Subscribe
- A Cottonwood Seed
- BehindTheBins
- Bird Cinema
- Bird Freak
- BirdChaser
- Birdfreak
- Birding for Handicapped
- Birding is Fun
- BirdingOnTheNet
- BirdNote Podcasts
- Birds, Etcetera
- Central NM Audubon
- Chapel Trail Nature Ctr
- Children & Nature
- Cornell Online BirdGuide
- Cottonmouth moccasin
- Eagle Nest
- Great FL Birding Trail
- Hawks Bluff Park
- Illinois Birders' Forum
- Janine Images
- Jones Meadow Park
- Kane County Audubon
- KidWings
- Laura's BirderBlog
- Les Arends FP
- Lippold Park
- Nature Photography
- Nelson Lake FP
- New Jersey Audubon
- Ornithology Course
- Rick Wright
- S Florida Eagle Watch
- Somewhere in NJ
- South Florida Audubon
- SurfBirds
- The Hawk Owl's Nest
- Tropical Audubon
- Tucson Audubon
- Vermillion River Wildlife
- West Miramar ESL
- Wild Bird Wednesday
- WingAndSong NM Blog
- BirdChat
- BirdNote Podcasts
- Bird News Network
- I and the Bird
- 10 Somewhat Unusual Items I take on Birding Trips
- Our Favorite Kingfishers
- Up and Around the Rouge
- Ask A Birder: Do Turkeys Originate From Turkey?
- Bird Guides of the World: Rolf Nessing, Germany
- A Boat Trip at Tangkoko, North Sulawesi
- Birding Lodges of the World: Ecotours Kondor Ecolodge, Hungary
- My Christmas Top Ten
- 10 Somewhat Unusual Items I take on Birding Trips
- FL Migration Radar
- General
- Birding & Outdoors
- Rutherford & NJ
- NM & SW US
- Florida & SE US
- Medical
- INDEX to Blog
- Hurricane Camille
- Getting Drafted
- Supai Canyon AZ
- Grandchildren
- Sandia Crest
- Capulin Spring
- Illinois
- Birding “Patches”
- Bald Eagle Nest
- Alaska
- MyWorld
- Wild Bird Wednesday
- Book Reviews
- Bird D’pot
- November 2012
- October 2012
- September 2012
- August 2012
- July 2012
- June 2012
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
- March 2007
- February 2007
- January 2007
- December 2006
- November 2006
- October 2006
- September 2006
Posted by: Ken @ 9:57 pm
After a lackluster early spring migration season in south Florida, I looked forward to catching up with the northbound warblers in northeastern Illinois. With each passing year I feel added urgency to make the most of every spring and fall. Now it seems that most of the warblers have also bypassed my summer home. In past years, fair numbers of warblers have shown up in local parks and forest preserves.
The warblers have left me high and dry, so instead of a taxonomic species list, I am compiling a color palette. What is prettier than a rainbow? Meet my friend ROY G BIV.
RED
Northern Cardinal, of course!
Thankfully, there have been many Scarlet Tanagers here in Illinois this spring. 
Both the red and the black of the Scarlet Tanager can be challenging for photographers, myself included, as the feather details tend to wash out. 
This first year male Summer Tanager was a surprise visitor to the local Norris Woods Nature Preserve. They usually don’t venture this far north. He sang like a seasoned veteran, making him easy to find in the treetops. Getting a shot of his entire body among the leaves was another matter.
The Rose-breasted Grosbeak qualifies in the “Red” category…
…as does this Red-bellied Woodpecker, whose head attracts much more attention than his undersides.
ORANGE
Of course, the Baltimore Oriole belongs in this category,…
…as does the Monarch Butterfly.
More subdued, the Eastern Question Mark gets its name from a very inconspicuous identification mark. 
The undersides of the Question Mark make it invisible among dry leaves and tree bark, but this view shows the signature punctuation mark on its right wing (partially obscured by the flower on the left). Use your imagination.
YELLOW
This one is easy! An American Goldfinch
Yellow Warblers are nesting and singing in the shrubby fields at Aurora West Forest Preserve.
Common Yellowthroats are reclusive, tantalizing us with loud songs from nearby thickets, but rarely coming out into the open.
This morning I photographed three Eastern Meadowlarks in full song. Here’s one.
Although it is just a spot of color, it is enough to earn the Yellow-crowned Night-Heron its name.
A Tiger Swallowtail certainly belongs here too.
GREEN
I haven’t seen a green bird in Illinois this year, but shot this Female Painted Bunting back in Florida.
In fairness to the female, I will place this male Painted Bunting in this category, though he could fit in at least three.
I captured this free-falling Orange-crowned Warbler here in Illinois in the autumn of 2011
I’m pretty sure this is a Clouded Sulphur, though I left my butterfly field guides back in Florida.
Unless you look closely, this bird appears to be a GINO (green in name only), a Black-throated Green Warbler.
BLUE
Though I’ve seen plenty of these guys here, none posed as nicely as this one that I shot in Florida before departing for Illinois.
INDIGO
Indigo Bunting
Eastern Tailed-Blue Butterfly, a tiny sprite but very colorful when it shows the top of its wings.
VIOLET
I had to reach into the archives again, for this pair of male Boat-tailed Grackles in our Florida back yard
Common Grackles are, well, common in Illinois.
The State Flower of Illinois is the Blue Violet, so this is actually a VINO.