Bill Jarvis Migratory Bird Sanctuary

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Our first field trip at the Urban Birding Festival in Chicago was at the Bill Jarvis Migratory Bird Sanctuary. We sought out the rest room facilities in the clock tower beforehand. The doorway there was half covered in ivy. There was an unopened protein bar that someone had dropped on the walk nearby…and cicadas and leaves/small branches. Not trash. There were trash/recycle bins…and evidently, they are used. I noticed a young catalpa with seed pods as we walked back toward the sanctuary.

The core of the sanctuary is protected by a fence; visitors have a good view from a platform that is high enough to look over the fence and vegetation….the platform is where our group spent a couple of hours. There was plenty to see!

There were plenty of birds – including flickers, red-headed woodpeckers, Copper’s hawks (which scattered all the other birds when they were about), downy woodpecker, hummingbirds, and goldfinches.

There were monarch butterflies feeding and resting…before they continued their migration south.

A racoon made an appearance…climbing a tree then coming back down and disappearing into what must have been a hole on the other side of the trunk!

Of course, there was a lot of vegetation to look at when the birds were not active enough. The humidity was high so there was moisture on a lot of the leaves. The usual fall color was there – golden rod and pokeweed included!

Unique Aspects of Days – March 2022

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There are a range of unique aspects that I recorded in March:

It was the first time there were amorous cattle in a field that I drove by on my way from Springfield to Carrollton. I guess it is another sign of spring!

Seeing the spherical sculpture glow from within from reflected light at Brookside Gardens was something I had not anticipated….will now always look for again.

Seeing a bird on an empty suet feeder…then clearly seeing the under bright yellow feathers of a flicker as it flew away.

Starting to get our house ready to sell…touching up interior paint.

Being able to photograph the arch in St Louis from the bridge over the Mississippi when I was driving – it is one of the few times that I appreciated a construction delay that snarled traffic.

Total failure of my laptop. This is one that I hope never occurs again! It was under warranty so is being fixed by Dell.

Very cold drive through WV with snow all over…except on the roads.

Through the window….a flicker

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With the leaves falling off the trees, it’s easier to see and photograph birds. Last weekend a female Northern Flicker (yellow-shafted) flew into our maple and I managed to get my camera fast enough to take two pictures through my office window. My computer glasses do work so well through the camera viewfinder, so I relied on the camera to focus. The bird turned slightly to show off the red blaze on the back of the head.

I don’t see these birds as frequently as our resident cardinals although the flickers might be here all year. They are hard to spot in foliage and grasses. I’m always thrilled to see them around.