I fully intended to do this post a week and a half ago, while we were still romancing the idea of a warm fall migration season. I’ll still be looking back, but I’ve been busy with the upcoming choir concert and the impending arrival of a house guest – something that doesn’t happen all that often when you live with birds, not that anything in their lives will change – and as life becomes evermore complicated, I find I have an intense determination to simplify things. I’m sorry that doesn’t seem to have made its way into my writing.

So here are some photos from the end of September at the Chicago Portage. The 28th and the 30th, to be exact. I almost wrote the end of December. Our weather has finally and suddenly taken a chilly turn.

There weren’t many birds on the 28th. Perhaps the least common was the Rose-breasted Grosbeak below.

Red-winged Blackbirds started to show up here and there in preparation for joining flocks moving south.

And Common Grackles were amusing themselves with the abundance of huge walnuts.

I caught a glimpse of an American Redstart. Actually, this is the most common view of this species in any season.

And on my way out, a White-tailed Deer crossed the path.

On September 30, I first noticed a Yellow-rumped Warbler on the bridge by Harlem.

Then as I looked out from the bring into the shallow stream covered in duckweed, I saw a Muskrat. I had somehow managed to get out of the house a bit earlier that morning, and I suspect that I might have been keeping Muskrat hours.

Another Yellow-rumped Warbler was in the duckweed.

Then, I caught a new view of a Rose-breasted Grosbeak. I have never seen the red under the wings before!

The camera found an Indigo Bunting or two.

I got lucky with Lincoln Sparrows and took far too many photos of them. This was the first individual I saw.

I saw a Song Sparrow across the water.

Then I found another interesting Song Sparrow that almost looked strongly striped like a Fox Sparrow, while its belly was unstreaked. It’s sometimes amazing to me how varied individuals in this species can be.

Yellow-rumped Warblers can look quite different too.

I found a Downy Woodpecker working hard on a tree limb. The first photo is blurred by how fast she was drumming.

Another Yellow-rumped Warbler was fading into the leaves.

Here’s the second Lincoln’s Sparrow. This might also be the same one at the top of the post. I was sitting on the picnic table close to the water when the sparrow popped up on a nearby log.

I watched a Red-bellied Woodpecker grab something to eat.

And then, when I returned to the bridge near Harlem, I found an Ovenbird foraging in the leaf litter. It was then joined by a Yellow-rumped Warbler.

I caught another view of the Ovenbird after that.

Palm Warblers have been somewhat scarce this fall. I was used to seeing them everywhere in previous years.

Here’s another Palm Warbler, and a Yellow-rumped Warbler below it. The Palm Warbler has yellow underneath its tail, and you can’t always see the yellow on the other’s rump.

Well, that’s about it for the moment. I have lots more to share, I just have to find the time and the mental space to do so. It feels good to be sitting here with some coffee after singing this morning in choir while the temperature fell and it rained steadily. It’s easier to be inside under those circumstances. It looks like we will be much cooler now than we have been, but not freezing yet. I am thankful for the rain on the new plants I put in the ground last week. And I’m looking forward to digging into a challenging week ahead, with rehearsals, arrivals, laughter, tears, more birds, more music, more reasons to keep going.