Spring Bird Count: Woodford County SFWA

We found four Baltimore Orioles at Woodford on the Spring Bird Count. At one point there were three orioles in one tree.

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Originally uploaded by jward199

This raccoon was making his way down the slough until he spotted me and Scott. He looked at us for about a minute before plunging into the water, swimming across the slough and scurrying across the woods.

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Originally uploaded by jward199

Red-headed Woodpeckers

Three Red-headed Woodpeckers in the same snag at Woodford.

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Originally uploaded by jward199

Song Sparrow Singing

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Originally uploaded by jward199

Pileated Woodpecker at Woodford

A Pileated Woodpecker flew from one side of the trail to the other, so quick I just barely caught him before he disappeared in the trees on the other side of the slough.

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Originally uploaded by jward199

Green Heron at Woodford

This Green Heron kept flying 20 or 30 feet ahead of us as we walked the trail at Woodford SFWA last Saturday for the Spring Bird Count, giving us lots of time to watch and photograph him.

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Originally uploaded by jward199

Indigo Bunting singing at Woodford

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Originally uploaded by jward199

Woodford Flood Line

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Originally uploaded by jward199

Scott is showing how high the water was at the highest water stage. He is 6' 1", so you can see it was over 8 feet deep at one point!

Robert Allerton Park

Along the trail from the Last Centaur to the Sun Singer. The forest floor was carpeted with Blue Bells and Blue-eyed Mary, as far as you can see across the flood plain and up the bluff on the other side of the trail.

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Originally uploaded by jward199

Purple Trillium in a bed of Blue-eyed Mary.

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Originally uploaded by jward199

I found two Summer Tanagers at Allerton.

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Originally uploaded by jward199

Blue Bells carpeted the forest floor in blues and greens.

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Originally uploaded by jward199

Barred Owl at Allerton

I found two Barred Owls at Allerton. One along the Schroth Interpretive, and this one near the Lost Gardens, both on the East side of the Sangamon River.

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Originally uploaded by jward199

Catbirds were everywhere I went at Allerton on Monday morning.

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Originally uploaded by jward199

Three Eaglets!

There are three eaglets in the nest again this year. Apparently that is very uncommon; most eagles successfully raise one eaglet. These guys have had three eaglets two years in a row! Babb Slough off the Illinois River must have loads of fish (and ducks)!

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Originally uploaded by jward199