It’s hard lately to shake the feeling that we are unwittingly participating in a very bad movie, or wishing that it was only a dream from which we could all wake up. Perhaps my feelings of powerlessness intensified that much more by not being able to go for a walk in the respective woods for almost an entire week. I have been happy to go back to the trails the last couple days.
I’m here with photos from three recent visits to the Chicago Portage: January 18, 25 and 26. I was back there this morning for the splendid warmup we are experiencing and I’ll return with those photos later. Here’s last week and a half. The 18th was cold and rather cloudy.
I didn’t have the opportunity to photograph many birds, but that’s been all one can expect lately. I found a couple American Goldfinches. I’ve been staring at the last photo below trying to figure out the bird’s position.
I caught a glimpse of a departing Downy Woodpecker.
One cold-looking male House Finch sat still.
And a Black-capped Chickadee appeared briefly.
I managed to capture a White-throated Sparrow.
My last photo was of the sun through the clouds.
The 25th signified a warmup of sorts and sunshine. I was encouraged to see Muskrat tracks, if not the actual Muskrat.
The birds were foraging close to the bridge near Harlem,
I followed a White-throated Sparrow as it foraged.
An American Robin sat looking at me with snow on its beak.
There were several American Tree Sparrows and I followed this busy one.
The Des Plaines River was covered in snow.,
I encountered a few deer.
On the 26th, there was some more sunshine, and a Red-bellied Woodpecker was the first bird I was able to photograph.
Dark-eyed Juncos foraged on the ground close to the trail.
One Downy Woodpecker wanted me to take his picture.
I saw a Song Sparrow down by the frozen water.
American Tree Sparrows were busy again.
The Northern Cardinal at the top of the post was content to sit and watch me.
The deer were back,
Tracks left by humans walking on the ice covered up the Muskrat’s tracks from the previous day.
And I was surprised later when I discovered a distant Fox Sparrow in my photos.
Today is the first day I have not worn long underwear in quite a while. In fact, it’s so warm right now I went out to refresh the water in the birdbaths a little while ago and I didn’t even put my coat on. I have been refilling the birdbaths two or three times a day lately, it’s so dry. I am looking forward to the rain that is forecast for Thursday and Friday.
I tried to get some photos of the birds in the yard last week when it was too cold to be outside. Here’s one.
Don’t ask me to explain what the title of this post means. It popped into my head last night when I started writing. To be continued. 🙂
Thanks, Lisa. I apprecite the photos. Julie and I have been out whenever we can with lots of clothing. Saturday, Sunday and yesterday were each good for three mile plus walks on the Old Plank Trail.
For our treat, we have a pair of pileated woodpeckers in the woods right behind our house and they frequent our yard to put on a show.
Thank you, Jim! That sounds like heaven to me – Pileated Woodpeckers in the yard! I admit I haven’t expanded my range in quite a while. I plan to expand a bit as soon as the days get just a little bit longer. The birds are already starting to sing a bit.
I wait with interest to find out what the title meant to you when you thought of it. I can think of quite a few things that I would like to change the subject about, but they keep on intruding. In the meantime, I enjoyed your pictures.
Oh I don’t know, it just seems like headline mania around here. Too many elephants in the room. I think we are both probably thinking on similar wavelengths. Thanks, Tom.
Movement on top of the ice, human and muskrat were interesting additions to sidetrack us from the infrequency of birds, this time of the year. Deer photos are always fun to look at.
At least the deer still seem to find us interesting.