Friday, July 31, 2009

Driving the Levee at Emiquon

When you drive the levee at Emiquon (which requires special use permit and permission from TNC) you can see things you can only imagine from the other side of Lake Thompson.
EmiquonThompsonLeveeNorth06052009JGWard_MG_8518s

The Eagle nest is barely visible through the foliage. It is unoccupied this year. Maybe next year a pair of eagles will use it. It is in a perfect spot, near the river and the lake, and well hidden from view.
EagleNestEmiquon07252009JGWardIMG_6421

EagleNestEmiquon07292009JGWardIMG_6418

We found a nice variety of herons: Hundreds of Great Blue Heron and Great Egrets, of course, but also a couple of dozen Cattle Egrets, 8 or 9 Snowy Egrets, 4 Black-crowned Night-herons, 3 Green Herons, and one juvenile Little Blue Heron!

Snowy Egret:
SnowyEgret07252009JGWardIMG_6191

Cattle Egrets:
CattleEgretsEmiquon07252009JGWardIMG_5909

CattleEgretEmiquon07252009JGWardIMG_6100

CattleEgrets07252009JGWardIMG_6207

CattleEgretsFlightEmiquon07252009JGWardIMG_6995

Juvenile Little Blue Heron:
LittleBlueHeronJuvEmiquon07252009JGWardIMG_5950

LittleBlueHeronJuvEmiquon07252009JGWard1IMG_5945

Black-crowned Night Heron:
Black-crownedNight-HeronEmiquon07252009JGWardIMG_6792

Black-crownedNight-heronEmiquon07252009JGWardIMG_5985

Black-crownedNight-heronGreen-wingedTealEmiquon07252009JGWardIMG_5986

Black-crownedNight-heronEmiquon07252009JGWardIMG_5989

Juvenile Black-crowned Night-heron (they breed at Emiquon!):
GreenHeronEmiquon07252009JGWardIMG_6739

Green Heron:
GreenHeronEmiquon07252009JGWardIMG_6762

Great Egret with Snowy Egret (shows the size difference):
GreatSnowyEgretsEmiquon07252009JGWardIMG_6222

Great Blue Heron:
GreatBlueFlightEmiquon07292009JGWardIMG_6499

GreatBlueHeronEmiquon07252009JGWardIMG_5808

Cattle Egrets and Snowy Egrets congregated on the pump structure:
CattleSnowyEgretsEmiquon07252009JGWardIMG_6148

SnowyCattleEgretsEmiquon07252009JGWardIMG_6152

CattleEgretsEmiquon07252009JGWardIMG_6156

A Black-necked Stilt flew past the Snowy Egrets:
Black-neckedStiltEmiquon07252009JGWardIMG_6163

A Painted Turtle hid in the grass:
PaintedTurtleEmiquon07172009JGWardIMG_5110

A mother Wood Duck hurried her babies away.
WoodDuckDucklingsEmiquon07252009JGWardIMG_6008

WoodDuckDucklingsEmiquon07252009JGWardIMG_6014

Dragonflies and damselflies were everywhere. Along pumphouse road (what is left of it) we found more than 20 Common Green Darners, which are almost impossible to photograph, they are so fast and erratic in their flight, and hundreds of Halloween Pennants, as well as several dragonflies I'm still trying to identify.

HalloweePenantDragonflyEmiquon07252009JGWardIMG_6747

BlueGreenDamselflyEmiquonBoatLanding07172009IMG_5139

BlueDamselflyEmiquonBoatLanding07172009IMG_5142

BluetDamselflyEmiquon07252009JGWardIMG_5943

DragonflyEmiquon07252009JGWardIMG_5938

HalloweenPenantDragonflyEmiquon07252009JGWardIMG_5960

DragonflyEmiquon07252009JGWardIMG_6073

Turkey Vultures were circling low over the river and levee.
TVEmiquon07252009JGWardIMG_5743

TurkeyVultureEmiquon07252009JGWardIMG_5757

VultureRedwingEmiquon07292009JGWardIMG_6527

We had a great view of the Illinois River from the levee:
IllinoisRiverEmiquon07252009JGWardIMG_7075

RiverLeveeLakeEmiquon07252009JGWardIMG_7076

TugboartILRiverEmiquon07292009JGWardIMG_6563

A Caspian Tern was hunting near the boat launch:
CaspianTernBoatRampEmiquon07252009JGWardIMG_5606

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Eagle Nature Foundation 2010 Calendar



The Eagle Nature Foundation develops and implements habitat preservation strategies for endangered species, conducts nature education and awareness programs, conducts bald eagle research, preserves endangered species' habitats, and provides funds for monitoring efforts.


http://www.lulu.com/content/7460506

The Eagle Nature Foundation 2010 Calendar is available for purchase, a bargain at $18.00; profits benefit the foundation in their important work for Bald Eagle preservation.

http://www.eaglenature.com/

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