Rosyfinch Ramblings
Comments are not moderated here - please visit NEW SITE FOR ROSYFINCH.COM
Categories:

Archives:
Meta:
July 2011
M T W T F S S
« Jun   Aug »
 123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
25262728293031
07/30/11
Illinois prairie in early summer
Filed under: General, Birding & Outdoors, Illinois, Birding "Patches"
Posted by: Ken @ 8:00 am

Soon after returning from from Alaska to our second home in Illinois, I took a break from editing and reviewing the photos from the trip. Illinois weather had been quite variable, from cool and rainy to hotter than Florida. Our first stop was at Aurora West Forest Preserve, only a couple of miles from our condo. Our target bird was the Clay-colored Sparrow that nested there last year. We had no luck in finding the sparrow, but it was a delightful morning full of color and sound.

An Indigo Bunting sang a variant song from the top of a tree. Mary Lou and I had heard this same bird before we left for Alaska. Instead of the usual series of coupled warbling notes, this bird repeated two wheezy phrases that sounded like “Wree-Wree, Wree-Wree…” etc. It definitely meant to be singing, not sounding call notes.

I like the way that the blues and greens work together in this image:

Indigo Bunting 20110704

A Field Sparrow sang vigorously. Its behavior suggested that a nest was nearby, as it raised its crest anxiously, making it look as if it were wearing a red hat:

Field Sparrow 20110704

The Red-winged Blackbirds were also in an agitated state…

Red-winged Blackbird 2-20110704

…flying back and forth across the path in front of us as if to distract us from fledglings hidden in the high grass:

Red-winged Blackbird 20110704

The blackbirds directed their ire at another trespasser; a Red-tailed Hawk endured repeated bombardment by four or five Red-wings:

Red-tailed Hawk and blackbird 3-20110704

One actually landed on the hawk’s back:

Red-tailed Hawk and blackbird 2-20110704

Two mornings later, we moved on to Dick Young Forest Preserve/Nelson Lake Marsh in nearby Batavia, birding the tallgrass prairie on the north side of the Preserve. Here, our target birds were Henslow’s Sparrows, Bobolinks and Sedge Wrens. We dipped on the sparrows and wrens, but did see Bobolinks.

Overhead, a Great Blue Heron drifted by lazily:

Great Blue Heron 20110706

American Goldfinches were everywhere:

American Goldfinch 20110706

A pair of Killdeers guarded their three chicks, two of which are seen here:

Killdeer chicks and worried parents 20110706

Song Sparrows added to the morning chorus:

Song Sparrow 20110706

We encountered a singing Dicksissel about every 100 yards along the trail:

Dicksissel 20110706

Common Yellowthroats were… well, common:

Common Yellowthroat 20110706

The yellowthroats, usually reclusive, were singing from perches in full view:

Common Yellowthroat 2-20110706

Bobolinks are among my favorite birds, and we saw several that morning:

Bobolink 2-20110706

I always try to get as much of a Bobolink’s back and face in the photo as possible, not always easy to do:

Bobolink 20110706

On the drive home, we saw two adult Red-tailed Hawks sharing a roost on a street light:

Red-tailed Hawks 20110706

13 comments