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William Shunn
shunn
13 April 2008 @ 01:55 pm
Woody  
Walking the dog in the park this morning, we heard a woodpecker in the distance. We followed the sound into a grove where Laura spotted the little thing drilling away about fifteen feet the trunk of tall tree. We watched in amazement for several minutes.

There are new birds on the lagoon as well, swimming with the mallards and the Canada goose. I've been trying to identify them in waterfowl galleries on line, but with no success so far. They look like ducks but are about half the size of mallards. The bodies seem to be all black, the head is smaller and the neck shorter relative to the body, and the bill looks bright white.

The red-wing blackbirds have been ubiquitous for the past few weeks, but we didn't see very many of them this morning. Migrating away?


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Current Location: Chicago, IL
 
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tim_pratt[info]tim_pratt on April 13th, 2008 06:30 pm (UTC)
Are the birds perhaps coots?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coot

We have tons of these in the lake by our house.
Luke McGuff[info]holyoutlaw on April 13th, 2008 07:51 pm (UTC)
"Coot" is exactly what I was thinking as well.
William Shunn: Batman and Robin[info]shunn on April 13th, 2008 11:28 pm (UTC)
Could be! See below.
William Shunn: Groovy Dog[info]shunn on April 13th, 2008 11:27 pm (UTC)
You might be right. I looked at more waterfowl galleries after posting, and coots are the closest match I've found. I'm going to have to take a camera to the park this week and get some pictures.
karen_w_newton[info]karen_w_newton on April 13th, 2008 09:13 pm (UTC)
I am ignorant about birds but dredged up the name grebe from somewhere in my memory of waterfowl.
William Shunn: Galaga Cross Stitch[info]shunn on April 13th, 2008 11:28 pm (UTC)
I'm almost certain they're not grebes, but they might be coots. (See above.) I will post pictures this week.
[info]scottjanssens on April 14th, 2008 04:01 pm (UTC)
Deb and I saw a pair of Cardinals the other week. Not entirely rare in Northern Illinois but not particularly common, either.

Boo! still hasn't given up on trying to catch robins. Does Ella chase critters?
William Shunn: Killer Guard Dog[info]shunn on April 14th, 2008 04:09 pm (UTC)
We've seen a few cardinals too. They used to be fairly common at our place in Queens, but not as much here.

Ella doesn't chase birds generally, though Laura has been teaching her to run after geese at the park and make them fly away. But Ella is enraptured with rooting out and chasing squirrels, rabbits, and (unfortunately) rats.
derrylm[info]derrylm on April 14th, 2008 11:57 pm (UTC)
Our back yard gets pileated woodpeckers and downy woodpeckers as well. Bloody birds peck at the house and I have to send the dog after them. Usually, though, they come by to hang out at the feeder with the chickadees, juncos, sparrows, and a few others. It's a great yard.

D
Walking the dog in the park this morning, we heard a woodpecker in the distance. We followed the sound into a grove where Laura spotted the little thing drilling away about fifteen feet the trunk of tall tree. We watched in amazement for several minutes.

There are new birds on the lagoon as well, swimming with the mallards and the Canada goose. I've been trying to identify them in waterfowl galleries on line, but with no success so far. They look like ducks but are about half the size of mallards. The bodies seem to be all black, the head is smaller and the neck shorter relative to the body, and the bill looks bright white.

The red-wing blackbirds have been ubiquitous for the past few weeks, but we didn't see very many of them this morning. Migrating away?


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