Thursday, January 01, 2009

Allerton on New Years Day

On New Years Day I drove over to Allerton Park near Monticello. The sun was supposed to come out in the afternoon, and it tried, but it never made it.

On the way, I crossed Clinton Lake. Some Mallard Ducks were out on the ice. Steam was coming off the water because the water is warmer than the air.
ClintonLake01012009JGWardIMG_8740

ClintonLake01012009JGWardIMG_8742

At Allerton, I walked down the trail leading to the Death of the Last Centaur statue.
DeathCentaurAllerton01012009JGWardIMG_8744
It was flooded on the other side of the statue area. The Sangamon River was way out of its banks.
FloodPlainAllerton01012009JGWardIMG_8751
Ice crystals formed patterns along the banks of one of the streams leading to the river.
IceCrystalsAllerton01012009JGWardIMG_8778
I found a spot of color among the browns, blacks, and whites of winter.
AllertonBerries01012009JGWardIMG_9903

After leaving Allerton, I went by Riverbend to watch the geese. There were thousands of geese flying every which way, with a large gaggle out on the ice.
GeeseRiverbend01012009JGWardIMG_8862
Riverbend01012009JGWardIMG_8889

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Emiquon in Late December

I visited Emiquon on December 28 with my friend Ed. We found two Northern Harriers working the wet prairie by Thompson Lake.
NorthernHarrierEmiquon12282008JGWardIMG_7625
NorthernHarrierEmiquon12282008JGWardIMG_7627
NorthernHarrierEmiquon12282008JGWardcrIMG_7631

Sister Creeks Farm is visible miles away from the tranquil lake.
SisterCreeksFarmEmiquon12282008JGWardIMG_7508

A Red-tailed Hawk posed briefly before flying away:
Red-tailedHawkEmiquon12282008JGWardIMG_7704

A juvenile Bald Eagle sat in a tree along Dixon Mounds Road:
IMG_8896

Scott and I went back on December 30 and found thousands of geese, mostly Canada, but with a mix of several hundred White-fronted geese and a thousand or so Snow Geese! What fun!
CanadaGeeseEmiquon12302008JGWardIMG_9258
GreaterWhite-frontedGeeseEmiquon12302008JGWardIMG_9108
CanadaGeeseEmiquon12302008JGWardIMG_9483
SnowGeeseEmiquon12302008JGWardIMG_9523
SnowGeeseEmiquon12302008JGWardIMG_9579
SnowGeeseEmiquon12302008JGWardIMG_9728

A Red-tailed Hawk cruised along the levee:
Red-tailedHawkEmiquon12302008JGWardIMG_9665
Red-tailedHawkEmiquon12302008JGWardIMG_9690

On the way home,what we think were three Trumpeter Swans were in a corn field just south of Duck Creek Road:
SwanDuckCreekRd12302008JGWardIMG_9769
SwanDuckCreekRd12302008JGWardIMG_9783