On Saturday the Birdfreak Team decided to drive around Winnebago County with a “hit list” of birds to photograph. Several interesting birds have been sighted in the recent weeks: Snowy Owl, Black-legged Kittiwake, Eurasian Tree Sparrow, etc. We had seen the Snowy Owl but with a brand new lens thought it would be fun to try for a better shot.
New toy: Canon 100-400mm IS USM lens
We struck out on finding the Snowy so headed to our next location to try and find some other owls. Sugar River Forest Preserve has been a successful place in the past for owls but again, nothing! We found some birds, but nothing photographable.
Our next target area was Rock Cut State Park in hopes of finding a Northern Shrike. Success!! (But not the best photo by any means – cursed overcast sky.)
Northern Shrike – always at the tops of trees and WAY away from the road
Next stop was the “big lake” (Pierce) which had a decent amount of open water and a large supply of Canada Geese and gulls. We found Herring and Ring-billed Gulls but our skill level on gull identification is terrible. Funny thing is, when we returned home we were informed a Lesser Black-backed Gull had been discovered a little while after we had left. Perhaps it wasn’t there when we were or we just completely overlooked it.
Herring Gulls (we think)
Another Herring Gull
Our next stop was the quarry by the Rockford-Chicago International Airport to try and find the Kittiwake. No such luck. But we discovered some Common Goldeneyes and two Bald Eagles. Next, we were off to the nearby dump which was nostril searing yet devoid of gulls. A juvenile Red-tailed Hawk perched on a nearby fence.
Red-tailed Hawk (juv.) looking un-Red-tailed like
Red-tailed Hawk in more traditional garb at a different locale
We finished the day in the southeast part of the county at a location where four counties meet: Boone, Ogle, DeKalb, and Winnebago. Around here we found an American Kestrel that after uploading to Flickr, became our 2,000th Photo!
American Kestrel – 2,000th Photo on Flickr
It was a fun way to spend a dreary winter morning.
Congrats on your new toy and your 2000th photo! Can’t wait to see what you capture here in 2008!
Oooh…Fancy lens! Looking forward to further photos. Enjoy. 🙂
Where do you get so wonderful toys?
….I got my first lifer of the year yesterday the White Winged Tanager, hes almost like the Scarlet but with little white bars on the wings
Glad you got a new lens. I thought many of the pictures you took before were really good. Have you received much from Dennis Anthony for URREP? Jack A
Monarch – I hope to get another thousand or more “good” photos this year!!
Lana – Thanks and so are we!!
Daniel – business has been good so I decided to splurge a little 🙂 – Sweet lifer!! All those tropical birds make me want to go down there soon!!
Jack – thanks… I hope to improve, especially come “warbler season”