Killdeerat Cooper

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Originally uploaded by jward199

Fishing on the Illinois

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Originally uploaded by jward199

Swamp Iris at Cooper Park

The irises are in bloom.

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Originally uploaded by jward199

Tree Swallows Nesting

Tree swallows are nesting in a hollow tree close to the boardwalk.

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Originally uploaded by jward199

Prothonatory Warbler at Cooper Park

A Prothonatory Warbler was flitting around in the canopy over the boardwalk at Cooper Park last week.

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Originally uploaded by jward199

Tree Swallow at Cooper Park

This little guy was singing on territory on a branch of the tree where his mate was sitting a nest in the hollow tree. What an interesting little song! and how wonderful to have a close up view of his throat warbling in song.

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Originally uploaded by jward199

Maidenhair Ferns Cover the Forest Floor

At Jubilee, down by the creeks, Maidenhair Ferns are lush and green.

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Originally uploaded by jward199

Apple Blossoms in Bloom

Jubilee was alive with birds and flowers last weekend.

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Originally uploaded by jward199

Geese and Goslings Splashing

Two Geese with fifteen goslings were swimming and splashing in one of the back ponds at Banner Marsh. They guided the goslings to an island, where they briefly climbed up onto it before continuing their swim. Two other adult geese were near by but not paying any attention to the fifteen goslings.




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Originally uploaded by jward199

Snake at Banner Marsh

A snake swam across the slough at Banner Marsh last weekend.



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Originally uploaded by jward199

Red-headed Woodpeckers Nesting at Banner Marsh

A Red-headed Woodpecker was tending a nest in a hollow tree at Banner Marsh. He was at the top hole first, then came back and attended the lower hole, before disappearing inside.


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Originally uploaded by jward199

Feeding Time for Eaglets

Dad came in with a fish and Mom looked at it like "Is that all you could come up with?" She soon left and then came back for a brief stop (sans fish) before going out again. She circled around over the nest once or twice and then flew off to hunt, leaving Dad to share the fish with the hungry eaglets. He made sure all three were fed, even though the oldest, in front dominated the group.

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Originally uploaded by jward199

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Originally uploaded by jward199

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