It rained all day Friday. It wasn’t stormy or windy, hardly even drenching most of the time, but it was a slow, steady rain. I headed to the Chicago Portage Saturday morning, figuring it would be a fairly less soggy place to visit.
To my surprise, the preserve was closed. All I could see was flooding at the entrance. That was likely enough for the gatekeepers to decide not to open it. I took a quick photo with my phone before backing up and turning around.
I had all my gear and it seemed ridiculous to go back home, so I decided to pay a visit to McGinnis Slough because I haven’t been there in a while.
The first thing I noticed was a mess of white bread slices on the lawn near one of the picnic tables. I’ve never seen this before. I was almost tempted to clean it up. I don’t think any creatures will consume it.
I met another birder with a big lens named Ben and we scanned the smaller area south of the parking lot. A first look at the water revealed very few birds. There were some distant Green-winged Teal. Cloudy skies were no help.
A Song Sparrow was singing close to the trail.
I lagged behind Ben as he made his way to the other end of the trail. I stopped to photograph a displaying Red-winged Blackbird who is also at the top of the post.
I managed to capture a very distant Pileated Woodpecker flying away.
I caught up with Ben again as he stood on the picnic table at the end of the trail. I often get up there myself but it didn’t seem necessary. There were a lot of birds in the water, but they were quite distant. We admired one American Wigeon that was nearer but I did not capture it clearly enough.
Beyond that, I managed to photograph some Northern Shovelers in flight and in the water.
I will have to go back to McGinnis on a better day when there is better light and I have more time. I’d like to get a good look at a Pileated Woodpecker. Saturday was cloudy, chilly, and I had to get back to the neighborhood for a vaccination appointment. The Chicago Portage was still closed when I drove past it. I will go back to the Portage tomorrow.
I plan to return with some photos from last week’s warm spell. As it happens, we are experiencing another warm up for a few days. Maybe that will help me readjust to setting the clocks ahead. I don’t think it has made much difference to the indoor birds except that I have been getting up in the dark. As for business-as-usual, the choir sang yesterday and the service was well-attended, which seems like an official way to get over “losing” an hour.
I have never seen the entrance to Portage closed with so much water. When you return tell us about the water levels in other parts of the park.
Nice adjustment by heading south to McGinnis to save the day with pictures of ducks and the great shot of the Pileated Woodpecker.
In the 80’s down here in south Florida. I as well saw a few Pileated
Woodpeckers. I don’t think either one was the one you saw.
Thanks, Bob, for checking in from Florida! I ran injto José this morning, he’s back from Mexico, and he said he had never seen the Portage entrance closed like that. I think he said it was still closed yesterday! The main stream looked a bit deeper but nothing was too flooded. I think I’ll do a quick post about today’s visit tonight or tomorrow.
I’m sure you got much better view of Pileated Woodpeckers.
I hope that things dry up for you soon. I am pleased that you got a good attendance for your service. There is always a chance when the clocks ‘spring’ forward that people sleep in and miss things.
As it turns out, our choir director was not feeling well so we were led at the last minute by one of our own, who is also a choir director at another church. That woke us up!