House Wren Hiding.

American Goldfinch.

Great Egret Flying.

Egret and sandpipers 1.

Egret and sandpipers 2.

Egret and sandpipers 3.

Great Egret with McCluggage Bridge in Background.

Heron and Ducks.

View from Spindler Marina.

Gull on a Lamp Post.

Starling on a Wire.

Jubilee College State Park

Cicada Killer Wasp dragging a cicada into it's hole. We found two of these killers on our walk at Jubilee College State Park, about 8 miles west of Peoria, Illinois.

Tiny Red Bolete in the sunshine.

Tiny Red Bolete. It did not bruise blue, so may be a good one. We found several, all about the same size, at Turkey Hollow up on the bluff.

Find a Quarter, Pick it up.

Sunflower growing along the driveway, under the bird feeders.

Jeweled Puffball with Shadow.

Cicada Killer Wasp, waiting for a cicada to fly by.

Agaricus with a little crab-shaped spider.

Agaricus. Not sure of the species. This genus includes the white moonlight mushrooms that we buy at the grocery. A lovely brown spore print. We only eat the ones we find at the store.

Another kind of amanita? It had a ring and a volva.

Amanita, not Russula. Look at the ring. I don't touch amanitas, so we didn't do a spore print.

Yellow flower in the sun. Look at that bug zooming in!

Banner Marsh, East Access Area, Peoria County, Illinois.

Great Blue Heron standing by the roadside at Banner Marsh. Photographed by Edward.

Great Blue Heron in flight.

Great Blue Heron reflections.

Dragonfly 1.

Dragonfly 2.

Orange Sulfur Butterfly.

Great Egret Chase 1.

Great Egret Chase 2.

Great Egret Chase 3.

Great Egret Chase 4.

Great Egret Chase 5.

Red-headed Woodpecker.

Red-headed Woodpecker eating a berry.

Bees on Thistle.

Mallard Family at Cooper Park

Mallard Duck family at Cooper Park on Sunday. One of the duckling stood up on the water and stretched his wings.

Mallard Family 2

and then settled back down among the ducklings.

Mallard Family 3

The ducklings followed mom a short distance.

Mallard Family 4

Mom turned and touched bills with one of the ducklings, then they all began feeding in a tight little group.

Monarch

Monarch Butterfly with open wings.

Woodpecker Back Flip

Woodpecker taking off upside down.

Cedar Waxwing

Cedar Waxwing posed briefly for me.

Tiger Swallowtail 1

Yellow Tiger Swallowtail.

Tiger Swallowtail 2

Yellow Tiger Swallowtail with open wings.

Catbird

Catbird waited patiently for us to leave his area. Is that nesting material in his bill?

Beaver 1

We spotted a baby beaver between the main damn and the den.

Beaver 2

He looked at me and then dove under.

Bumble Bee

Bumble Bee on Purple Loosestrife, an invasive plant that has established itself in the wetland.