Hanging out at the water fountain
Last week was hot and for all practical purposes, dry. It was almost hard to find motivation to trade the too-cold office air conditioning for hot-and-muggy outside but sitting around all day doesn’t suit me, so when there was time available for a stroll, I took one. Things calmed down at the office considerably by Friday and that was my longest outing.
Ovenbird, Millennium Park, 8-11-15
Earlier in the week, however, as I sat in my chosen shady spot near the bike racks, the Ovenbird reappeared looking much more adult.
The new crows were molting.
And the Monarchs were still sallying.
Friday, because I had some extra time, I decided to go down to the lakefront, where even the Canada Geese were trying to stay out of the sun.
Juvenile Mallard
I had almost forgotten Friday was the day before the annual Air and Water Show put on by the U.S. Navy Blue Angels, but the roar of jets overhead soon reminded me. This was their practice session, inspiring awe on the ground.
On the way back to the office, as I stopped to take a picture of some Chicago Lego-style architecture, the unknown young man below insisted I take his picture. By the time I got him in focus his friend put his hand behind his head. I don’t know what he thought I would do with this picture, but if you recognize him, let him know I didn’t simply delete it and this could be 2 of his 15 seconds of fame. (I’m used to people handing me their own cameras or cell phones and asking me to take pictures of them, in fact, I did so for someone that day.)
Do you know him?
The sad story is that on Saturday, the first day of the actual event, a midair accident befell two parachutists in the Air and Water Show. (The parachutists, from the Navy Leap Frogs and the Army Golden Knights teams, were not present on the Friday practice runs.) Tragically, one of them died the next day. The Sunday show was cancelled. I missed hearing about this until Monday because my TV service has been down since Friday night. It’s still down, but I am glad I didn’t post all these pictures before hearing about the tragedy.
Very nice pictures Lisa! 🙂
Thanks, H.J.! A little different…! 🙂
The ovenbird is cute. Didn’t know about the accident at the air and water show, that’s so very tragic.
I heard about the fatality on WFMT Monday morning but didn’t get the details until later. I can’t imagine the risks involved to do these performances.
How terrible about the death.
I know. I would have felt even worse publishing the post without knowing about it. I haven’t been to the actual show for years and don’t follow these things so it was surprising to happen upon the practice session.
love the photos..so sorry about the deaths.
Thanks, Syl. I really had no idea I was going to get pictures of the Blue Angels when I went out and then there they were. I have heard of fatal accidents in previous years: they do these shows in other states too. It’s hard for me to get my head around the risks involved.
So sorry to hear about the accident.
I’m impressed you were able to get such great shots of the really fast birds out there. Not easy at all I would think!
Thanks. Actually, compared to photographing birds in flight, the planes were much easier: I could certainly hear them coming and get ready! What few birds I saw flying that day still impress me… 🙂