Crops & Clips: Birding Bliss (Woods)

After wintering at our permanent home in Florida, we flew to Illinois at the end of April. Our first foray was to Bliss Woods Forest Preserve in Sugar Grove, about a 5 mile drive from our second home. We were scheduled to participate in a spring bird count the next weekend, so it seemed to be a good idea to check out the area. Winds had been from the north for almost a week when we arrived (and continued so for the next week), discouraging migration. 

This is the bridge over Blackberry Creek, undergoing repair when I took this photo last October:







A male Eastern Bluebird welcomed us:





It was cold and windy, so we did not stay very long. However a male Yellow Warbler watched us as we walked along the path:



It came out into the open:



The gray sky provided a nice background for this photo:



A tiny House Wren scurried along a branch:



A male Northern Flicker seemed proud of his mustache:



The bluebird bade us farewell from the roof of the pavilion:

 

We returned under more favorable skies. This male Rose-breasted Grosbeak sang from overhead:



The female grosbeak was more subdued but nonethless beautiful:



A Red-tailed Hawk sailed above:



Road construction impeded our next visit to Bliss Woods, so we entered Hannaford Woods, part of the same Kane County Forest Preserve. A photogenic barn is sited across the road from the parking lot:



A couple of years ago I obtained a different perspective, and rendered the photo as an oil painting (click on photo to enlarge):



Resident birds at Hannaford included this White-breasted Nuthatch, inspecting its nest hole:





The highlight of our walk was this pair of Red-headed Woodpeckers. A wind storm had just broken off the top of their nest tree. Luckily their hole was just below the break:







I found no other respectable reflections for my meme, so I include this one from back in Florida, of a fisherman who was out of sight across a canal near the heron rookery:





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Linking to Misty's  CAMERA CRITTERS,

Linking to Eileen's SATURDAY'S CRITTERS,

Linking to FENCES AROUND THE WORLD by Gosia

Linking to SKYWATCH FRIDAY by Yogi, Sylvia and Sandy

Linking to WEEKEND REFLECTIONS by James

Linking to BirdD'Pot by Anni

Linking to Wild Bird Wednesday by Stewart

Linking to Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday) by NC Sue

Linking to ALL SEASONS by Jesh

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Please visit the links to all these memes to see some excellent photos on display

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