Happy Thanksgiving with Lincoln Park Birds

This Wild Turkey showed up on our front lawn this spring in Rockford,IL; 6/1/2011.

How can one have a blog about birds and on a Thanksgiving Day post not have a picture of a turkey?  This past late spring, I came home after a day of final exams at school, and as I pulled into the driveway, this Wild Turkey (Above) appeared out of the bushes and started strutting around on our front lawn.  I quickly ran into the house, grabbed my camera, and it stayed long enough for me to fire off a few pics before it disappeared across the street and behind a neighbor's house.  This Wild Turkey became the 37th different species of wild bird that has appeared in our yard in the past two years (but who's counting?) BTW, the current number is up to 38.

Okay, now for some photos of water birds I photographed in Lincoln Park, Chicago, a couple of weeks ago:

This unfortunate American Coot had a fishing line tangled around its head and bill, South Pond, Lincoln Park, Chicago, IL; 11/5/2011.

A Hooded Merganser with its hood up, North Pond, Lincoln Park, Chicago, IL; 11/5/2011.

A Hooded Merganser with its hood partially up, North Pond, Lincoln Park, Chicago, IL; 11/5/2011.

A Hooded Merganser with its hood down, North Pond, Lincoln Park, Chicago, IL; 11/5/2011.

A Trumpeter Swan showing off its balancing act, North Pond, Lincoln Park, Chicago, IL; 11/5/2011.

A male Ruddy Duck in its non-breeding plumage, North Pond, Lincoln Park, Chicago, IL; 11/5/2011.



A pair of Ring-billed Gulls (Top - juvenile; Bottom - Adult) begging for handouts along Montrose Point, Chicago, IL; 11/5/2011.

(Above) is  good side by side comparison of an adult Ring-billed Gull next to one not quite into adulthood, he big difference being in the yellow bill and legs of the full-grown adult.

A juvenile Ring-billed Gull, Montrose Point, Chicago, IL; 11/5/2011.

I also spent some time at Montrose Point scouring the grasslands along the beach for some shorebirds and hoping to get a glimpse of a Perrigrine Falcon that was reported hanging around the pier area. But all I saw were European Starlings and Ring-billed Gulls, which monopolized the beach and airways. (Above) is a young Ring-billed in its first-winter plumage of brown spotted feahers sprinkled in its white head and light gray wings, and its tell-tale pink bill with a black tip.  (Below) is an adult Ring-billed, with its distinct black ring around a yellow bill, and a more pure white head. Also note the yellow legs of the adult in contrast to the more pinkish legs of the first-year.

An adult Ring-billed Gull on the Montrose Point pier, Chicago, IL; 11/5/2011.