








Well Millennium Park is a wonderful place and is probably great for birding in the spring - fall, but today it did not yield the results we hoped for. Maybe that was because it was so cold. Maybe we were looking in the wrong area. Maybe we were just unlucky. We did, however, encounter a couple of cooperative woodpeckers which kept us from being totally shut out.
This Downy Woodpecker flew into the reeds next to the path, less than 20 feet from us. He didn't seem at all bothered by people. I guess he was pretty low on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. It was tough to get clean photos, but I attempted to get some environmental shots.
Taking a detouring route on the way home, we stopped by Mt. Auburn Cemetery, looking to satisfy our longing for owls. We did find a Great Horned Owl in the Dell, unfortunately it was far away in pretty deep shade.
After lunch I was playing around with "The Photographer's Ephemeris" and discovered that the dell would be in the sun in the late afternoon. Hoping it hadn't moved, I headed back to attempt to get some photos. Thankfully, I was able to get a couple photos with its eyes open.