Late Winter Birds

Northern Flicker searching for grubs.

A Red-Tailed Hawk watching for a mouse.

A White Breasted Nuthatch

A nature photography book by John Shaw I am reading, talks about finding something that catches your eye, no matter what it is, and making it the focal point of your photo. While walking, the bright yellow whips of this willow tree against the drab water and trees caught my eye. I gave his advice a try and was surpirsed at how much I liked the shot.

Out and About

Female Cardinal out after the blizzard.

American Tree Sparrow

Male Cardinal on a snowy pine branch.

Male Mallard duck resting in the snow.

Sunrise serenade.

Bald Eagle searching along Fox River for breakfast.

A closer view of the Tundra Swan.

Enjoying the Eagles

I spent a sunny, warm 45 degree February day at Starved Rock, eagle watching.  After the bitter cold the last month, it was a wonderful change.  There were still a few hundred eagles feeding at the dam area.  With the ice melting more each day and the river opening up, the eagles are moving to other feeding grounds.  I was able to get a few shots that came out well.  I also enjoyed getting closeups of an adult eagle eating a fish it had just caught. 

Definitely a satisfied look.

An immature eagle, guessing a second year bird.

Scouting for food.

One got a fish.

Not the crispest of shots, but liked the composition.

First Robins

Can spring be far behind?  On Friday, February 4th, I seen two huge flocks of robins.  I captured this one sitting in a tree.  They are about three weeks early to our area.  I am wondering will it be an early spring, or perhaps the blizzard storm coming from the south brought them up here early?  Perhaps they decided to have an easy migration and ride the winds?

We are expecting high temperatures of 7-9 degrees this week.  Hope they can survive that and waiting for the 20+ inches of snow to melt to find enough food.  I did see them eating berries in the woods, so they are getting some food.

Keep your eyes open for them.  I have seen at least ten birds a day in various locations since then.  Just this morning I seen a large flock of over 40 birds in the trees in my yard. 

Wish for warmer weather for them and us too!

Just Ducky!

The sun finally came out after the blizzard.  It was a chilly 5 degrees, but a great day for a walk.  I decided to head down by the Fox River and look for open water.   I never expected to find what I did.  It was an amazing photo and birdwatching day.




I was surprised to see this Tundra Swan on the river.  It is a juvenile which is evident by his dusky colored feathers and the pinkish-orange on his beak.  He was all alone and it's unknown if he has spent the winter here or if he has started migrating back to northern Canada.  The swans spend the winter on the east coast of the United States in the Carolina area or the west coast along California.  The eastern birds will migrate right over the great lakes area on their way north. 

 


This is a flock of Goldeneye ducks. They were very shy and always stayed on the far bank of the river from where I was.  The males and females both have the darker heads with the white feathers.  In the right sunlight, the heads  would look green.  The brown headed ones with gray backs are the juvenile birds.  The Goldeneyes winter in the middle states and will move north to Canada to breed in the spring.  These little birds wings make a high pitched whistling sound when they fly.  You could easily hear when some were approaching.




A pair of Common Mergansers.  They too stayed at the opposite bank of the river from where I was.  This was the best photo I could get of them.  The male is the black and white bird in the front.  The reddish-brown headed one behind, is the female.





I was surprised to find a female Northern Shoveler duck mixed in among the mallards.  No males were spotted, so she must have gotten separated from her flock and has made due with the mallards.

 


As I was standing watching the ducks, suddenly they all started quacking and flying around.  It was chaos.



Here is why.....a Bald Eagle came flying down the river.  He was looking, but did not try to catch anything.  That would have been some exciting photos to capture!

This Coot was as proud as he could be over his find.  He was swimming as fast as he could away from others before someone tried to steal his fish.  It looks like he found a small catfish that was along the shore.




This was my glory moment of my entire photo hobby so far!  There were two Hooded Mergansers at the river.  One came within ten feet of where I was and the sunlight coming through was perfect.  This is the most gorgeous picture I think I have gotten so far.  These little ducks are one of the most stunning birds I have ever seen.  Just beautiful!

 



The final bird of the day was a young Bald Eagle that came flying over the river.  He was very high above the river and made no attempt to get a closer look.





After the Blizzard

The blizzard that hit the midwest was quite a storm.  With 40-50 mph wind gusts and 20+ inches of snow, it was not unusual to find four foot drifts in your yard. 

A day after the storm my birdfeeders were busy.  I had numerous tree sparrows, doves, juncos, and much to my delight, seven males cardinals and three females at the same time.  Usually the males will chase the others off, but that morning everyone was so hungry and needed the energy, there was no fighting for the food.  I was able to get many pictures of the cardinals, and have posted my two favorites.

Also, is a picture of a squirrel that passed through my yard.  He only paused to rest on a tree branch before continuing his journey to what I hope was warm shelter.  I wondered if the storm blew his home apart or if he got in that shape from his travel to another place?

I tried to throw food out to him, but he was not interested.  I hope the poor little guy was alright.

 

Ringneck pheasants and deer

This rooster was gorgeous and the light was perfect.  Too bad his tail feathers had seen better days.

Hen Pheasant hiding in the grass.