Nelson Lake nature walk with Graci

On our last day in Illinois our granddaughter Graciela finally had time to get out on a bird walk. Between school and volleyball practice and games (and homework) there never had been enough time and she was getting desperate. We visited Nelson Lake/Dick Young Marsh in Batavia, beginning at 9:00 AM. I brought along recordings of some common birds, hoping to enhance her experience. She wanted me to try and photograph all of her sightings, including bugs and flowers, and even a dead Northern Short-tailed Shrew! I followed her orders. Later she e-mailed me her commentary (italicized here) to accompany the photos. When Graci reads this post she will also learn the answer to a puzzle she inspired me to solve!

"Hunting Princess:"



Entrance Sign:



 Graciela writes:

The last day Granma and Grampa were here (before heading back to Florida) I requested a bird walk. My sister had a volleyball game, but I wasn’t really interested in going. I requested the place where we saw the Bobolink. Granma wanted to see Cari play, so it was just me and Grampa. Before setting out on the walk, we made a quick pit stop and checked a trail map. After confirming the trail, we began to walk.
 
Prairie Pothole:



Northern Harrier male "Gray Ghost":



At first, we didn’t see many birds, but we did see other things. I spotted a moth crawling on the ground. Curious, I looked closer. I realized, with amazement, it was being dragged by an ant! I called back Gramps, who had gone farther up the trail, to come look at what I found. He was amazed and told me that I had a good eye.

Watching an ant carry a moth:





Monarch butterfly:



We continued to walk, the sun beating down on us the entire time. We passed by a side trail, and I noticed a bird flutter down the trail. Grampa saw it too. He set up his camera and got ready. When the bird didn’t move, I began to cautiously move down the trail. Gramps followed, and suddenly, the bird popped out of hiding and went into a nearby tree.

American Goldfinch:



Swamp Sparrow:



Palm Warbler:



Tennessee Warbler:




After getting some good shots along the way, we decided to head farther down the trail, into the woods.

Canada Geese:




 
Pearl Crescent butterfly:



Common Buckeye butterfly:



Orange Sulphur butterfly:




In the woods, I saw a frog hop across our path. We heard sandhill cranes calling, downy and hairy woodpeckers chattering and drilling, black-capped chickadees singing, as well as other bird calls.
 
Downy Woodpecker:



Red-bellied Woodpecker:





Black-capped Chickadee:

 

We called in the famous upside-down bird, who, I’m telling the truth, literally landed on a branch right above Grampa’s head! My eyes went wide and I pointed at the bird. Gramps turned around, sadly scaring the bird. Excited, he got out his camera, but the bird decided to have some fun. It flew back and forth, sometimes hiding in the leaves. Eventually, it got bored, so it then landed upside-down on a nearby trunk, going in circles up and down. While the bird was doing that, we managed some pictures.

Looking for the nuthatch:



White-breasted Nuthatch:







We continued on our way, meeting a family and their dog. After a conversation, we went our separate ways. Me and Gramps came across a tree, which housed some northern flickers. We successfully called in those, complete with photos.

Northern Flicker:

 

Shadow Darner:



New England Aster:



There was also a morning glory, which lives up to its name.

Morning Glory growing through the fence :



Flying Grasshopper:



We continued following the path, then followed another path that went to the main trail. I noticed something…. odd. I leaned close to inspect it, and freaked out. It was something dead. Grampa said it was like a field mouse, but not the first he’s seen. Apparently, something was killing them, but what? It couldn’t be an owl. It could be a cat. Perhaps, a disease?
 
[Ken here-- Over the years I have encountered several dead shrews along the paths at Nelson Lake. It was a mystery to me why they had not been consumed by predators or scavengers. They must have been killed and left there in plain sight, but why? Graci took this on as a puzzle which needed to be solved. I haven't told her yet but... Happy to say, I think I found the key to the mystery, thanks to Wikipedia. The shrews have scent glands which repel many predators and they may simply refuse to eat them! From Wikipedia-- "It is notable in that it is one of the few venomous mammals... Three well-developed scent glands are present, one on each side of the animal and one placed ventrally; the scent may be used for marking territories, though the shrew's sense of smell is thought to be poor... The saliva of the northern short-tailed shrew contains a kallikrein-like protease, used to paralyze and subdue its prey... The toxin is strong enough to kill small animals, up to sizes somewhat larger than the shrew itself, and results in painful bites to humans who attempt to handle the shrew... This shrew is consumed by many predators: trout, snakes, raptors, canids, cats, mustelids, skunks, raccoons, and opossums, though mammalian carnivores appear to be deterred by the musky odor produced by the shrew's scent glands." ]

Northern Short-tailed Shrew:



We reached the main trail, and headed back to the car. There was still some time before Cari’s game was over. I asked if we could go to the bridge, and so we did. When I opened my door, I noticed a millipede. Grampa got some good pics. Being careful not to squish it, I climbed out.
  
Millipede in parking lot, east side of Nelson Lake:



We met up with the same family, and the father said there was a pigeon in the crumbling silo. He wasn’t kidding. There was a pigeon in there! Because of the light reflecting off the grate, Grampa had trouble getting a good view.

Rock Pigeon behind protective grating at base of old silo:




View from Audubon Bridge at Nelson Lake:

 

Interesting clouds over the perimeter path:

 

Silo at Nelson Lake east side:


 

At the bridge, there was nothing of interest there. A few crows and a blue jay were all that could be heard. Disappointed, we went back to the car. We then went to get gas and swap places as mom was just starting to drive back from the game-- me, heading to my mom’s car, and Granma, heading to join Grampa in the Caddie. Cari’s team won!

 "Secrets of the Soils:"







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Linking to Misty's  CAMERA CRITTERS,

Linking to Eileen's SATURDAY'S CRITTERS,

Linking to GOOD FENCES by Tex (Theresa). 

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 I Heart Macro by Laura

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

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Bird Hike with Grandparents (Guest Blog)

Graciela, our 11 year old granddaughter wanted to contribute to my blog before we returned home to Florida from Illinois and asked me put up some photos to illustrate her observations. She is becoming an old hand at this, having posted here in the past.  Among her contributions have been a humorous description of my encounter with a hawk, visiting a Bald Eagle nest, using grocery bags as birding boots, a Grand Canyon adventure, and  watching wildlife in Florida.

Graci has had an eye for nature since she was very young--

At Disney World when she was two years of age she spoiled a family photo op when a gull flew over. (Guess who else looked up?)

 During a visit to the zoo she noticed a sparrow in the tree above:

At four years of age, she loved to find fossils along the shore of our lake in Florida...



...and watched the Bald Eagle nest:

 

Graci enjoyed nature walks with her little sister and their huge Tibetan Mastiff:




Graciela writes--

Several times I tried to set up a bird walk with my grandparents but the first couple of times it rained. They did take me out to Bliss Woods but the mosquitoes almost ate us alive!

Grandma with me on the bridge over Blackberry Creek in Bliss Woods:



We heard this House Wren singing very loudly:



A phoebe was catching mosquitoes and I saw it carry food to a nest under the picnic shelter. Gramps couldn't find it at first in the dark but it flicked its tail:



I could not see the whole nest, behind the post:



When it stopped raining we planned to walk at Nelson Lake, particularly to try to see a Bobolink. On the way I asked Grandpa to stop off at a neighborhood park because I had found a nest and did not know what type of bird it belonged to. The nest looked like a Chimney Swift's nest but it was made of mud stuck to one of the metal support posts under the edge of the roof of the pavilion. I did see the bird but did not know what kind it was. It had a blue back, cinnamon color on its throat and a dark line like a collar. Grandpa said it sounded like a Barn Swallow and sure enough it  it was.

If the video does not launch in the space below, try this link.

While we watched the nest an adult bird flew in and seemed to be feeding one or more tiny babies. We were not able to see them, but after getting a few photos and a video we moved on to Nelson Lake.

 

It was cloudy and pretty cool for July:

 

We began hiking the trail and we saw lots of birds, mostly Red-winged Blackbirds. There was a large picnic shelter and I went under it to see if I could spot any bird nests. I found three nests, one with a robin sitting in it.



We saw some precious baby swallows on the roof of the shelter, but inside there were no swallow nests. I saw some places where there may have been swallow nests but they looked like they had been knocked down, hopefully not on purpose.

 

The tiny swallows looked right into the camera when Grandpa took their picture. They were so adorable!



As we walked along the path I mostly heard Red-winged-Blackbirds and Song Sparrows:



 

Then I heard the Common Yellowthroat singing "wichity-wichity-wichity." 



After Grandpa spotted the yellowthroat and pointed it out to me I said it was very cute with its little black mask. He had to wear a coat but I live in Illinois and am used to the cold weather.





There were many milkweed plants with flowers, Black-eyed Susan and sunflowers. We saw some Cedar Waxwings among the Queen Anne's Lace.




 
The meadowlark was whistling "Spring of the year."



At first we could find no Bobolinks until Grandpa saw a female, which flew by really fast. Then I spotted a male down close to the ground. It kept moving but down low where I could not see over the grass. Gramps could not get a picture of it, but a Dickcissel suddenly hopped up on a flower right next to the path. I didn't know how beautiful it was until I saw it on the computer:



The good thing was that there were no mosquitoes!

Two days later we went over to check the Barn Swallow's nest again. This time we could see FOUR baby birds!





 

Ten days after Graci found the nest, on July 15, 2015, there were FIVE hungry nestlings! (Click here if video fails to load in the space below):

 


Well, here is Grandfather back again, to add some sky and reflection shots from our Canada Rockies rail trip. This is Lake Louise, Alberta on a very calm morning...



...and this is an oil painting effect on a photo of Bow River just above the falls at Banff, Alberta (click to view full size image in FLICKR):

 

Thank you, Graciela, for giving me the week off!
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Linking to Misty's  CAMERA CRITTERS,

Linking to Eileen's SATURDAY'S CRITTERS,

Linking to GOOD FENCES by Tex (Theresa). 

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 I Heart Macro by Laura

________________________________________________

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