I was going to try and be more current, but it’s been a really busy week. Life is short. So why not take a peek at some photos way back from September 8? A time of drought and young Mallards in the Des Plaines Reiver. But it looks like it was a beautiful day in Riverside anyway. I discovered afterwards that I was shooting on the second memory card because I had forgotten to put the compact flash disc back in the camera. I think the images are a little flatter, but crisp (I could be describing biscuits, or does it sound more like wine?).

A Great Blue Heron flew over the river and landed in a tree.

The Chestnut-sided Warbler at the top of the post gave me some nice views.

A young American Robin surveyed the scene before it.

A Great Egret fished from a mudflat along the curve in the river.

It was a good day for the Osprey to hunt over the shallow water.

It found something to go after and was successful.

Other summery delights were available in the bright sunlight: two Blue Jays, a Monarch butterfly, a Northern Flicker barely hiding in the tree leaves.

And then I found a Northern Waterthrush on the rocks.

Back to my parked car by the Hofmann Tower, I found a Great Blue Heron was preening its feathers across the river.

I still hear refrains from the wonderful music we sang on Saturday night for the Best of the Unity Temple Choir concert. It seemed nearly impossible at the outset that we would ever pull it off after several setbacks, but our indefatigable and inspiring conductor Martha (“Marty”) Swisher made it all happen with wonderful musicians and guest soloists, not to mention fabulous lighting effects and graphics which I hope to see eventually in a video replay.

In a few days I will get back to birding and more blog posts. In the meantime, I have been helping my lifelong friend since junior high school while she is in town, we have been going swimming, and I have been enjoying cooking up a storm for more than one.