Walk with Me: 5/14/06

Friday, May 19, 2006

Great Egret sitting in a tree a the fart side of the beaver pond at Cooper Park on Thursday, May 18. He stayed in that tree for over an hour.

Prothonatory Warbler peeking out at us. This was our first time for this lovely bird.

Prothonatory Warbler 2.

Prothonatory Warbler 3.

Mallard duck and drake.

Song Sparrow. It seems like I see this sparrow singing in the same every time I walk through the park on the boardwalk just south of the pond.

Water snake in the beaver pond.

Beaver pond at Cooper Park is lush and green.

House Wren.

Great Blue Heron flying past Peoria.

Turkey Vulture soaring low over the marina.

Canada Geese and Goslings heading for water.

Killdeer leading me away from the babies at Spindler Marina.

Thursday, May 18, 2006

Green Heron on the wing at Chautauqua Lake. Scott and I had a great outing yesterday morning. We drove down to Spring Lake in Tazewell County to see if any baby swans were around. Yes there were! In stead of driving down the lake road, we took that gravel road behind the lake, between the slough and the new wetland they are creating, called Spring Lake Bottoms. It is a gorgeous place. Wildflowers made the northern part of it a sea of color. Farther south, it is wetter, and waterfowl were in abundance, including what we thought was a White Ibis (scroll down for a blurry photo taken from a long distance). I don't think it is an ibis now, probably another egret. At Chautauqua Wildlife Refuge, we saw even more waterfowl. Some of the photos are posted below. If I have misidentified anything, please let me know.

Green Heron hiding in the grass and Chautauqua Lake just below the dike on the south pool side. Scott saw too of them fly down there and disappear. I never could see them. They are so green! But one of them showed up in a couple of photos I took. Click on the photo to enlarge it and see the heron.

White-crowned Sparrow in the grass along the gravel road behind Spring Lake as we were heading to Chautauqua Lake.

Blue-winged Teal at Chautauqua Lake. This photo was taken from the observation platform at the Eagle Bluff access area.

Northern Shoveler. But what is that small bird in the grass?

Waterfowl from a great distance, using my 400 mm lens and my Cannon Digital Rebel. I think we have Northern Shovelers out there, with some Gadwalls and I don't know what else. I wish I had a scope!

Gadwalls?

Goose and Goslings, scurrying along the gravel road behind Larry's Restaurant as we headed towards Chatauqua Lake.

What we thought might be a White Ibis, along the edge of the marsh behind Spring Lake, about a half mile away. Click on the photo to enlarge. This is a small cropped area from a photo of the marsh. I have several more, you can see him from different angles as he moves around. After everyone reviewed the photos in photobucket, the conclusion is that it is probably not an Ibis.