White-Breasted Nuthatch
Choir tour and back-to-work notwithstanding, I feel remiss about not having managed a blog post until now. It’s not for lack of photographic experiences, but more my lack of energy and planning. What I have tried to plan to do with my four-day weekend is get in as much outdoor time as possible. Starting with Thursday…
I went to the Portage even though it was cloudy and windy. Unsurprisingly I did not see many birds and those I saw did not make taking their pictures easy. But the first capture proved to be a rare one. Apparently it’s a little late for a Field Sparrow…even if it’s not a great image the bird was unmistakable.
Field Sparrow
White-Throated Sparrows were in abundance, but still not so easy to see, along with the American Tree Sparrows.
White-Throated Sparrow
American Tree Sparrow
Downy Woodpeckers winter at the Portage so they tend to stand out even when they aren’t trying to.
The Portage Pillage continues. I’m not sure if these trees were invasive or in bad shape but they are gone now. The third photo below shows the shallow water frozen, prohibiting waterfowl visitors.
The female cardinal below was not staying for a better shot.
Only two days earlier with the prospect of sunshine in the afternoon, I managed to get out of the office for a short walk over to the Lake Street bridge to see if there were any birds in the water.
None yet except for two Mallards napping on a log. But it wasn’t the Mallards that caught my attention – it was a bump on the log that created an optical illusion, looking very much like a Whip-Poor-Will on my camera. It wasn’t until I viewed the photographs on my computer that I realized this was a natural sculpture. So desperate was I to see a bird!
I will always be able to count on the Herring Gulls, even in the slow gaps between migrations…
Returning to Thursday, the sun came out in the early afternoon, which gave me a chance to visit with the birds in the yard. I can always count on an abundance of House Sparrows.
One of two male cardinals…
I was pleased to see six American Goldfinches.
But my best subjects were a pair of White-Breasted Nuthatches. I haven’t seen them for a long time, but that’s likely only because their favorite time to visit is around 1:30 in the afternoon, when I am usually at work. The females have a grayer cap, otherwise they are pretty indistinguishable.
I’m glad to see that some of those spilled sunflower seeds are still worth eating…
One more of a nuthatch.
I went to Jasper-Pulaski with my friend Lesa yesterday to see all the Sandhill Cranes I missed when they flew over the Chicago area the last couple weeks. I’ll be back shortly with some of that spectacle. If you are caught up in a holiday weekend, I hope it is going well!
I’m not surprised when I see that you were out to the Portage under such weather conditions. You saw more birds in your garden at the end! Be on the safe side my friend. 🙂
Thanks, H.J. It was pretty safe. A few dog walkers, a cyclist…and at one point, a flock of House Finches! 🙂
How good to have nuthatches. They are very lovely birds.
They are, and I am glad they are adapting to suburbia, that gives them better survival odds. At least I think they must live nearby, it’s not such a short commute to the nearest woods.
We’ve also been seeing white breasted nuthatches on a daily basis. We don’t see the white throated sparrows during winter, though.
The White-Throated Sparrows seem to be increasingly present, albeit a few individuals. I suppose as long as they can find food they might be expanding their non-breeding range a little bit. The stragglers are hanging out with other species, like the tree sparrows. I don’t think I’ll see another individual until spring.