My name is Amy and I live in the Chicago area.
Besides birding I love to travel. 
Nests revealed
Today we joined Lake-Cook Audubon’s Ducks on Lake Michigan auto tour. With temperatures unseasonably high (we reached the mid-60’s, about 15 degrees warmer than normal) it was no duck weather, although it was incredibly pleasant to be outside. A misty fog also sat over placid Lake Michigan, making for lousy visibility. We did have Bufflehead, Scaup, Goldeneye, Mallard and Horned Grebe for the day. We also had one Common Loon which was both amusing and frustrating, as it seemed to dive almost as quickly as it surfaced, over and over, leaving birders scrambling to share their scopes so everyone could get on the bird. We also managed three lifers for the day: Fox Sparrow; Brown Creeper and Hermit Thrush. Plus we had a woodpecker superfecta with Hairy, Downy, Red-bellied and Red-headed all being seen throughout the day.
At our first site someone pointed out a lovely embellished nest that had recently been exposed when the tree lost its leaves.
The rest of the day I was noticing nests everywhere we went and thought them to be quite photogenic. Here are a few of them.
8:06 pm
It’s amazing what turns up in the trees come fall. We’re seeing a lot of nests, too – and it seems like the leaves came down early this year.