Ride down to the railroad on a beautiful morning

What little breeze there was would be a tailwind back to town

Raleigh leans against a signal control station

OZA 102.81 is the distance south of the rail yard near Chicago

On the way to the railroad we found the bird we were looking for!

A red winged blackbird — a relatively new arrival this far north in Illinois — at least to me they are

Would see them on trips to southern IL but not here

Beautiful black bird with shiny black feathers, and the Cardinal cape on its upper wings

They never come into town

A far better photo from the Web

Heading back north, a red headed woodpecker landed on a pole and quickly went to the other side out of sight. Then flew away.  🙁

I would have if it gave me half a chance . . .

Photo from the Web

Apparently, that’s why bird photographers have that 2 foot lens on their camera!