Instagram story viewer> @jonny.becks> Posts

Jonny Becks

@jonny.becks

804

followers

1437

following

Bird Enthusiast & Nature Lover | Amateur Wildlife & Landscape Photographer | Brand Ambassador for Kite Optics, Enabling Greater Access to Nature

POSTS STORIES REELS TAGGED

A yellow-rumped warbler eats more than bugs during its migration journey. Here, one is chowing down some eastern red cedar “berries,” which are not real berries but small, fleshy, wax-covered seed cones. These berries are packed with carbs, fiber, and crude fat - perfect for migrating birds and birds needing food in winter. #birding #chicagobirding #birdsofinstagram taken in Chicago Botanic Garden by @jonny.becks

14

1

4 days ago

About a month ago, some friends and I were birding and ran into this yellow-billed cuckoo. While any day that includes a cuckoo sighting is a good day, I do think I’m team yellow-billed. When some birds perch just right, it looks like the undersides of their tail feathers have large polka dots. This bird was filling its tummy with nutritious tent caterpillars and cicadas before continuing its way to its winter home in the tropical forests of Central and South America. #birding #birdsofinstagram #birdphotography #chicagobirding #shotoncanon taken in Montrose Point Bird Sanctuary by @jonny.becks

34

4

8 days ago

I’m a day late and a dollar short, but in honor of Plover Appreciation Day (9/16), I thought I’d post a few photos of one of Chicago’s favorite birds and certainly a local celebrity - Imani, a Great Lakes Piping Plover. Plover Appreciation Day is observed to raise awareness about the conservation of ground-nesting plovers worldwide and the importance of coexisting with these feathered friends, who are particularly vulnerable to human activity around beaches, wetlands, and grasslands. I thought it fitting to attach a Dolly Parton song to these images, too. 😊 #birding #birdsofinstagram #birdphotography #chicagobirding #shotoncanon taken in Montrose Dunes Nature Preserve by @jonny.becks

32

3

a month ago

It may be the end of summer, but I’m still remembering spring. Early May, I got stuck in a horrible thunderstorm while birding, but I took cover and waited for the deluge to end. This prothonotary warbler graced me with its presence just after the storm as I was starting to explore the base of the “magic bridge” at LaBagh. I loved catching this beauty in a truly urban landscape full of graffiti. #birding #birdsofinstagram #birdphotography #chicagobirding #birdthepreserves taken in LaBagh Forest Preserve by @jonny.becks

45

10

2 months ago

I’ve been slightly obsessed with the blue grosbeak ever since I was a kid and my grandma gave me my first field guide to birds. Maybe part of it is that my favorite color is blue, like so many other folks. I’ve never seen blue grosbeaks around Chicagoland until this year. We’ve had a breeding pair near Rainbow Beach, and I saw several more during a recent road trip with @palacio6876 to Nachusa Grasslands. While they aren’t blue, the females are a beautiful chestnut color, similar to the color of the bar on this males’s upper wing. #birding #birdsofinstagram #birdphotography #chicagobirding #shotoncanon taken in Nachusa Grasslands by @jonny.becks

43

9

2 months ago

The northern parula is one of my favorite warblers, and it’s very fashionable, combining cobalt and royal blue with bright yellow and an ochre patch between its shoulders. Gotta love that fancy broken white eye ring, too. Males like this one sport a handsome black or chestnut bib, too, which makes the dark patches under their wings pop. After wintering in Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean, Chicago sees this bird during migration seasons only. The bird breeds in Southern Illinois and surrounding states, along the Appalachians, as well as northern Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, Maine, and southeastern Canada. These birds sing two main songs, and the more common rising buzzy trill is my fave, as it sounds like these birds are super excited about eating…bugs. #birding #birdsofinstagram #birdphotography #chicagobirding #shotoncanon taken in LaBagh Woods by @jonny.becks

38

15

2 months ago

April & May were busy months at work, and while I managed to get out and enjoy migration season a fair amount, I haven’t had a chance til now to go back through and tag photos, update life lists, and process a few favorites. These are from mid-May. Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle), fairly common but still a joy to observe. #birding #birdsofinstagram #birdphotography #chicagobirding #shotoncanon taken in LaBagh Woods by @jonny.becks

15

2

2 months ago

Often during spring migration season, non-birders will notice a group of birders with either cameras or binoculars raised in the same general direction, necks awkwardly bent back, ogling something high up in a tree. I used to be a confused non-birder not that long ago, wondering what all the fuss was about. But now I see and understand. Meet the blackburnian warbler. This fan favorite with a flame-orange head winters in the mountains of northern South America and then flies through Chicagoland in mid-May, headed toward its breeding grounds in northern Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and southeast Canada. This bird loves to flutter toward the top of a tree’s canopy, so I got lucky to be on a raised bridge that put me quite close to this one. These birds will be heading south soon and look quite different after molting their incredible spring colors. #birding #birdsofinstagram #birdphotography #chicagobirding #shotoncanon taken in LaBagh Woods by @jonny.becks

22

4

2 months ago

Not all sparrows are roughly the same size and some shade of mostly brown. The eastern towhee is a rather large, striking, long-tailed sparrow of the eastern U.S. and Canada. Males are mostly black above with bright rufous sides and a white belly. Eye color varies from white (in the southeastern U.S) to dark red like here (further north). These photos and video clip were taken in early July. #birding #birdsofinstagram #birdphotography #chicagobirds #chicagobirding by @jonny.becks

22

6

2 months ago

I just couldn’t get enough of this cute palm warbler back in May during peak migration while birding at @chicagobotanic #birding #birdsofinstagram #birdphotography #chicagobirds #chicagobirding taken in Chicago Botanic Garden by @jonny.becks

29

6

2 months ago

These monarchs on a locust tree are ensuring the long-lived “super generation” of monarchs will soon hatch. Once this final generation of monarchs for the summer gets its wings, the great monarch migration across the U.S. to overwintering grounds in Mexico will begin. Truly amazing. This is one of the many reasons why we must preserve pesticide-free native habitats across the U.S. taken in Rainbow Beach Park by @jonny.becks

9

3

2 months ago

I’ve spent a lot of time at Rainbow Beach and Park No. 566 lately. Both parks lie next to each other on Chicago’s south side, just north of I-90 near the Calumet River. The area is brimming with birds, life, and biodiversity, which prompts concern for the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park being built literally across the street. Now is the time to raise concerns to your representatives if you live near the park or in Chicago! I want to continue enjoying the beauty of nature in these beautiful parks and ensuring there’s a home and natural habitat for eastern phoebes, blue-gray gnatcatchers, and eastern kingbirds, like those pictured here. If you listen to the clip at the end, you’ll hear several other birds too, like cardinals. A field sparrow, and an indigo bunting. #birding #birdsofinstagram #birdphotography #chicagobirds #chicagobirding taken in Rainbow Beach Park by @jonny.becks

37

5

2 months ago