Poking around in the snow, Monday morning in Riverside, Tuesday morning at the Chicago Portage, back to Riverside on Thursday and Friday back at the Chicago Portage…enveloped in silence with very few humans and hardly any birds… so every individual stood out as extraordinary. Before I take us further back in time to when everything was livelier, I am reporting the week’s creatures.
This is always a good time of year to see woodpeckers, when they stand out against the stark tree trunks and branches. Red-bellied Woodpeckers are quite consistent. Here’s a few more photos of the individual at the top of the post.
Tuesday at the Chicago Portage, I decided to only walk the paved trail as the snow and ice was too much of a slog. In spite of the short distance, I managed to see a few birds.
I saw a couple White-throated Sparrows.
A Red Squirrel and two White-tailed Deer were available.
And I managed to get a distant view of the Red-shouldered Hawk that I’ve seen here lately.
Wednesday’s forecast for a walk was prohibitive, so I only went swimming. Then on Thursday, I decided to visit Riverside, where the only creature of note was a beaver I saw swimming in the river while I was standing on the swinging bridge. It swam to the shore line and had a bite to eat before swimming back out again. For what it’s worth, there have been some Mallards and Canada Geese in the river, but no other ducks yet, and the water level is still rather low.
On Friday at the Chicago Portage, I saw a few American Robins.
An American Tree Sparrow perched over the trail.
I saw a Fox Sparrow, but it stayed well-hidden from my lens.
This time of year is also a great opportunity to see Northern Cardinals in the snow.
And there were three deer down the trail.
After going out in the yard yesterday morning to fill and hang feeders, I determined it was too cold and gloomy to go for a walk. While I missed taking the walk for mental and physical clarity, I had enough things to do indoors to keep me busy. I’m now gearing up for this morning’s challenge of getting to choir at 0 degrees Fahrenheit. I just came in from hanging feeders in the backyard. There is no noticeable wind, but the forecast says it feels like -18.
Tomorrow I will likely start baking loaves of Cinnamon Oatmeal Raisin Bread, which I can easily store on the porch. I can bake four loaves at a time, and between the inclement weather and a growing bread list, I can’t think of a finer way to close out the year.
Another set of lovely photos and a chance to add to my knowledge of American birds. The Cardinal shots are brilliant.
The Cardinals never disappoint me, even when I can’t grab a photo, they’re just good company. They tend to come to my feeders in the yard at dawn and dusk, either because they feel less conspicuous or because they want to avoid the crowd, or both.
If they feel the need to be inconspicuous, they are doomed to disappointment – possibly one of the most recognisable birds of North America. 🙂
I may be reading too much into the Cardinals’ behavior patterns, but I have observed that in general, hawks are late risers and they tend to hunt in the middle of the day, so that could explain why the Cardinals show up more often early and late in the yard.
That seems a fair deduction. The only birds of prey we see around are Red Kites and they seem to be middle of the day birds to – perhaps due to their use of thermals. I know that’s the case with vultures as I once spoke to a knowledgeable ornithologist on the subject., so it could happen with lighter birds too.
You did very well to get in the conditions. I enjoyed the resulting collection of pictures.
Thank you. At this point I’m happy to get anything in focus with a pair of gloves on… 🙂
Some impressive cold seasonal photos Lisa. The frigid weather provides some good opportunities for some “sunny day” snowy pictures. Well that is if you are tough enough to do the walk. It appears you were.
Thanks, Bob. I’ve given in to the single-digit forecast this morning and stayed home to make soup before I go swimming, but I plan to be back out for a walk tomorrow, just because…