Today is a quiet, cloudy, rainy day and I am trying to stay distracted enough by getting some things done around the house. But while I sit here sipping coffee with an ice pack on my knee, I may as well send off another blog post. Here are some relatively recent photos from three visits to Riverside on October 25, October 28 and November 1.

October 25. I always check first by the Hofmann Tower to see if the Great Blue Heron who hangs out along this part of the river is present. I didn’t see it right away, but after looking from the bridge at Joliet Avenue I found it tucked in one of its favorite locations off the edge of the former dam.

It was a quiet walk through Swan Pond, with a Red-bellied Woodpecker investigating a nearby tree.

Dark-eyed Juncos like this side of the river and I have often seen them foraging not too far from the paved trail.

I managed to find a Golden-crowned Kinglet.

And a male House Finch was somewhat available.

The second Great Blue Heron that was around through the end of last month was over by the bend in the river near the library.

Canada Geese and Mallards were there too.

I decided to take a photo of the Swinging Bridge while it was surrounded in some autumn color. It looks like we got a little rain the day before.

In Riverside Lawn, I was quite happy to find a young-looking Lincoln’s Sparrow.

There were a couple Hermit Thrushes as well but they proved difficult to see.

On October 28, I counted two Great Blue Herons but took photos of only one. I reported only 14 species for that day and most of them were Canada Geese and Mallards that must not have commanded my attention. I suspect I heard more birds than I saw.

A Downy Woodpecker was busy as usual. And that was about It.

Then on November 1, there were three Killdeer by the Hofmann Tower.

This time I saw only the Great Blue Heron by the Hofmann Tower.

The shadow outlining the Dark-eyed Junco’s chin below makes an interesting comment.

I heard, and then saw at quite a distance, a male Belted Kingfisher.

This was a great day for a White-throated Sparrow to sit perfectly lit for a photo session.

Mallards were preening.

In Riverside Lawn, pretty convinced the kingfisher was going to be bird-of-the-day, I was surprised to suddenly see a Carolina Wren investigated a crevice in a tree, not too far off the ground. It disappeared into the thickness of twigs and fallen logs by the river’s edge. I stood still, made a few little pishing noises to see if I could get it to pop back out again. And then, it did, landing on a log right in front of my camera, posing for a few pictures before it took off again. I have been looking for a Carolina Wren all year at this location, so I was quite happy about this encounter.

I barely managed to capture a Golden-crowned Kinglet.

And I had a hungry Black-capped Chickadee.

I hope to get back out tomorrow morning after all the rain. It will be interesting to see how high the river will be after this prolonged drought. I hope it will also be interesting to see the looks on people’s faces as they walk by with their dogs and perambulators. We could all use some more smiles.