Category: Morning Walk

It was a temperate but windy day when we took a quick walk around the Little Red Schoolhouse Nature Center and said hello to our waterfowl friends on adjacent Longjohn Slough. Fun day!

American Wigeons and Ring-Necked Ducks swim in a lake
American Wigeons and Ring-Necked Ducks swim in Longjohn Slough near Little Red Schoolhouse Nature Center; Cook, Illinois; 15 March 2025
Fourteen Ring-Necked Ducks swim in a lake
Ring-Necked Ducks swim in Longjohn Slough near Little Red Schoolhouse Nature Center; Cook, Illinois; 15 March 2025
Two Trumpeter Swans swim in a lake
Two Trumpeter Swans swim in Longjohn Slough near Little Red Schoolhouse Nature Center; Cook, Illinois; 15 March 2025
A Trumpeter Swan swims in a lake
A Trumpeter Swan swims in Longjohn Slough near Little Red Schoolhouse Nature Center; Cook, Illinois; 15 March 2025
Nine Tree Swallows hang out in a tree
Nine Tree Swallows hang out in a tree, Little Red Schoolhouse Nature Center, Cook, Illinois; 15 March 2025
An Eastern Phoebe perches on a wall
An Eastern Phoebe perches on a wall; Little Red Schoolhouse Nature Center, Cook, Illinois; 15 March 2025
A Black-Capped Chickadee perches on a branch
A Black-Capped Chickadee perches on a branch; Little Red Schoolhouse Nature Center, Cook, Illinois; 15 March 2025

We went out on this lovely, slightly chilly March morning to see what we could find. McGinnis Slough near Orland Park was quite fruitful, while Tampier Lake was fine, but was mostly birds we’d seen earlier that morning or yesterday in Chicago. 

New Lifers:

  • American Wigeon
  • Trumpeter Swan

 

Four Lesser Scaup ducks swimming in a lake
Four Lesser Scaup swim in McGinnis Slough, Cook County, IL; 9 March 2025
Four Red-Breasted Merganser ducks swim in a lake
Four Red-Breasted Mergansers swim in Tampier Lake, Palos area, IL; 9 March 2025
A Ring-Billed Gull in flight against a blue sky
A Ring-Billed Gull in flight against a blue sky; Tampier Lake, Palos Area, IL; 9 March 2025

We got a new lifer, the American Wigeon, and it’s the first time we got really good looks at the Bufflehead (though the pic is meh) and the Northern Shoveler.

Four American Wigeon ducks in flight against a blue sky
Four American Wigeon ducks in flight; McGinnis Slough, Cook County, IL; 9 March 2025
A Bufflehead duck among a bunch of other ducks on a lake
A Bufflehead duck among a bunch of other ducks on a lake; McGinnis Slough, Cook County, IL; 9 March 2025
A large billed duck, a Northern Shoveler, flies against a blue sky.
A Northern Shoveler flies against a blue sky, McGinnis Slough, Cook County, IL; 9 March 2025

The highlight of the day was the Sandhill Cranes. When we were back on the trail, one of the cranes landed in the pond right near us, so we were able to see it pretty close (we stayed back, though). It got into a bit of a kerfuffle with some mallards who wanted to hang out nearby. 

Two Sandhill Cranes in a shallow lake, calling
Two Sandhill Cranes in a shallow lake, calling; McGinnis Slough, Cook County, IL; 9 March 2025
Two large Sandhill Cranes take flight
Two large Sandhill Cranes take flight; McGinnis Slough, Cook County, IL; 9 March 2025
Sandhill Crane in flight, 9 March 2025
A Sandhill Crane in flight; McGinnis Slough, Cook County, IL; 9 March 2025
Sandhill crane in the sun
A Sandhill Crane stands among the reeds; McGinnis Slough, Cook County, IL; 9 March 2025
A Sandhill Crane calls among the reeds
A Sandhill Crane calls among the reeds; McGinnis Slough, Cook County, IL; 9 March 2025
A Sandhill Crane moves among the reeds
A Sandhill Crane moves among the reeds; McGinnis Slough, Cook County, IL; 9 March 2025
A Sandhill Crane stands among the reeds
A Sandhill Crane stands among the reeds; McGinnis Slough, Cook County, IL; 9 March 2025
A Sandhill Crane eyes the photographer from among the reeds
A Sandhill Crane eyes the photographer from among the reeds; McGinnis Slough, Cook County, IL; 9 March 2025

We took a lovely walk around Fermilab in Aurora, IL this morning. We got there shortly after sunrise, and the lake had hundreds of geese on it.

Five Canada Geese fly over the camera
Canada Geese, Fermilab, Aurora, IL; 10 November 2024

There were some American Coot as well, and a bunch of ducks.

Four grey ducks with black heads swimming in the lake.
American Coot; Fermilab, Aurora, IL; 10 November 2024

Then, across a smaller lake, we saw a couple sandhill cranes having what can only be described as a hoedown.

Animated image of two large white birds flapping their wings and jumping as if dancing
Sandhill Cranes; Fermilab, Aurora, IL; 10 November 2024

We also saw a bunch of raptors — some Northern Harriers across the lake, a Cooper’s Hawk, a Merlin (lifer) and two Kestrels. Pretty great!

A large hawk with spotted chest and brown wings sits in a tree
Cooper’s Hawk; Fermilab, Aurora, IL; 10 November 2024
Two small hawks sit in a tree
American Kestrel; Fermilab, Aurora, IL; 10 November 2024
A small-medium hawk with distinctive eye coloration sits in a tree
Merlin; Fermilab, Aurora, IL; 10 November 2024