This church was in Lee County in northern Illinois. I took this photo on the way home from the Bald Eagle Weekend at Starved Rock State Park.

Today, I went with my Mom and my Uncle Eddie to see a Spotted Towhee that was seen on a farm in nearby Ogle County, Illinois. When we got there we met the owners who were super nice. They are nature lovers and had lots of neat deer photos to show us.

Spotted Towhee - Photo by Birdfreak

We immediately saw the Spotted Towhee inside of a barn. He bounced around on the hay bales and flew around the rafters. He looked healthy and happy.

Eddie took a lot of photos, but I did not take any this time. It was exciting to see a new bird in the middle of January, and this is my second lifer this year! My other lifer was a Thayer’s Gull.

Spotted Towhee - Photo by Birdfreak

Yesterday, we went to work at the NCIOS Bird Club’s booth at the Starved Rock Eagle Days event sponsored by the Illinois Audubon Society. On our way there we saw six Red-tailed Hawks perched along the highway. It was sunny but very cold.

Me and the Wandering Bald Eagle - Photo by Birdfreak

When we got there we set up. Barbara Williams of the bird club (who is a taxidermist) was getting ready to mount an adult Red-tailed Hawk that had been found dead in a field. I helped explain to visitors part of the display that had a Red-tailed Hawk wing and foot and a Great Horned Owl wing and foot. It was fun to describe these parts to people especially seeing their surprise at the sharpness of their talons.

I watched Barbara skin the body of the bird and how she stuffed it. Halfway through watching, I felt nauseous and unfortunately that was it for me. I decided to hang out with this cool herpetologist that was there for a bit until I felt better. I got to hold a Ball Python and a giant cockroach. The cockroach was actually hissing at me and tried to crawl up my shirt.

Barb Williams handling the big crowd - photo by Birdfreak

I did get to see the raptor show done by the World Bird Sanctuary. They brought a Harris’s Hawk named Sheldon, a Bald Eagle called Patriot, a Barn Owl named Goblin, a Bateleur (from Africa!) and a lot more cool raptors.

The event was extra exciting because I was more than just a visitor. I got to meet a lot of cool people and learned a lot of new information about birds. I can’t wait to help out at another event like this.

Great Horned Owl and Red-tailed Hawk Foot - Photo by Birdfreak

Today I went on a field trip with my birding club to Starved Rock State Park to search for gulls and Bald Eagles on the Illinois River.

Once we got there we went up to the lock by the dam on this balcony overlooking the river. It was really windy but not as cold as yesterday’s below zero temperatures. There were tons of Herring Gulls and Bald Eagles. There were tons of different plumages of juvenile Bald Eagles. There were also a lot of Common Mergansers, a few Common Goldeneyes, one Redhead, a Red-breasted Merganser and some Canada Geese.

One of the trip leaders from my bird club Dan Williams spotted a Thayers Gull and I hurried to get a look. This was a life bird for me! I was very excited to finally see one.

We also watched a barge come into the lock. It was pushing and breaking ice to get in and as it was coming in gulls and eagles were swooping around catching and grabbing fish. It was really cool.

Although it was pretty cold, I was so glad that I went on the field trip.

One of the many Bald Eagles we saw - Photo by Birdfreak

I woke up this morning and it was -14 degrees outside! Then I found out school was canceled. The high today is -2 and tonight it will be -18. This gives me a FIVE DAY WEEKEND!

But not so lucky for the birds. Birds have many ways to keep warm in this kind of weather. They fluff up their feathers and their feet don’t feel the cold as much. Sometimes they will tuck one foot under to keep warm.

They also keep up a high metabolic rate. They eat lots of energy foods like seeds and suet. Birds can sometimes freeze to death though which is sad.

Keep warm everyone. I hope it warms up for the Saturday birding trip I am supposed to go on to see Bald Eagles!

Lapland Longspur and Horned Lark - Photo by Birdfreak

Happy New Year everyone!

I got up at seven thirty when my uncle called me to his window to take a look at the backyard thistle feeders. I looked out and saw Pine Siskins mixed with American Goldfinches. Since I saw the Pine Siskin first, that is my bird for the year of 2009.

…and then I went back to bed.

Pine Siskin and American Goldfinch - by Birdfreak

Happy Skywatch Friday!

I took this photo back in September. I love how blue the sky was that day.

Tuesday is not Friday, I know, but I forgot to post this last week.

So here is my Skywatch Friday post. I haven’t been able to take many photos lately. School is busy and there has been a lot of snow. Happy Skywatch!

Is it a hawk? an eagle? or a really cool illusion?