February 4, 2012 / Leslie

Saturday Snapshot: Birds and The Bean

Thousands of Snowy Owls have migrated into the lower 48 states this winter. This is highly unusual and scientists speculate that they have come further south in search of food. There have been several sightings of them around the Chicago area and one of the locations was near Millenium Park close to the lakefront.

Since I was going to be in the city to meet a friend for lunch this past week I arrived an hour early, camera ready, in search of a Snowy Owl. Unfortunately I didn’t find one but I knew if I left my camera home there would be one perched on top a light pole or sitting at the lakefront. So instead, I did a little sightseeing photography.

This is a photo of Cloud Gate, a sculpture that sits on the plaza at Millenium Park and is more commonly known as The Bean. I got a nice shot of it with a reflection of the Chicago Skyline. The second shot shows the entire sculpture.

While I was wandering through the park I did see a few common birds like sparrows, chickadees, pigeons and gulls. I was surprised to see a few crows, a once common bird that have only recently begun to make a comeback in Illinois.

The crows were killed off in large numbers in 2002 from an outbreak of West Nile virus. This one was scavenging peanuts that people were throwing to the squirrels.

After lunch, on my way back to the train station, I walked along the Chicago River and saw pairs of Canada Geese congregating near the banks. One of them walked right up to me.

They are accustomed to people and are usually friendly unless it’s nesting season, then they will bite your hand off.