I’m not talking to you
We saw these Eastern Bluebirds at Rollins Savanna last Sunday. The male had just been pestered by a Tree Swallow when the female flew in. They didn’t look happy to see each other.
We saw these Eastern Bluebirds at Rollins Savanna last Sunday. The male had just been pestered by a Tree Swallow when the female flew in. They didn’t look happy to see each other.
Mom & dad Canada Goose have to keep nine little ones in line. Seen in late April on the grounds of the Lake County Discovery Museum.
On Sunday we went out again with Lake-Cook Audubon, this time to an outing at McHenry Dam, which is part of Moraine Hills State Park in McHenry County. We took the Fox River trail which passes through meadow, marsh, wetland and forest habitat.
There are even two observation decks, including this one that almost looks like a blind!
Arthur and I noted 37 observed species, with six lifers! Arthur also recently started using Birdstack (I started a while back but never finished) to record all bird species we have observed. Our ‘actual’ life list is now at 442 species total.
On one part of the trail, we observed a Common Yellowthroat, one of our six lifers on the outing.
The next 8 or 10 birds we saw were Yellowthroats, but each time we saw the movement of a bird in the bushes, we looked hopefully through our bins, looking for a new species. But they were all Yellowthroats. Well, they are Common – it’s true!
We also ran back to see this lifer Orchard Oriole that a few stragglers in our group found in a tree.
Besides birds we also saw lots of turtles, a rather large muskrat, and this huge bullfrog.
Another great outing with Lake-Cook Audubon!
Here are some of the more interesting search terms that brought visitors to this site during May. You can see previous editions of this monthly post here.
Searches for Magnificent Frigatebird-related information continue to bring visitors. Last month people searched for frigatebird bible, frigate birds natural enemies, magnificent frigate bird for children, frigate bird food chain, and how does a magnificent frigate reproduce? (what are the options for birds?).
Interesting and funny typos for the month include hummbird food, alalbama birdhouse, pigeon fancers, magnificient riffle bird, bird watching supplys, birders termanology, outdoor wildlife bird suppyies, and my favorite, sworowski monoculr.
I noticed a lot of searches for birdhouses and birdfeeders last month. Some of the search terms sound pretty funny to me, but most of them were for houses or feeders that are actually available for purchase, like these: bird house airstream; hummsicle; pirate birdhouse; and diving cat bird bath.
My favorite funny search terms for May were do loons breed in illinois? (a question I had myself a couple of months ago), rectangle scope (ouch!), passerine turkey, and quiet birding clothing.
Last week I was wondering if we’d ever cycle to our favorite local preserve, Rollins Savanna. Well, the weather was perfect on Saturday so we went for it! There was a bit more mud than expected, but there was also a lot more bike path than we dreamed of, so the trip was a big success!
I wrote about it on our personal blog – go check it out!