To round out the 3-day weekend, we spent a bit of time at a favorite local birdspot, Rock Cut State Park. Birds were EVERYWHERE, but picking them out of the dense leaves proved tricky, especially with thousands of mosquitoes biting away.
Photography was also difficult, considering every time the camera went up, a new welt was made on my hands. Some of the mosquitoes were trying to give me a face tattoo.
However, the bird of the day was a wonderful White-eyed Vireo that despite hiding in the thick brush, managed to give me a stare with his white eye.
There were high quantities of Cedar Waxwings grouping together and suddenly the whole group flew away. The reason was this Cooper’s Hawk:
Rock Cut provides one of the finest migratory stopovers in northern Illinois because of its wonderfully varied habitats. Unfortunately, there has been a lot of recent development close to the park, destroying the buffer zone and connection to a much smaller, yet important forest preserve. Time will tell on the effects of this un-ecofriendly development on the wonderful birding.
Migration is in full swing at the Callaway Nature Preserve. We’ve had several American Redstarts and Ruby-throated Hummingbirds foraging for food as well as a Bay-breasted Warbler. A couple Swainson’s Thrushes timidly bathed in our ground baths and Cedar Waxwings are everywhere. Each day brings new birds, proving once again that if you provide habitat, the birds will come.
What a cool Cooper’s Hawk photo!-I never get those type of flight photos-time for a new camer-or maybe a new photographer!
This hawk perched in a tree and I anticipated him flying. So I just pointed the camera and waited. He stuck out his tail and took off. Luckily, he flew towards us so was actually closer. I would have never got him if I wasn’t anticipating him flying.