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.