pulled myself together, however, and found this cute little hermit thrush parked low in a tree beside the river for a second. Out on the water, meanwhile, anotherContinue reading ““Get your own crabapple!””
More comings and goings…
Once again, the weather forecast undersold the morning, and it was much nicer than I expected. The pied-billed grebe and a few wood ducks were still on the pond, and the river was full of mallards and Canada geese. The first picture that caught my eye, however, was these two white-crowned sparrows perched beside theContinue reading “More comings and goings…”
Thank goodness for backup pictures…
It was another very nice morning in Estabrook Park today, with a little more warmth trading off with a little more wind. At least the skies were clear. There was no sign of that shy coot, but a great egret was back again, and here it is flying against that pretty blue sky. A coupleContinue reading “Thank goodness for backup pictures…”
Now that’s a real October show…
It was a spectacular morning in Estabrook Park, with clear skies again, mostly still air, and seasonal temps. The first big surprise of the day was spotting this American coot. It was hiding in the weeds that have grown up on the river bottom around the islands that is now often exposed because of theContinue reading “Now that’s a real October show…”
A real title, this time…
It was a gorgeous October morning in Estabrook Park, with clear skies, a light breeze out of the west, and mild temps. With all that light, I was able to get in pretty early, for this time of year, and I spent a full 50 minutes there, before it was time to go meet upContinue reading “A real title, this time…”
Draft Template
It was a full day here at the Wisconsin Master Naturalist Summit, and my first scheduled event was on leading educational hikes at Willow River State Park, so that’s where I went for sunrise to see who I could see before class began. There is a dam in the Willow River, originally built to harnessContinue reading “Draft Template”
Little birds in River Falls…
I made it to scenic River Falls, Wisconsin this morning, where the Kinnickinnic River meets the St. Croix. Heavy rain before sunrise made the drive a little harrowing, and traffic on I-94 was down to 35 mph at one point, but there were no mishaps that I could see. I got into town around 10:30am,Continue reading “Little birds in River Falls…”
Not a bad day, despite the delayed start…
It was raining pretty good when the sun supposedly came up, and it kept on raining through most of the morning. Happily, it didn’t rain all day, so I was able to get into Estabrook after lunch, and this is who I found that late in the day. I didn’t see a single bird onContinue reading “Not a bad day, despite the delayed start…”
Slow going, despite the nice weather and the extra eyes…
The weather today in Estabrook Park was a near repeat of yesterday’s, which was very nice, and I had two folks join me for our weekly wildlife walk, which was also very nice. We headed first for the river, in hopes of seeing the great egret again, but before we could reach the water aroundContinue reading “Slow going, despite the nice weather and the extra eyes…”
