Baltimore Oriole

I’m feeling the effects of too many trips. I haven’t changed time zones, and I thought going short distances would be a piece of cake, but it seems every time I leave, for all the last-minute preparations, I may as well be leaving the country.

I’m still combing through the photos of the past week, but thought I’d post a couple birds with songs from pictures I took this morning. I visited McLaughry Springs Woods and McGinnis Slough, both in the Palos region of southwest Cook County, Illinois. 

Baltimore Oriole – McLaughry Springs

This Oriole was singing at McLaughry Springs, but he was camera-shy. It was a lot easier to take photos of the Oriole near the parking lot at McGinnis, as he was trying to distract me from finding his mate sitting on the nest.

Then, while I was briefly in St. Louis, I took an early morning walk Friday through the park that spans either side of the Arch running along the river.

In the Arch park, there were at least four Warbling Vireos singing, although I saw only one briefly. There were not very many species present. Oddly enough, the only bird I managed to photograph was a female Baltimore Oriole.

Female Baltimore Oriole

In any event, below is the Warbling Vireo who posed for me at McGinnis. I didn’t manage to record his song, but have substituted one from the St. Louis birds. The busy-sounding vireo song is running alongside some chirps from a Robin in the foreground.

Warbling Vireo

And for a last image, here is a real surprise. Just as I got out of my car and got my gear together at McGinnis, I saw a distant Yellow-Billed Cuckoo fly into a tree. The Cuckoo did its best to hide but I managed to get this picture before it gave up its perch to a Robin. This is a bird I rarely see.

Yellow-Billed Cuckoo

I’ll try to manage another post before the Memorial Day weekend. 🙂