Snow Geese at Emiquon!

Scott and I did our hawk run on Tuesday and then explored Emiquon for a while. It was marvelous, as always. There is something about the winter browns and golds of the wet prairie surrounding Lake Thompson that pleases my eye. I parked at one of the pull-offs and walked down to the lake to get a better look at the waterfowl congregating in an open pool. A small bird flew into tree in front of me. It was a Meadowlark! A sure sign of spring!


I attempted to get closer to the Meadowlark when an eagle flew over with a headless Coot in its talons. It dropped the Coot while I was photographing the scene.



Another eagle circled over the large flock of Greater White-fronted Geese before landing on the ice behind the flock.




Canvasback Ducks flew over and joined a mixed group of ducks in an open pool.


Another eagle flew over, and then another. As I looked around I realized there were about 7 eagles far out on the ice. Altogether there were 20 eagles flying over and around Lake Thompson.




Just as I was about to head back to the car I noticed a flock of white and black birds flying in a huge whirlwind of birds. This was the largest flock of Snow Geese I have ever seen. It looked like a million birds flying in and circling from one side of Thompson Lake to the other. They covered the horizon at one time, then they tightened their circle and dropped down from the sky.






Meanwhile, some American Coots came walking over the ice to the open pool near by.

Eagles along River Beach Drive

Last week Scott and I drove up to Chillicothe along River Beach Drive. We found 6 eagles, including a pair that may be the eagles nesting in Marshall County, at least I like to think so!




We also found some waterfowl, several groups of Goldeneyes and a few Common Mergansers.

Cooper Park On Ice

Cooper Park was under ice after a deep freeze when Scott and I visited on February 7, 2009.

Heron Park, Vermillion County

Scott had a meeting in Danville on Tuesday morning. After his meeting we drove to Heron Park to check out the heron rookery. The parking area was closed, and huge chunks of cement were stacked behind one of the gates. There was room to pull off the road in front of the gate. We parked and walked the boardwalk before checking out the rookery.


We saw four Turkey Vultures soaring in the air over the park and later over Danville. Although there were no Herons sitting on the nests, four Herons flew over while we were there.

Two Red-tailed Hawks were cruising the area.


Four Bald Eagles flew over while we walked the trail near the Heron rookery.



Thousands of Canada Geese were on the water, with more coming in the entire time we were at the park. The sound of their honking filled the air.

These two geese were in the little pond by the rookery.

Several Red-winged Blackbirds were trilling around the edges of the water.

January Raptor Survey: Eagle Migration Day

We did the Raptor Survey on the last day of January. Scott and I had done a survey earlier in the month, but my notebook with the data disappeared. We took the opportunity of beautiful sunny day on the last day of the month to repeat the survey. We must have hit the road on Eagle Migration Day, because we spotted 24 Bald Eagles, some juveniles, some adults, flying along the bluffs of the river just north of Banner Marsh. They were in groups of 3, 4, 4, and 8. All were too far for decent photographs, but we enjoyed watching them soar over the bluffs, some interacting with each other in the air before flying on their way.






Between Bartonville and where IL 78 splits from IL 24 and turns south towards Emiquon we only spotted 4 Red-tailed hawks. They apparently were all hiding down at Emiquon, where we found 10 Red-tailed hawks along with a couple of Northern Harriers, and three Rough-legged Hawks. Six of the Red-tailed and the three Rough-legged hawks were all along Clark road. Some were hunting out in the fields, some cruising along the bluff that runs along the west side of Clark Road. Two of the Rough-legged hawks were hovering in the strong breeze out over the prairie.