Why I Oughta...

There were more than ten large birds flying together in what you could call a boil . Or, a kettle or even a cast.  I missed much of them, but was able to whip out my phone quickly and snap these photos over our backyard on a recent afternoon.   No idea what type they are, but based on my bird feeder visits, I'm guessing this was likely a boil of Cooper's Hawks . The photo below shows seven of the (more than ten) hawks in the low-flying boil.

Over the weekend, we went out walking (and playing Pokemon Go) around Barth Pond at Patriots Park down on 55th Street in Downers Grove and one of the kids came across this two-tiered honeycomb that has been abandoned by the occupants.  Based on the color, this hasn't been a vibrant, active home for a while.  Neat to see and fun to have to kids show an interest in nature.

A few days ago, I posted about seeing an Indigo Bunting male bird in a splendid blue coat down at Waterfall Glen .  During the COVID-19 pandemic, we've tried to find time to get down to Waterfall Glen to go walking with the kids as well as dodging the crowds.  When we first went down there, they had the waterfall itself blocked off - in an attempt to keep from crowds gathering.  That was as recent as back in June. There's now a category tag for [ Waterfall Glen] here on the blog that hosts all the posts. The photo at the top of this post is now the second post featuring a Waterfall Glen sign.  One on of our previous walks,  I came across this Oak Tree identification sign and posted about it in June, too . This sign talks about the waterfall and the "men who built it" and mentions that between 1934 and 1938, a company of men from the Civilian Conservation Corps - as part of the New Deal - were stationed up in Hinsdale at Fullersburg Woods.  It was ...

My personality is such that I wasn't able to fully enjoy the Sunset Cliffs as much as other people when we were *close* to the Cliffs.  From a hundred yards back?  I was totally fine, didn't have to grab ahold of which kid(s) were close to me for fear that they'd run and leap over the edges.  And, I enjoyed them.  Saw a few sunsets from the front deck there, too.  It is no Hotel Del Coronado , but...as LD would say:

In my mind, I kind of combine the seven new wonders of the world and the seven natural wonders of the world .  I think one of my sisters has seen the Northern Lights when she went on a trip to Finland.   And I think my oldest sister has seen the Southern Cross when they went to Polynesia for a trip.  Nat's Dad has been to see the Pyramids.  Me?  I've been inside the Colosseum. But it doesn't have a song like this one written for it (that I know of, at least!) Enjoy a little Stephen Stills.  And dream about seeing the Southern Cross...for the first time. ( pssst...don't tell anyone, but turns out that the Southern Cross isn't a wonder of the world.  Technically. )