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…”

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…”

November goes out with a wow!

I dream of days like this, when the snow has come down light and fluffy, at least near the end of the storm, piles up on every branch, and quits by sunrise, so I get to go enjoy the view before the wind picks up and knocks it all off. Even better, a big gapContinue reading “November goes out with a wow!”

Now that’s a cold snap!

Brrrr! It was a tad brisk this morning in Estabrook Park. Happily, the forecast lake effect snow stayed south of us, the wind didn’t feel nearly as strong as I feared, and the sky was crystal clear. It was cold enough, for the first time this season, to freeze small puddles solid and form iceContinue reading “Now that’s a cold snap!”

Autumn really starts to settle in…

It was cold, windy, cloudy, and even sprinkley this morning in Estabrook Park, so a classic autumn day in southeast Wisconsin. There were still a few sights to see, despite the weather, but I didn’t see a picture I could take until I was beside the river at the north end. That’s when the doeContinue reading “Autumn really starts to settle in…”

A disturbance in the force…

The weather this morning in Estabrook Park was more similar to yesterday’s than the forecast had led me to expect. The air was mostly still, and the sky was pretty clear, but sunrise temps were in the low 40s. Brrrr. I could see my breath. The main star of the show today was this youngishContinue reading “A disturbance in the force…”

Grebes, grebes, and more grebes…

The sky was crystal clear at dawn this morning in Estabrook Park, and the winds were nearly calm, so I got in nice and early, despite it being cold enough to frost the grass. At the wide and slow part of the river below the falls, I could see both kingfishers at once, which doesn’tContinue reading “Grebes, grebes, and more grebes…”

One more arrival…

The weather was finally back to being seasonably pleasant in Estabrook Park this morning. The winds were nice and light, and the sky was pretty clear for a while. My first surprise of the morning came as I strolled beside the river on my way to the pond, when I spotted this beaver, the likesContinue reading “One more arrival…”

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…”

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…”