McGinnis Slough

After I visited the Chicago Portage last Sunday, I went to McGinnis Slough, another of my favorite haunts, to see what was up besides the wind.

Although the big draw for McGinnis is the slough, often most species are too far away to photograph over the phragmites. With a scope one could see lots of Ruddy Ducks, Ring-Necked Ducks, Canvasback, Bufflehead and two Trumpeter Swans, to name a few species. But the best picture I could get was of two happy Mallards.

On land, I did see two Eastern Bluebirds. Here’s one.

Eastern Bluebird

Soon there will be Wood Ducks hanging out in the backwater sections of the slough.

Just like last time I was here, I found one warbler, a Yellow-Rumped, looking a bit spiffier.

Yellow-Rumped Warbler

And then when I thought I had seen everything, a small flock of Chipping Sparrows appeared, foraging in the grass where a path is cut to walk to the south end of the slough.

Chipping Sparrow

I got lucky when one Chipping Sparrow flew up into a nearby tree and decided to model all his sides for me. The last photo might make an excellent quiz shot. 🙂