On my visit to the Chicago Portage Thursday morning, I expected to see very little, and most of the walk, at first, met my expectations. I captured a Mourning Dove flying by.

A Ruby Meadowhawk posed for me on a hairy stem of something,

And then I saw a warbler very briefly, which turned out to be a Blue-winged Warbler.

I next photographed a juvenile Indigo Bunting.

Goldfinches were busy and perhaps too challenging to photograph. But I challenge you to find the American Goldfinch in this photo.

Here’s one more American Goldfinch, in flight.

I followed a yellow Tennessee Warbler. They come in two different colors, yellow and blue. I have only yellow ones in this post.

I could not help but notice a dead tree full of Northern Flickers. There are 9 of them in this photo,

I saw a nice Bay-breasted Warbler.

I was looking at some moving leaves near the trail, but I couldn’t see any birds in them. I looked up and saw that a Red Squirrel was causing the leaf action by dropping bits of chewed nut.

I heard and then caught a brief look at a Swainson’s Thrush.

Then, as if on cue, I started seeing some warblers foraging in low-growing vegetation, which made them easier to photograph. I first found a young male American Redstart.

And then there were one or two Magnolia Warblers.

A Nashville Warbler was in the mix.

Another Bay-breasted Warbler appeared.

Another American Redstart, Nashville Warbler and Tennessee Warbler below,

The American Redstart below is a female.

Here’s two more Bay-breasted Warblers. I included the first photo because it’s so different. I can’t recall ever studying the thighs of a Bay-breasted Warbler before. The last photo is a different individual.

Here’s one more lovely Tennessee Warbler.

I must have been in a trance when I started photographing the fascinating scene of action below, because I had no memory of seeing all these birds until I went through my photos later. Northern Flickers and American Kestrels were jockeying for position in the same tree. I apologize for the tiny images but it’s really the only way to show what was going on.

Always up for action, two Ruby-throated Hummingbirds got into it.

More action occurred when a Northern Flicker took after one of the American Kestrels.

Here’s a closer look at one of the kestrels. This is the same bird at the top of the post. The other Kestrel sat perched quietly in the tree the whole time.

And here are two Northern Flickers.

So that was my unexpectedly busy morning at the Chicago Portage. It probably didn’t hurt that there was plenty of sunshine and warmer temperatures. But we are getting really dry again. There’s a chance for rain tomorrow morning, which would interfere with a scheduled walk at Thatcher Woods, but personally I am hoping for rain.