Birding in a pocket park

Jones Meadow Park is located only a few blocks away from our second home in NE Illinois. It is surrounded by development but is a quiet oasis with remarkably varied habitats, including manicured lawns with ornamental shrubbery, woodlands, a pond, wet meadows and marshes. 

This is one of my favorite photos of the area, taken in June of last year:



A paved pathway winds around the south and western edges of the wetlands, and a grassy berm separates the pond from the marsh. 

It was my first stop, on the morning after we flew in from Florida. In this view near the entrance (taken a few days later), the berm occupies the opposite shore:



The marsh had flooded up over the pathway, and attracted an American Robin in search of drowning worms:



A House Finch sang from the top of a little tree:



Another House Finch was joined by an (out-of-focus) Yellow-rumped Warbler in a small shrub:



Song Sparrows were abundant:



A female Eastern Bluebird perched near the path:



A male Mallard paddled in the pond:



Migrating Canada Geese flew overhead, as did three Sandhill Cranes, calling loudly:



It was cold and drizzling with the threat of heavier storms, so I hurried up and along the berm with one objective in mind. I wanted to see two species of rails, the Sora and Virginia Rail.

In my haste I almost overlooked a Green heron among the dried reeds:



Marsh birds tend to be secretive, and they take advantage of the abundant vegetation. This Swamp Sparrow was barely visible through the dried cattails:



As I walked along the berm I heard a Sora calling, but only caught a glimpse of the reclusive creature:





However, to my surprise, a Virginia Rail appeared at the edge of the cattails:



It briefly walked out into the open. I found it almost impossible to focus the camera because of intervening high grasses and reeds. This was the best image out of my dozen or more attempts:



A second Virginia Rail called from a grassy patch at the edge of the berm:



The rain picked up and I returned to the car. That might have been the end of this story, but Mary Lou and I returned 5 days later on a much nicer morning and did get better views and photos of the rail:






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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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