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.

White-breasted Nuthatch

Today we had a picnic lunch alongside the Fox River in Oswego.  While sitting there we kept see a little bird fly to this tree.  I was able to finally get a couple of pictures of it and when we go home found out it is the White-breasted Nuthatch.

Going into it's nest.

They are about 5 or 6 inches long.  Slate gray bird with white belly and black cap and neck.  Long think bill slightly upturned. They are chestnut colored under their tail.  The female is similar to male, but has a gray cap and neck. They nest in a cavity. Both male and female build the nest, and they only have one brood a year.

They have incredible climbing agility. They have an extra long hind toe claw or nail.  It is nearly twice the size of front toe claws.  You can see it on the above picture.

The habit of hopping headfirst down tree trunks helps them see insects and eggs that birds climbing up the trunk can miss. They like insects seeds and will come to seed and suet feeders.