December birding in Chicagoland

One thing you can count on is an abundance of Canada Geese pretty much everywhere in Chicago land!

Lots of house finches were hanging around the Willowbrook Wildlife Center in Glen Ellyn and house sparrows. Or is the top one a Common Redpol?
I had the pleasure of birding with my 2 nephews along Lake Shore Drive in Chicago. We had heard reports of rare birds so we had to check it out. BTW it was odd that there was no snow, but it was cold and windy.
Who says you can't walk on water?

Henrey spotted the female Harlequin Duck! (Notice the 3 spots)
She is a small sea duck, usually found along the Canadian coastlines!
We found some Common Goldeneyes also.
I usually am birding out in the forest, but here I was near the urban jungle...
We were all surprised to find this completely black "eastern Gray Squirrel," the first one I have ever seen in Illinois. It was hanging out in the Jarvis bird sanctuary.
We found some Horned Grebes in Montrose Harbor.
We were about to give up when Graham found the SNOWY OWL! It was preening itself on the empty dock. Pretty great camouflage on the white!!! This is an incredibly beautiful creature.
We think the Snowy was feasting on the abundant ducks... like this Red Breasted Merganser.
The Goldeneyes didn't let us get too close either.
This is the male red breasted merganser.


As we were leaving the city, I could not resist this shot of the Willis tower (formerly but always in my mind as the Sears Tower).
The next day we went to the Indiana dunes lakeshore to help with the bird counts, it was only 22 degrees in the morning. Looks like the beavers have been busy!
We did find a Hairy Woodpecker.


It was pretty tough birding, but finally a nice group of Dark-Eyed Juncos came on our trail.

Afterwards we walked around at a different preserve, found several interesting colors and shapes of fungus and a trace of snow in the woods.



Here is a cute little white-breasted nuthatch.As we walked around the sand dunes looking (unsuccessfully) for northern saw whet owls, I found the dormant scenery quite refreshing!

Pasadena TX Dec 2011

Yesterday I enjoyed a wonderful day birding at the Armand Bayou Nature Center christmas bird count. We walked for hours counting all the birds we saw, and when we were tired we birded by car. FUN! I was trying to get photos when the birds were close enough.

Here are some of the birds we saw, starting with a field sparrow.

This is a chipping sparrow, which looks funny with the shadow on its tail!

This was a big Downy woodpecker.
We walked on a wonderful trail thriving with many different woodpeckers. Here is a juvenile Yellow Bellied Sapsucker. He blends right into the tree!It really is a beautiful bird, and it even flew down for a closer view.

These mystery sparrows turned out to be field sparrows. It is tough to get a decent photo when the target is so tiny and far away. At least it is enough to id the birds.

We were treated to a lovely song by this white throated sparrow.This is a rear end shot of the cute Eastern Phoebe.

Every now and then we would look up and see wonders such as this majestic Red-tailed hawk.

The ruby crowned kinglets were too busy to hold still for me.
We saw many Orange Crowned Warblers.
Here is an adult Yellow bellied Sapsucker.
Fortunately no alligators were seen, only this red eared slider in the reptile department.
This very cooperative Savannah sparrow posed for us for quite a while.
Then he flew up into a nearby bush..."look ma, no hands!"
What a great fall day.
One of the last birds of the day was another field sparrow.

Car birding on a cold day

F I N A L L Y some cold weather has arrived - so, here is what one can find (if you are looking in the right place!). First, this picture was 2 days ago, as I was leaving El Franco Lee Park I noticed these Monk Parakeets feeding on the ground. Pretty great camouflage, wouldn't you say!?Then, my trip yesterday down to Galveston Island. I along the way to find this Semipalmated Plover in the marshlands along the freeway.
I drove around the Island, looking for birds I could photograph out the window! I am thinking this is an Eastern Willet.
The Reddish Egret didn't mind the wind so much as me.
Ah, a Spotted Sandpiper!
Must be winter, because I wasn't the only LOON along the bayou....
I like all the detail in this Ringbilled Gull. It was nice of it to pose for me.
Aha! I was hoping to find some Sandhill Cranes!
Here is a tiny Bufflehead.
More Sandhill Cranes! This may be a family with their youngster.
There was even a Ruby Crowned Kinglet chirping in the thickets.
But this was the golden bird - a Harris Sparrow in Galveston!?!?
Well, no, actually two. What beauties.
Here are a couple Ruddy Turnstones, and maybe the funniest looking Laughing Gull I have ever seen.
This is a juvenile Laughing Gull on the right, and another Ring billed on the left.
This silly Ruddy Turnstone was hopping around for several minutes on one foot. I was concerned it was injured, but then it started walking on 2 feet. It looked like it was having fun...
... and so did I. Great to sneak away for a couple hours of birding by car!