Spring Walkabout Birds | a 7 Image Story   Spring walkabout this year have been a bit different.  More people are walking due to the virus driven stay-at-home orders.  Folks are not only walking neighborhood streets but also the wooded and lakeside trails I tend to frequent.

Normally, it’s a busy day when I see one other person on my walkabout trails.  This year I’ll see one other person on almost all my hikes, sometimes two.  Now, one or two people in several miles certainly allows me to keep social distancing standards.  Walking to and from the trails on local streets gets a little more crowded.  People seem to be out walking their dogs much more often these days.  Let’s now focus on some common spring birds found on my walkabouts.

Barred Owl  The Barred Owl is sometimes known as a Hoot Owl due to its distinctive call.  This owl was scouting for prey in a far off tree as I was crossing a foot bridge along my walkabout trail in a wooded forest preserve.  Barred Owls are most active at night.  Sometimes they’ll hunt in the daytime as well.  This owl appears to like late afternoon.  It really blends into its surroundings.  In the spring before the leaves fully grow out, it’s possible to spot them when they are hunting.  Binoculars can be very helpful to spot them against the tree branches.  Without bins, finding a Barred Owl in a forest is nearly impossible; really just luck.  Even with bins, it’s difficult.  The only way I’ve been able to reliably spot them is to watch where they land.

Blue Jay  Native to North America and northern Illinois, at least a few Blue Jays stay for the winter.  They are here when winter turns into spring. They have beautiful plumage against the snow and green buds in early spring.  They mainly feed on nuts and seeds so they show up at neighborhood bird feeders.  They are very wary of people and fly at the first hint of sight or sound.  Thus, it’s rare to capture an image on walkabout.

Dark-eyed Junco  Juncos seem to stick around all winter and are here to welcome spring with us.  Snow fell in the early morning of this early spring day and was almost gone as I began my walkabout.  Small birds like this Dark-eyed Junco can be challenging to capture even with a long, fast lens.  And, capturing a decent image while walking outside is difficult to impossible.  You just can’t get close enough to them unless you are really careful and a bit lucky.

American Robin  The little Robin red breast was my mom’s favorite bird with the possible exception of a Cardinal in the winter snow.  She always loved it when the Robins first appeared at what seemed to be still winter because she knew spring was not far behind.  Back then, they seemed to go south if the weather was too cold.  Now, we see a few of them all winter long.

Mallard   Of course, Mallards frequent several creeks along my walkabout trail.  Mallards are the most familiar duck species in the world and are the ancestor of nearly all domestic duck breeds.  The common duck’s quack is made by the female.  Males make a quieter, rasping sound.  The oldest known Mallard was a male over 27 years old.

American White Pelican  Gear down, flaps down, clear to splash!  It’s a good landing if you can float away.  Although they are one the heaviest flying birds in the world, American White Pelicans are strong fliers who alternate flapping and soaring.  Their large yet narrow wingspan makes soaring easier.  Their bodies measure up to 5 feet in length, their bills can reach 14 inches, and their wing spans up to 9 feet.  In the breeding season, they have a flattened “horn” on the upper bill.  They shed the horn after mating.  Males and females look exactly alike except the female is a bit smaller.  And, they’re such clowns when flocked together on the water.

Each image will be posted individually this week with a bit more narrative under category Spring Walkabout Birds.