Wednesday’s Feather Quest

Evening Grosbeak IMG_9791_1

Female Evening Grosbeak

I hinted at this with my link to “The Birders Are Coming.” Maybe it was cabin fever to the max, I don’t know. I can’t remember having such a strong urge to chase birds, but even after the long weekend drive for elusive predators, the quest corner I painted myself into hadn’t quite dried yet.

Varied Thrush

Varied Thrush

There have been two birds in the Chicago area, up on the north side, that were probable lifers for me: a female Evening Grosbeak at Rosehill Cemetery, and a Varied Thrush in Evanston. I gave in to impulse on Wednesday, throwing all duty and responsibility to the wind, and joined two other Elles to chase the birds. It seemed likely we would get them as they were still being reported in the same vicinity and several people had already seen them over the course of three days.

Evening Grosbeak IMG_9804_1

And the weather was about to change again from rain to snow and below freezing wind chills, so Wednesday seemed like the last chance. As it turns out, as of this writing the thrush is still present and the Evening Grosbeak might be, although it could not be located this afternoon.

Female Cardinal IMG_9597_1

Before we left, I went out into the yard and took a few pictures of my visitors to see what the light was going to be like.

House Finch IMG_9548_1

That helped only somewhat. The Evening Grosbeak never got good enough light to show off her winter colors and the Varied Thrush was hiding behind lawn furniture and a fence I could barely prop my lens over.

Goldfinches IMG_9928_1

There were a couple nice American Goldfinches at the thrush host’s feeder.

Montrose Beach IMG_9931_1

Finally, a quick check for a Snowy Owl at Montrose Beach on the way home convinced us we’d had enough winter weather for the day.

2 thoughts on “Wednesday’s Feather Quest

    • Thanks, Jo Ann, and thanks for following my blog! I think I know what you mean; we think we know “our American birds” by the ones that show up in our own neighborhoods year after year but there are a lot of different habitats, climates and niches that several other species fill, and every once in a while we get to see a lost bird!

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