I’d been trying to come up with another post, but as luck would have it, this morning’s brief walk in cloudy gloom by the Des Plaines River produced a few nice little surprises which, when combined with the birds I saw on Friday morning, make up this one.

There have been a pair of Canada Geese that like to stand on the wall by the Hofmann Tower for ages, and today they were joined by two more. But as I started to walk, there were only a few Mallards in the river.

i had been expecting to see waterfowl this morning, but the land birds surprised me instead. A few other things were on my mind too, like memorizing the lyrics to Christopher Tin’s “Baba Yetu” while walking. I could sing softly and try to get the Swahili to roll off my tongue in time for Wednesday’s choir rehearsal. On the paved trail, as I was coming to the bend in the river, a couple Eastern Bluebirds came to greet me. The first one flew in and held his ground even as another human came up behind me as I tried to focus the camera in gloomy light. I can only wonder if my singing had anything to do with it, because these Bluebirds were downright friendly. By that time, I was no longer singing, but praising them as they sat for the camera.

When I got to the swinging bridge, there were hardly any birds in the water, but flocks of geese were in the air.

In Riverside Lawn, I might have sung for a Red-bellied Woodpecker.

And its frequent sidekick, a White-breasted Nuthatch…

There were a couple Brown Creepers flitting about, but they were hard to capture.

The last bird to check me out was a Golden-crowned Kinglet.

Friday was a different story. Most of the birds were on the water or in the air. Standing on the swinging bridge, I got some close photos of Red-breasted Mergansers I had been seeing but only at a distance.

Farther north from the swinging bridge there were a lot of what looked to be mostly Common Goldeneye. Next time if I see that many birds in the water, I think I’ll try walking a little farther.

There was nothing worth photographing in Riverside Lawn on Friday. The trail was still muddy from melting snow and ice, but the parking lot puddles I usually wash off my boots in were dried up, so I walked down to the river’s edge to wash my boots and as I stood in the water, a couple small flocks of Sandhill Cranes flew in the distance.

My thanks goes to the Bluebirds for giving me something cheery to write about, a change from the cold and snow. We have warmed up a bit, but the forecast for the next couple of days is for rain and possibly some wet snow, so maybe I will get back to those birds from the last week or two and it won’t seem too out of context.