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06/23/08
Summer at Hawk’s Bluff Park, Batavia, IL
Filed under: General, Birding & Outdoors, Illinois, Birding "Patches"
Posted by: Ken @ 1:27 pm

Here in Chicagoland, the birds have settled into the nesting season. At Nelson Lake in Batavia, a Sedge Wren (above), presumably the same one that I photographed a couple of weeks back, has shifted its singing perch from the south to the north side of the grass trail that leads to the east viewing platform. For some reason, a large area has been mowed and a couple dozen trees have been planted right in part of the regenerating prairie! The purpose of adding to the (already expansive) tree cover at the expense of long grass escapes me. At any rate, the bird now has a territory that hopefully will not be disturbed again during nesting season. This time I remembered to turn on the image stabilizer on my 300 mm lens, and got a much sharper image.

A White Pelican, probably the same one that was on the lake last summer, was still there, long after the flocks departed for their breeding grounds:

We have been spending lots of time with the granddaughters, so there have been many trips to the playground at the new Hawk’s Bluff Park in Batavia, only a short walk from their home. They were disappointed to find that a robin’s nest they had been watching was blown down by a strong wind storm. While walking Agramonte (their 6 month old Tibetan Mastiff) we had a small spotted fawn leap up out of the grass only 20 feet from the path, and later I saw a doe nearby.

We are watching this House Wren at her nest, just above the childrens’ slides and monkey bars:

The search for photographic subjects led me to the banks of Mill Creek, where dragonflies and damselflies abound. Many of them must go unidentified, or merely put in a group with a request that readers with greater skills may wish to classify properly.

This damsel appears to be an male Ebony Jewelwing:

This Pond Damsel is of unknown species:

Another Pond Damselfly, probably a different species:

There was a flush of Enellagma species Damselflies. Here is a male in flight:

Enellagma species Damselflies (Male hovering over two females depositing eggs):

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