An late summer or early fall sampler…

The weather in Estabrook Park this morning was like a poor photocopy of yesterday’s. Sure, it was a bit warmer, which the mosquitos took full advantage of, but there was a bit more breeze, and there’s a lot of something in the atmosphere, which makes the sky look milky white. Oh well, at least itContinue reading “An late summer or early fall sampler…”

Taking the show on the road again…

I couldn’t make it into Estabrook Park this morning because we’re off to Connecticut to see my folks, and I doubt very much that I’ll have a chance to get any pictures there today, so here are a few leftovers from the amazing August we’ve been having so far. If not top of the list,Continue reading “Taking the show on the road again…”

Getting off to a soggy start…

Well, the river is still crazy high, and it’s raining again this morning, so even though I did wander around in Estabrook for a while between showers, we’re gonna hafta go to the archives for some images this morning. Luckily, the pond and pollinator gardens were pretty fruitful yesterday, so we don’t have to goContinue reading “Getting off to a soggy start…”

Some nice dashes of color after the storm, even if they’re not in a rainbow.

Compared to the heat waves and torrential downpours we’ve had already this summer, the weather was pretty nice in Estabrook Park this morning. The partly cloudy skies even let the sun through once in a while, which lit up this young great blue heron fishing on the pond very nicely. The two hooded mergansers wereContinue reading “Some nice dashes of color after the storm, even if they’re not in a rainbow.”

No mammals, some birds, and a few new bugs.

We knew it couldn’t last forever, and today was the day that our recent streak of beautiful weather had a hiccup. The skies were still clear, but there was a stiff breeze out of the south, which added a layer of white noise to the soundscape in Estabrook Park. Oh well. The mammals seemed toContinue reading “No mammals, some birds, and a few new bugs.”

The smoke hasn’t cleared yet…

The Canadian wildfire smoke is still with us, and it was cloudy this morning, as well, so the sunlight took its sweet time filtering down into Estabrook Park. Add to that the fact that the Milwaukee Birders were here just yesterday, and I should not have been surprised that not many folks turned out forContinue reading “The smoke hasn’t cleared yet…”

More rain and less heat…

It was rainy and cool this morning in Estabrook Park: rainy enough to push back my start time by over an hour, but not cool enough to slow down the mosquitoes much. Oh well. At the pond, it appears that our little celebrity guest has finally moved on. Darn. I didn’t catch a glimpse ofContinue reading “More rain and less heat…”

A break in the heat, at last…

Well, the heat wave is starting to break, at least here in Estabrook Park, and it is still only 75°F outside as I write this. The bigger break for me, however, was that the howling wind we’ve had for the past three days has finally subsided, so I can hear myself think out there, forContinue reading “A break in the heat, at last…”

Seemingly stuck on hold…

It was a perfectly fine morning in Estabrook Park, but we seem to have entered some new phase. The spring migrants have mostly settled down or moved on, but the cool weather is keeping the colorful summer bugs from putting on much of a show. Thankfully, we do still have ducklings, and here’s a mallardContinue reading “Seemingly stuck on hold…”

Some good catches…

The clouds were thick, so it never got very light in Estabrook Park this morning, but the winds were light, the rain held off, and the air wasn’t too cool, so it was a pretty good time for a visit. My first treat came at the pond, when I spotted this action at the northContinue reading “Some good catches…”