It’s been a slow sort of month walking along the Des Plaines River at Riverside. Even when I could access Riverside Lawn earlier in the month, not a lot was happening. Up until yesterday it was still too muddy/fluddy to consider. But here’s the beginning of a recap of sorts.

July 3 was time for a Ring-billed Gull chase.

There was also a nearby Double-crested Cormorant. It’s always nice to see these birds fly up and down the river.

On July 8, even less was of note. But take note that there were still little islands available for birds to sit on.

July 12 offered more variety.

It must have been this juvenile Barn Swallow’s first day out. It just kept sitting, probably waiting to be fed.

Eastern Kingbirds have been around a lot this season.

There were places for turtles and a young Wood Duck

This may have been the last time I was in Riverside Lawn on the trail. House Wrens have been near the swinging bridge.

I spotted a Song Sparrow.

Crossing the bridge, a couple resting Canada Geese and a Spotted Sandpiper.

A Great Blue Heron sat briefly in a tree.

And a Belted Kingfisher was sitting quietly near the bridge.

Then I had a Great Egret for good measure. But the number of herons, including egrets, this year has been down. I suspect all the rain has made water levels more difficult for wading.

On 7-19, the river was much higher and the trail was definitely not passable.

By the now-defunct dam, I found a Cliff Swallow in my photos later. I have checked the holes in the dam wall where they nested previously but have not seen any activity, so it was nice to find this one in my camera’s sights.

It looks like I barely captured a young Gray Catbird, below.

Sadly, I can probably count the number of Monarch Butterflies I have seen all summer on the fingers of one hand.

Male Indigo Buntings have not been shy, but they are tiny and can be hard to see at a distance.

I have yet to see an Osprey up close and personal. I think I will have to venture a little farther downstream.

I took to walking around Riverside Lawn on the paved streets and encountered this young Mourning Dove on the gravel beside the road.

Here are a couple more photos of that juvenile Barn Swallow that was totally oblivious to my attention.

I intended to include a couple more visits in this post but wound up with more photos than I envisioned, so I will wrap this up later.

As a little aside on the home front, where everything is overgrown and crazy in bloom, the bees are in love with the Cup Plant in the backyard, and some of the Brown-eyed Susans taking over the front yard provided a couple days of indoor cheer.