Pinery Part II:

Walking the perimeter of the beach parking lots can be a great way to find butterflies. Butterflies were scarce that day, but as we pulled into Beach #3, a Prairie Warbler could be heard singing! It sat high in a tree and took a while to locate. Luckily it continued to sing as we scanned the tree tops.

New boardwalk route through the dunes at Beach Parking #3.

Rose-breasted Grosbeak eating bugs found in the tree flowers along the Riverside Trail.

Rose-breasted Grosbeak - female

The male Rose-breasted Grosbeak on the left slowly snuck up to the bird on the right. It didn't take long for the Grosbeak on the right to chase away the intruder from his prized "cafeteria".

Eastern Towhee - the songs of this bird species could be heard throughout the park!

A quiet Blue Jay stopped on a trail.

Gray Catbird

Canada Goose nest on stump - visible from Riverside Trail. Canada Geese will lay all eggs before incubation begins so that the goslings hatch at the same time. Two adults were stationed nearby.

A Common Grackle flipped leaves, looking for invertebrates to eat.

Groundhog! - possibly the first one I have ever seen at Pinery.

Morel species - with the classic honeycomb ridges on the cap.