Spring Guests

Spring always brings an assortment of visitors to my backyard pond.  

A male Scarlet Tanager that was a beautiful vivid red.  He showed up the next day with another male with him.  I have not seen them since.  Just stopped for a drink and a bath on their journey.

Cedar Waxwing enjoying the cool water.

"Come on in, the water's fine!"

The male Cardinal who hangs around my yard.

Pretty Bird

I found these older photos I had that I had never shared.  Unfortunately in some it was a very overcast day, but the birds were species I don't always see.....except the Cardinal of course! Enjoy!



This male Cardinal kept turning his head looking at me trying to figure out what I was doing.



This bird is a Dickcissel.  He gets his name from the sound he makes....dick,dick,cissssel.

This is a male Blue Grossbeak.  One of the prettiest colored birds I have seen in the Midwest.

A young male Summer Tanager getting his adult colors.  I had to laugh at him, I was trying to get a photo of him in a tree about 20 feet away when he flew over right in front of me so I could get a closer shot.  Wish all birds would do that!

Just another photo of my Cardinal friend.

Whooo's there?

Sandhill Cranes flying overhead.

The female Great Horned Owl at the city park.  She was in a different tree out of the wind this day.

Same female, different angle.

A male Great Horned owl at a forest preserve.

I went back to the forest preserve a week later and caught both of the owls in a tree.  The female is one on the right, male the left.

Five male Northern Shoveler ducks.  Notice the Gadwell Ducks in the background.

A male Green Winged Teal.  

A newly arrived Killdeer.  Notice the small insect that happened to fly by as I took the photo!

Ducks & Friends on the River

Great Blue Heron

Canada Goose

Common Mergansers, two males and a female in the back.

Close-up of the male Common Merganser.

Common Goldeneye ducks.  Black and white ones are the adult males.  Grey colored ones with the brown heads are either the females with slightly more white on the wings or the grey with brown heads  are the young males waiting to get their final colors.

Red-bellied Woodpecker.  You can see the red belly in this photo.

Close-up of the Blue Heron.

Goldeneye Ducks flying over.

Mallards, two males and one female.

Great Horned Owl Returns

The Great Horned Owls have returned to their nesting site again this year.  This appears to be the female as it is a very large owl.  The three pictures were taken on three consecutive weekends in the same tree.  I can always find the owl in this tree very early in the morning.  The tree is across a small pond from the tree with the nest.

Unexpected

I happen to look out my bedroom window one morning and found this Black Capped Chickadee just a few feet away.

Enjoying a crabapple.

A pretty male Northern Cardinal.

This coyote was in my backyard in the middle of the day!  She  appears to possibly have had mange.  Her coat is ratty and just growing back in.

A Muskrat that did not mind posing for his picture.

Day at the zoo

I spent a chilly winter day wandering around the zoo practicing my photography.  The animals were not overly active, but I managed to get a few photos to share.  Enjoy!

Female Mexican Grey Wolf.  She was watching something in the grass.

Same wolf, different angle.

A pair of the wolves.  I liked the cinnamon cast the one on the right has.

American White Pelicans enjoying the day.  As our winter has been unusually warm, they still have open water to swim in.

A Pelican close-up.  The bump on the end of it's bill is a sign that the bird is old enough to breed in the next breeding season.  After the breeding season ends, this bump will fall off. 

Of course I spent most of my time in the aviary area  : )  Some beautiful birds I will never see in the wild.

A White Crested Turaco native to Central Africa.

Blue Crowned Motmot

An Oriole Warbler with a small stick in it's mouth for a nest.  They are native to West Africa.

White Crested Laughing Thrush native to SE Asia.

Two Green Wing Macaws

A gorgeous Red-crested Cardinal.  These birds are native to central South America, but have been introduced in Hawaii.

I enjoyed capturing the expression of the this orangutan.

The sweetest baby orangutan!  He only peeked his head for a minute, but I was able to take a few shots.

The lions being lazy like most of the animals.