Another Pine Squirrel

Before this Spring, I had never seen a Pine Squirrel. Now that I have, it seems I see them quite frequently, but of course, I am looking for them...This one caught my eye as I was observing some Blue Jays. It still shocks me to see just how little they actually are. When I took a few shots, I noticed a weird whiteness to one of his eyes. It looks as if it has a cataract, although when blown up, it seems to be on the outside of the lens. Weird!?! Hope it can see properly...

Gray Catbird

I really liked the fine detail on the feathers of this Catbird.

Note: I set a goal of blogging every day for a month and this is my 31st post. Mission Accomplished! I don't know if I could capture enough fresh images for blogging in any other month than in May. It was a great month for nature photography.

Assorted Warblers

All of these warblers were found in the same location for a pretty good representation of the species in one concentration:


Nashville Warbler





Palm Warbler





Pine Warbler





Wilson's Warbler






Black & White Warbler





Female Blue-winged Warbler





Female Yellow-breasted Chat






According to Richard, this is a Warbling Vireo!-Thanks Richard!!!!!!





Magnolia Warbler

Bullfrog Eye

I thought this picture was cool because you can see me in a squat position behind the decking in his eye reflection, and his fleckily (is that a word?) gold eye is so vibrant.

Gasp!!!!!!! Scarlet Tanagers!

Back story: I haven't seen a Scarlet Tanager in 5 years, and that anomaly was my first EVER---EVER ! So...Fastforward to present: I totally freaked out when I saw this Scarlet Tanager sitting on a cable that bordered the road inside Kankakee State Park on Sunday. Truth be told, there were 2 perched, when I first saw them as I drove right past. [Insert gasp here!] Needless to say, right time, right place! Now...the predicament is, what to do about getting these guys on film without scaring them...Hmmm....I backed up very slowly, hugged the other side of the pavement as much as I could and had my co-pilot Cutti direct me to the spot. The road was a one-way so they (Tanagers) were as close as 4 feet from my car door. I didn't know how I was going to pull this off...


Obviously I got my shot, but it was cra-zy, that they didn't fly off...




There ended up being 3 of them on various oak trees...





I took all kinds of pictures until they flew away into the forest.





We found them again alittle south of the first sighting, along with a female.




It was a GREAT day!

Even More Yardbirds

Another Indigo Bunting made an appearance in my yard and at my feeder.



My Oriole has mastered the art of drinking from the hummingbird feeder.



I have read that orioles will kill hummingbirds in their territory, so I am a little bothered by this. I already have an oriole feeder with orange halves, but he also likes this sugar feeder. Any thoughts on this subject?

Raccoon Hammock

I hope everyone is having a nice Memorial Day...Most of us have a day off from the daily grind and I plan on taking it easy today like this raccoon!

To help re-educate and remind Americans of the true meaning of Memorial Day, the "National Moment of Remembrance" resolution was passed on Dec 2000 which asks that at 3 p.m. local time, for all Americans "To voluntarily and informally observe in their own way a Moment of remembrance and respect, pausing from whatever they are doing for a moment of silence or listening to 'Taps."


I wish I would have taken a distant shot of this fella. You could see this guy in the tree from the parking lot, but didn't know exactly what it was. I couldn't believe it was in this particular tree, given its lack of cover.
Taken 2nd week in April.

If you see "Poppy's" please support the Veterans!