Monthly Archives: February 2026

Putzing Around the Portage

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The winter cold is back and even though it’s not quite as frigid as before, I can’t say I am getting used to it. So even if I have not been out for as many walks lately, looking back at photos I took a few weeks ago doesn’t seem too out of place. If anything, there seemed to be more birds.

Here are a few glimpses I got of coyotes at the Chicago Portage on January 29th and February 3rd. I haven’t seen them since, but I’m sure they are still around. I saw two on the 3rd but didn’t manage to get them into one photo.

Also on the 3rd, a nice visit from the Red-shouldered Hawk.

The light was beautiful that day for this American Tree Sparrow.

Since I nearly always see an American Robin if not a whole flock of them, I don’t always take the time to photograph them, but they are certainly good subjects. If nothing else, they are used to us.

I think the White-tailed Deer have had a hard time of it this winter. I haven’t seem them much, but have seen and heard of remains of them after falling through ice. I saw the young doe below on January 29.

Here are a couple more shots from February 3. An American Robin and female Northern Cardinal.

After letting several days of cold, windy, gloomy conditions keep me off the trail, I returned to the Chicago Portage this morning. The sun was shining at the time, which made it somewhat easier to keep moving. I will be back soon.

February Ducks and Eagles

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Cold weekend field trips, if you will, got us through early February. Here are some photos from a trip on Sunday, February 8, to the Calumet region, in search of waterfowl where much of Lake Michigan and rivers were frozen. We started out at the Cal Sag Channel and then moved to the Bend of the Little Calumet River where we had some Mute Swans.

Ducks seen frequently that day included Common Goldeneye, Greater Scaup, Red-breasted Mergansers and Redheads.

I lost track of exactly where some of these photos were taken, but these Greater Scaup may have been at the Cal Sag Channel.

We did see three Great Blue Herons at Cal Sag Channel. I followed one in flight over the water.

O’Brien Lock & Dam had some Hooded Mergansers that I barely captured.

And we had a lot of Bald Eagles near the CID Landfill area. My best photos were of younger birds.

Regional scenes included the old bridge over the Calumet River and a view of the frozen Lake Michigan with the Gary, Indiana steel mills in the distance.

At Steelworkers Park along Lake Michigan, we had the greatest number of Redheads, certainly more than I have ever seen.

Finishing up at Steelworker’s, an American Crow flew into view. I can never resist a crow.

There are other field trips to report on, but this is all I can manage for the moment. What started out as a head cold a couple weeks ago turned into a general malaise that attacked my body intermittently with various, if brief, ailments, making naps moire frequent and doing whatever I had to do just to get through the day, so to speak. I am happy to report that I feel much better everyday, and today feels 99% normal. It doesn’t hurt either to be experiencing a brief warmup after our dip into severe cold the last couple of weeks: I am no longer wearing long underwear, although I can’t say I’ve put it away yet…

Feeder Birds

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I have been out for a walk here, a walk there, more for the exercise than anything else, but yesterday was too snowy and blowy to go for a walk. I looked out my back door and saw half a dozen Pine Siskins on the thistle feeders. That was exciting, as it’s been years since I’ve had Pine Siskins in the yard. Of course, by the time I grabbed the camera, they were gone.

But I went out into the yard and managed to take some photos. American Goldfinches are always good subjects.

I counted eleven Dark-eyed Juncos. They have been hanging out in the yard all winter.

I was quite happy to see a pair of White-breasted Nuthatches,

I also had a female Downy Woodpecker and a female House Finch.

Of course, House Sparrows were in good number.

It wasn’t untl I got back inside that one Pine Siskin returned to the feeders. So I took some fuzzy pictures through the screens.

At one point a White-breasted Nuthatch was hanging on a thistle feeder before it relocated to the peanut feeder.

I was out of commission much of last week with a bad cold, but I am back to singing, walking and swimming and feeling much better. I have a weekend of field trips ahead and hope to be back with something to report soon.