Fox River, Saw Wee Kee Park

Decided to take a ride out to Saw Wee Kee Park on Tuesday.  It was a beautiful day, after all the snow we had had over the weekend.  There is one place just before the entrance to the park that was full of male and female Cardinals.  They were beautiful to watch

All the birds were in a posing mood.

Black-capped Chickadee.
There was another area in the park by one of the parking lots that I stayed at for over an hour.  There was a lot of activity, as someone had put bird seed on a park bench.  The birds were loving it.

Several Blue Jays came to visit.

White breasted  Nut-hatches were flying back and forth between trees.

Blue Jay's were into posing as well.

Red-bellied Woodpecker was flitting between two trees, and put on quite a show.

Caught him in flight.

Peek a boo!

Dark-eyed Junco's came to visit too.

A couple of Song Sparrows came to visit as well.

As well as Mourning Dove's

Blue Jay's and Cardinals

Blue Jay and female Cardinal

The gangs all here.

Female Cardinal posing

Blue Jay

Pair of Cardinals

Song Sparrow and Junco

Female Cardinal

Song Sparrow

Female Merganser

Canada Geese are on the move.

There was sun, and what seemed like a bit of warmth.
No new birds today, but all that I saw looked beautiful against the snow.
Chicago had it's 5th worst snow storm on Sunday.
More is coming.

Baby it's still cold outside

This robin was snuggled up against this post.  It was cold outside.
After a beautiful week, of warmth and sun, we got more snow on Monday. Will it ever turn to spring?

Looks like our cardinals are going to stick around.  Two pair have been here all winter, and are still sticking around..I hope they decide to nest here.

First time we have had an Eastern Towhee here.  I think it is just passing through.  I saw him for two days, then did not see him today.

Look what else showed up, Northern Flicker. He was digging around under the bird feeders.

Still not sure about this little fellow.

There is actually a pair of flickers.  We are up to 3 days they have been here.

Down at the park in Oswego Tuesday, I came across this sight.  Swallows flying low along the Fox River.
There was an area not far from where I was sitting, that I noticed the swallows.  I had read about a lot of swallows were sighted in Aurora. Don't know if they were heading north or south.  

They just seemed to stay in the area for quite a while.
Looks like the weather is going to warm up.  We can only hope.  Spring has been long in coming.
I do have daffodils and some miniature iris blooming.

Mary

Along the Fox

Birds are in migration mode.  Golden-eyed, and bufflehead, males and females.  From what I have read, some of these birds have been around, I just had not found them.
I try to take pictures of each bird for my identification.  Unfortunately, not all pictures turn out good enough for me to even use for identification.
I do record my observations on ebird.org.  It is interesting to see where other birders go to observe birds. I am trying to record the different places I go, which is including when I have been to the Caribbean, and other states.  I have so far identified 117 birds, and 71 of those are in the continental USA.
It is a great way to get exercise too!

Not a great shot, but cormorants on the Fox River.

We have seen these nests, but did not know what bird may have built them.  Now we know.  We have a small colony of Blue Herons that are nesting along the Fox.  

Cardinal.  Now this is an easy bird to identify.
I have a few places I keep going back to, to observe what may be new.
Have also been expanding my search area.  There are a lot of Forest Reserves in the counties around us.  Some of the counties provide brochures of where the reserves, and lakes are located.
One Sunday, recently, I got a 3 mile walk in.  When you are looking for birds, you don't always realize how far you have traveled.
Obviously I am new at this, but have learned a lot already.  Who knew!
Mary
 

Lets start the new year with birds. 1-3-2014

We still have a pair of cardinals coming to our feeders.  I am having to take the photos through our kitchen window.

Charlie, our kitty is hiding from me behind the plants.  He likes to nibble on them.

With this really cold weather, I went out to put feed in the feeders.  Within an hour mourning doves found a seat on a planter to enjoy the fair.

House finch and a sparrow enjoying the feast.

American Tree Sparrow

And look what else flew into the yard.  The sun was setting and this robin showed up.  I know there are robins in a forest preserve about 4 miles  from our house, So where has this fellow been hiding.  He did not stop at the feeder, just sat on the branch above it.
What a great start for the new year.

The last of the birds of 2013

American Tree Sparrow

Dark-eyed Junco

Sparrow

Is it possible these are eagles nests?

We are thinking we may have found eagles nests down by the river.

Female Cardinal.

Cooper Hawk having a tasty meal in our backyard.

The Coopers Hawk does come through our yard on a regular basis looking for mourning doves.

Coopers Hawk

After he finished his meal, he flew into the tree in our back yard.  He was just on the other side of the tree trunk.  It was like he was watching us.

"Should I go back and have more?"

He stayed in the tree for at least 10 minutes while I watched.