Indigo Bunting.

Gray Catbird.

Scarlet Tanager briefly visible among the leaves.

American Redstart hiding in the trees.

American Robin Nest at Cooper Park in East Peoria. The pink fuzz inside the front of the nest is one of the babies. We got to see one of them raise their head, mouth open, for a second before they went back into hiding against the side of the nest.

American Robin guarding her nest.

Female Red-winged Blackbird, guarding her nest.

Song Sparrow Singing.

Blue-winged Teal raises his head for a moment.

Blue-winged Teal.

Least Sandpiper working an island in the beaver pond.

The resident beaver swimming towards the den.

Canadian Geese: Mom and six babies.

Six Goslings enter the water after their parents.

Canada Geese leading their goslings to the water.

Eleven Goslings with their parents and one extra goose.

Canada Geese and Goslings out for a swim.

A tulip growing in my front yard.

A lovely orange bracket fungus in the sunlight.

Dryad's Saddle.

A feather in the Garlic Mustard.

Turkey Vulture feather among the Garlic Mustard, leaning against an Elm tree in one of the wooded areas at Jubilee.

Eastern Phoebe singing at Jubilee State Park on Sunday. He sang and sang and sang. We went out hunting mushrooms for an hour or so and when I came back towards the parking lot, there he was, still singing.

White-crowned Sparrow. There were 6 - 8 White-crowned Sparrows at Funk's Grove on Saturday. We spotted several in the field, and 6 or so at the Nature Preserve Center where we watched them through a one-way window.

Red-bellied Woodpecker 1. We watched a woopecker through a one way window at Funk's Grove Nature Preserve on Saturday morning.

Red-bellied Woodpecker 2.

Red-bellied Woodpecker.

Mommy Robin telling me to go away from her nesting site!!!!

Mommy Robin flew away a few feet and scolded me when i stopped to take her picture on her nest.

Robin Nest. I can't see any babies or eggs, but the mom was sure angry with me for stopping to photograph it.

American Goldfinch.

House Wren singing.

House Wren singing on his house.

Brown Thrasher.

Great Egret stalking.

Great Blue Heron imitating a stump on a log.

Mute Swan nesting on an island with a Goose. What is the goose doing there? Another island at Banner Marsh has a swan nesting and a goose. How weird!

Another view of the unknown sparrow.

What kind of Sparrow is this? It looks like a Field Sparrow or a female house sparrow to me.

Banner Marsh, East Access, Peoria County

Great Blue Heron at Banner Marsh. Banner Marsh is a great place to bird from your car. We drove down the gravel road towards the dike and walked out to the duck blind, where we found some geese and a Baltimore Oriole. Later we got back in the car and drove down to the boat launch. Along the way we spotted a Great Blue Heron hunting close to the road. We stopped and got out and I was able to get some great photos of this magnificent bird. Here is a link to the path we drove:
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=350203

Great Blue Heron 2.

Great Blue Heron 1.

Great Egret.

Great Blue Heron stalking its prey.

Baltimore Oriole.

Great Blue Herons flying overhead.

Unknown sparrow or finch.

Morels are Back!!!

Morchella elata (Grey Morel). Morels are in season. The park where we hunt for them was packed with people out looking for the tasty fungus. This tiny morel was overlooked by the previous mushroom hunters that passed through the woods.

Gyromitra esculenta (False Morel). Don't eat this one!

Verpa conica. Don't eat this one either. They will make you feel sick.