2014 goes out with a shiver for us. Yesterday the temperature dropped to 20 degrees Fahrenheit (that was the high), and today it’s even colder with a wind chill of minus 15 below. I am blessed to have the day off from work, which turns out to be that much more fortuitous since the trains were not running this morning due to mechanical failure and I would have been shivering at the station shelter trying to figure out the next best way to get to work.
There was ample sunshine yesterday which is often the way with extra cold temperatures, so I stopped by the Thompson Center on the way in with the camera already assembled this time to see if the Gray Catbird was available for a photograph. I found it first shivering under a bush and looking not too happy.
Then when a woman asked me for directions, it gave the Catbird a chance to perch on a twig while I wasn’t looking, and when I turned back to see, it posed for several photos before taking off for the top of one of the small trees planted in the sidewalk by the curb. The next time to check on this bird’s status will be Friday, the second day of the new year.
Later, after noon when the sun was shining full blast, I set out for the lakefront parks to see if I could visit some crows before next year. It’s been weeks. I decided to check out Maggie Daley Park first as it is partially open in time for ice skaters to use the skating ribbon.
While a lot of trees have been planted and there is sod and whatever else, the immediate lack of green space and preponderance of human kitsch is disappointing to me.
I have no idea what this bodes for hungry migrants along the lakefront come spring, but I suspect I will continue to find more migrants at Lake Shore East Park than at Maggie Daley for quite a while.

Another view – the lakefront is beyond. Are those wooden trunks recycled trees “planted” upside down?
I hated Millennium Park when it was first built, but after I started seeing things like a flock of Golden-Crowned Kinglets on the lawn and the crows adopting the Pritzker Pavilion for a nesting site, not to mention the birds that visit Lurie Garden, it has become bird friendlier with time. So maybe in 5-10 years Maggie Daley will be okay for birds too. But I feel as if the more improvements being made lately to the lakefront, the less friendly they are to any species other than humans. Which in the long run means they’re not really human-friendly improvements either.
It wasn’t until I was practically on my way out of Millennium that I found my crows.
There were some adjustments to be made. Has it been so long since we had peanuts that we can’t remember how to carry more than one at a time to a cache location?
Eventually I was joined by a few Black-Capped Chickadees, and almost out of the park I located the Northern Cardinals I heard earlier but they were not interested in becoming visible. Maybe they’re waiting for snow because they know it makes a better picture.
I think I will stay inside most of today. The sunshine does a good job on the indoor crowd, we all feel a bit more possible. Maybe I can post an update of the indoor birds’ status for the new year.
Happy New Year and Thank You to All Who Visit, Read, Follow, Comment, and Fly By my blog – Who ever thought we’d see a year called 2015? This is pretty amazing. 🙂
Thanks so much for your posts–they always brighten my day!
Happy New Year!!!
Thank you so much, Mary Lee! You have brightened my day even more! Happy New Year!!!!
Nice post Lisa! Thank you for all the 2014 posts too! Happy New Year! 🙂
Mucho gusto!
Happy new year to you Lisa and your indoor friends.
Thank you, Tom, and Happy New Year to you and yours if I haven’t said it already (you are technically already there, I think, as I write this).
Dear Lisa, You may be helping to change my patterns! I have always walked for exercise and kept up a fast pace. Hard to observe birds along the way at that rate. I think I’ll add in some observational walks at a much slower speed. Thanks! And I wish you well in 2015.
Dear Mary Alice, How lovely to hear from you and I am touched by your comment! Also I just read that standing prolongs our lives even more than walking: we’re growing our telomeres. So don’t hesitate to stop and take it all in! Best to you also in 2015.
Invigorating post!
Thanks, Julie! Happy 2015! 🙂
Happy new year to you too! I always look forward to hearing what’s new in your neck of the woods ( or prairie or lake!). All the best for 2015!
Thanks, Frank! and Happy New Year! I didn’t expect I’d be up this late (after a considerable nap on the futon) but I am ever-so-slightly reluctant to let 2014 go. ? Go figure! 🙂