I’m going back in time for a moment to two visits to the Palos area back in August when the pool where I swim was closed for cleaning. I could justify swimming in Orland Park if I went birding as well. I started with a visit to Swallow Cliffs on August 19. I stayed on the main trail with lots of cyclists, runners and dog-walkers; there weren’t a lot of birds to be seen. But I did see a number of young Rose-breasted Grosbeaks.

Beyond all the grosbeaks, I had a White-breasted Nuthatch.

Then on August 21, I went to McGinnis Slough. There were more birds there, but they were not always easy to see. However, it’s already been so long since we’ve seen some of them, I’m including several so-so photos that probably wouldn’t have made the cut back in August. But it’s nice to look back a bit, and discover and learn a couple things along the way.

The first bird photographed that day was a young-looking Gray Catbird.

Closer to the trail, I could not resist a Green-darner Dragonfly.

Great Egrets were numerous, but not necessarily easy to see. The one or two closest were behind vegetation, and except for one perched in a tree, those gathered out in the marsh were generally obscured as well.

Mallards galore sat in the shallow water where I usually expect to see Wood Ducks instead.

Then I noticed a Spotted Sandpiper. For a little while, I was seeing a few shorebirds.

Kildeer started flying around and making themselves heard while doing it.

Then I saw a Solitary Sandpiper fly in. I later captured it flying away, nearly out of the frame but providing a clearer shot of what this bird looks like in flight.

Here’s the closest Great Egret I managed to photograph.

I saw a frog, which I have now identified as a Northern Leopard Frog thanks to the Internet.

There were a few warblers that day too. I barely saw this Common Yellowthroat, which appears to be a juvenile.

I saw a juvenile or female Yellow Warbler.

And I found a Tennessee Warbler as well.

This was the perfect time to see juvenile birds exploring their world. Here’s a young Red-bellied Woodpecker.

I found a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher in the tangles.

Here’s the last photo of a Great Egret flying past the trees.

For what it’s worth, it may as well be August today. Our high temperatures are back in the 80’s. It’s very windy and dry. We will be cooling off in a couple days and there’s some rain in the forecast for Thursday and a lot more for the first few days of November. I have absolutely no idea where that is coming from, but I’ll be eager to see it. We haven’t had any overnight freezing temperatures yet and we won’t start flirting with them until well into November. My hope is that we will still have mental space for the weather by then.

I’ll try to be back before Halloween with more current captures…not too scary.