A good day on the Fox River, Oswego

Juvenile Eagle
Today I saw 7 Bald Eagles

Merganser, male and Canada Goose
There were thousands of Canada Geese on the river.

Herring Gull, and Ring-billed Gull, and at least one I don't know.

Male Merganser.  There were several males and females in a couple of different places.

Common Golden-eye.  It was interesting to watch as they floated on the river, diving for food.

Saw this Heron land on the branch.

These two were just sitting on the bank of the river.

Female Merganser.

There were lots of mallards on the river.

Geese in flight.
There were flocks of geese all along the river.

Juvenile Bald Eagle.

This one looks like it is almost an adult.

Another juvenile Bald Eagle

And another juvenile Bald Eagle.
I spent hours along the Fox River today.  Also went down to one of the parks on the other side of Oswego.  Will do a post all about those birds.  It was fun taking the time to just watch them.
Mary

On the Fox River

The other day after my dentist appointment I decided to take a walk along part of the Fox River.
It was so nice and peaceful. I could sit and watch the water travel by.  One place in the river was this Great Heron and several mallard ducks.  The mallards were this years, as they were just beginning to distinguish between males and females.

The dragonflies seem to be quite plentiful. I love it when one lights long enough for me to take a picture.

The Cabbage White butterflies seem to be plentiful as well.

The grasshopper looks so fierce up close.

This mallard is a male.  You can see that his head is beginning to turn dark green.

I think I have finally determined that this is a Downy Woodpecker.
I have had such a time between the Downy and the Hairy.  I am taking more time to read up on the differences between similar birds.  I never was able to get a totally clear shot, as there were a lot of tree branches between him and me.( I really need a longer distance lens!)  These old eyes just don't always see very well.

While I was standing checking out the Downy Woodpecker, I heard another noise.  Look what I came upon. This time it was a Red-Bellied Woodpecker.  He was so pretty

I was able to get a better shot of his back.  It looks like a Zebra.  

This was a different Heron on the river.  I must have seen at least 6 Herons that day.  He was stalking small fish. 

Having a bit of trouble identifying this dragonfly.  There was red on his wings not on the body.

Not sure what this bird is either.  He was very nice for me. I almost think it is a fledgling.

Then turned around, like, "are you done yet?"

Another dragonfly.  Maybe I better find a book, or some sort of reference so I can start to identify them. Some of these are beautiful.  

This is the same Heron in the above picture.  There was another one that had just came out of the tall grasses. I thought it was neat that I could get two for the price of one!

This is the same dragonfly as above with the red on his wings.
I was there about an hour and saw all these wonderful creatures.
I am so enjoying spending time out doors and having the chance to photograph nature at it's finest.

On the Fox River by Montgomery, IL

The other evening we decided to drive along the Fox River by Montgomery to see if there were any birds.  The place we saw all these Egrets is the same are we had seen the breeding Egrets in the trees.  This time they were all on the river..  They seem to stay in this one area for the night, as we have seen them in the trees in the evenings.

There is one Heron amongst  all the Egrets.

A little farther up the river I saw this heron standing on one leg in a tree.  You can see some of his beard, swaying in the breeze.

On the way home, we stopped in one of my favorite spots and saw 3 herons. Two were walking away and one just sitting.  I have wondered how deep this marsh area is.  Looks like it is pretty shallow.  We have seen fish jumping in this pond.  It is a pretty big marsh area with a lot of wildflowers and cattails, a big area for all sorts of birds.

Horicon Marsh, Mayville, Wisconsin

Yellow-headed Blackbird,
On Saturday, May 11 we drove to the Horicon Marsh, in Wisconsin for a day at the 16th annual Bird Festival..   We packed for any kind of weather, which was a good thing.
Ron had signed us up for a Birds of Prey, lecture.by Barbara Harvey.  Barbara is a raptor rehabilitator  and lectures about  birds of prey.  She was so interesting. She even brought 4 live birds.  We could not take pictures as even the red light from the camera (non flashing) will disturb the birds.  Each of the birds had be injured and will not be able to be returned to the wild.
While we were waiting for the lecture to begin we saw this yellow-headed blackbird.  The pictures had to be taken through the window.  I was so impressed.  It was such a beautiful bird.  The yellow head  was so vibrant.  The bird book describes him as a large-bodied and relatively short-tailed with a sharp-pointed deep-based bill.

They like prairie wetlands, and cattail marshes.   

This is a picture of a picture. Their range is from British Columbia, to Manitoba and South to California, New Mexico and Indiana.

13 lined ground squirrel.

Eastern Screech Owl.  This little guy had been hit  by a car and rescued.  He  was stunned.  Unfortunately , he  is now blind.  He is considered a red faced owl.  He was so cute.  He is about 8 inches long.   These owls can be a gray color or a red color and all come from the same nest.  

They can be found in suburban areas to woods.  They need a large cavity or birdhouse for nesting.

He appeared to be so soft.

The grouping shows the different colors the owls can be.

As I said earlier, we had clothes for the weather.  It was cold.  We had  winter and rain gear and put it all on.  That is Ron on the left.

We went on the pontoon boat out into the marsh and the river that runs through it.

Check out the clouds!  It was cold and windy.

Then to add insult to injury, we got sleet.  Our guide said it was the first time in the 16 years that they had gotten snow and sleet.

We did get a little bit of sun.

Look at these clouds.

Here is a heron landing in the cattails.

Yellow Warbler.  It is not the greatest picture, but considering the conditions, it is a picture.  He is about 4 inches long. This is considered a medium-sized, compact warbler.  He was a quick mover.  They like shrubby areas, wet thickets, especially with willows.

Northern Flicker  This is a large woodpecker. They like open woodland,s and suburbs.  The like to excavate a cavity in a dead or dying tree. will also use a nest box..

We also saw an eagles nest.  If you look at the top of the nest you will see the top of a white head.  It was so cool to see.

We were on a two hour tour.  It was great fun.  I learned so much and really did try to get more and better pictures, but the conditions were not the best.  Birds do not stop to pose! Our guide also said we saw or heard 31 birds on our tour.
I had told Ron I did not want any present for Mother's Day.  Instead I got this wonderful weekend.  We stayed in Milwaukee for Saturday night and took the leisurely way home.  We came back by way of Muckwanago, and Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.  We came through a lot of neat little towns on back roads.