All of these photos were taken in Hyde Park (Chicago) during the last few weeks, unless otherwise noted.
Robins waiting for snow to melt
And you thought all robins looked alike!
A ruby-crowned kinglet
A great egret
A great egret, 39 inches long, with a herring gull, 25 inches long, for scale.
An adult herring gull has red spot on bill and pink legs (photo taken in Cape Cod).
A third winter herring gull has pink legs but has a black spot on bill that is starting to turn red.
pair of ring-billed gulls (parking lot gulls). Ring-billed gulls have yellow legs and a black spot on their bill. They are 17.5 inches long.
First winter ring-billed gull (note it has pink legs like a herring gull). This photo was taken in August.
song sparrow, very stripy with spot on chest
Another view of a song sparrow The song sparrow’s song has three notes followed by a trill.
Fox sparrow is bigger than a song sparrow. It has a lot more gray and red feathers than a song sparrow. Both of these sparrows have a spot on their chests
red maple blooming
pied-billed grebe
black-crowned night heron
Pass It On Chicago! 