Peoria Skyline through the Haze. The haze was so thick you could hardly see the buildings.

Burhead.

American Goldfinch. The plants were covered with aphids and the Goldfinches and Ladybugs were busy feasting.

Female Hummingbird.

Viceroy Butterfly. Busy pretending to be a Monarch so the birds won't eat him.

Bell's Landing at Banner Marsh

House Sparrow at Banner Marsh. We drove through Bell's Landing at Banner Marsh on Tuesday morning. Many Great Egrets and Great Blue Herons, Canada Geese, and Mute Swans were present.

House Sparrow.

Great Blue Heron.

Turtles on a Log.

Great Egret Peeking at Me.

Great Egret in the Marsh Grass.

Great Egret Hunting.

Great Egret with Foot Raised.

Sparrow gathering nesting material in late August.

Caspian Terns and Forster Tern.

Caspian Terns, Canada Geese, and a Swan.

Geese Flying Over.

Great Egret on a Stick.

Great Egret and Dragonfly

Great Egret with Foot

Images from Cooper Park and Springdale Savanna

Compass Plant in the savanna at Springdale Cemetery.

Bottle Brush Grass.

Red-tailed Hawk and Goldfinch sitting in an Oak tree in the savanna at Springdale Cemetery.

Red-tailed Hawk and Goldfinch.

Red-eyed Vireo. Cooper Park was quiet this morning without the Red-winged Blackbirds. But we could hear some birds high up in the canopy and finally spotted this Verio after being distracted by a very active Robin.

American Robin.

Female Hummingbird.

Catbird.

Female Goldfinch. Several Goldfinches were cleaning these plants of aphids. The Ladybugs had the same idea. There were lots of them.

American Goldfinch.

Belted Kingfisher.

Lady Bugs copulating.

Woodford State Fish & Wildlife Area

View of Hamm's Dockside Marina from Woodford State Fish & Wildlife Area. On Sunday Scott and I drove over to Woodford County to see if we could see the pelicans any closer from the East side of the river. Of course, this time the pelicans were all on the West side, too far away to count. We were rewarded with a pair of Eastern Bluebirds, two Red-headed Woodpeckers, an Eastern Phoebe, and numerous egrets out on the shallow water.

Lacon Bridge and some Blind Builders.

Pink Flowers.

Eastern Phoebe.

Cypress Garden at Woodford State Fish & Wildlife Area.

Egrets, Gulls, and Pelicans, lined up in front of a barge.

Black Swallowtail Butterfly.

Viceroy Butterfly.

Hamm's Marina in Chillicothe, Illinois

Dockside Restaurant at Hamm's Marina, just south of Chillicothe on the Illinois River.

More than two hundred American Pelicans were congregated on the mudflats across the river from marina.

A Great Egret was fishing off the dredged beach. The beach is composed of the dredged matrial, including lots of plastic and nylon bits that had been heading to the Gulf of Mexico before becoming part of this beach.

Pelican coming in for a landing.

American Pelicans on a log.

Egret Fishing 1.

Egret Fishing 2.

Egret Fishing 3.

Egret Fishing 4.

Chipmunk at Forest Park.