Category Archives: birds

The Birds Are Back: 2 – a Weekend Birding the Chicago Portage

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Last Saturday morning, I led the first of two Unity Temple Auction bird walks at the Chicago Portage. After the group left, I stayed and found more birds with Bob Smith. I went back again the next day. Both days were cloudy and sometimes even a little drizzly, which did not make for great photographs, but I took too many photos anyway. Spring migration is finally rolling.

Before I go further, I just wanted to share the photograph below that reminds me of a wallpaper pattern. Birds have a natural artistic sense.

Baltimore Oriole Wallpaper

WARNING: This post has too many photographs. You may get dizzy. I certainly did trying to get them all in here. For the sake of expediency I am forsaking any attempt at order. Sort of.

American Redstarts are always a challenge, even in good light.

Below is a first-year male American Redstart.

And then a second year or older male…

There have been a lot of thrushes at the Portage. Below are Swainson’s Thrushes.

I have seen several Gray-cheeked Thrushes too. The unfortunate lack of light didn’t help with the images of the one below.

Gray-cheeked Thrush

Northern Waterthrushes, several of which have been present lately, are a different type of New World Warbler. They’re not thrushes. I thought I heard somewhere that they now had their own classification, but they are still in the parulidae family.

Another Northern Waterthrush, down close to the water where they normally forage.

Yellow-rumped Warblers are still around.

Back to the Thrushes. Below are two individual Veerys seen on both days.

Scarlet Tanagers are back. A pair could stay to breed at the Chicago Portage.

Female Scarlet Tanager

Indigo Buntings are back to raise families as well.

Female Indigo Bunting

My Indigo Bunting friend Tadziu was not available when I led the group through the trails, but he showed up later on Saturday. Below the photos is a video I took of him the Thursday before, which has some of his song.

If you remember my Flicker Mania post from April 15 when Northern Flickers were Everywhere, by contrast, it’s now definitely a challenge to catch a glimpse of one of them.

A busy Northern Flicker

House Wrens fill the air with their chattery songs. Most are staying for the summer.

A House Wren

Tennessee Warblers can also make a lot of noise, but they have been difficult to spot.

A Baltimore Oriole is below, collecting material for her fabulously constructed nest.

This Black-throated Green Warbler almost disappeared into the green.

Blue-gray Gnatcatchers are not easy to spot these days. They’re way up high and maybe even a little harder to hear with their wheezy song.

They were much easier to see just a couple weeks ago.

Another bird that can be heard everywhere but makes a rare appearance – a Warbling Vireo.

I barely caught a glimpse of a female Common Yellowthroat (in the first two photos below) and then discovered I had by chance barely captured the male as well. This is a warbler of open fields and some park-like settings, and is most often found in shrubby habitat. They stay all summer and you might even forget about them were it not for often hearing the male singing his “witchety wichety” song loudly from some hidden location.

Below is an Eastern Wood-Pewee, a flycatcher that normally stays through the summertime at the Portage. It has a lyrical song for a flycatcher that can often be heard from quite far away. If I hear one singing closer, I will have to see if I can record him.

On Sunday I saw the Great-crested Flycatcher below. Ebird tells me I saw my first one this year on May 9.

Empidonax flycatchers are often tricky to identify, especially without accompanying vocalizations. I believe the bird below is a Least Flycatcher, which is also the Least Difficult to ascertain.

Another Swainson’s Thrush is below. I finally heard one singing yesterday.

Swainson’s Thrush

It was hard to capture a Nashville Warbler those two days.

I have since seen more Magnolia Warblers and I promise to post some better pictures soon.

We still had a Dark-eyed Junco last weekend, which came up rare for such a late date.

Chestnut-sided Warblers have been around for a week or more. I promise better photos to come of this bird too.

Below is one of two Osprey that flew over late Saturday morning.

The Wilson’s Warbler below was kind enough to offer his most reliable field mark, although in better light, I can wax rhapsodic over Wilson’s Warbler Yellow.

Northern Cardinals might be a little puzzled – or bored – by all the fuss over the influx of other brightly-colored birds. They seem less bothered by the camera’s attention lately.

We saw a Beaver swimming in the stream Saturday morning. We also saw a Muskrat later but I didn’t get a respectable photo.

Swallows were busy. There were Northern Rough-winged Swallows… which I saw, incidentally, this morning before it started to rain.

And there were Barn Swallows.

White-crowned Sparrows were easier to see.

I saw my first Blackpoll Warbler last weekend.

One more Indigo Bunting

I promise not to do this again…it’s too hard to organize. But I just had to let loose with these photos before diving into the rest of them. Spring Migration is like the Holy Grail.

I was praying for rain this morning but the forecast was indecisive, so I went to the Portage. It started to rain in earnest about twenty minutes after I got there, so I switched priorities and did my grocery shopping. I will go back out to swim shortly. My new plants are grateful for the rain. And since I didn’t manage to stay up late last night to finish this post, so am I.

Tomorrow is the second auction bird walk and the forecast couldn’t be better. We should have plenty of sunshine which will make it easier to see the birds.

The Birds Are Back: I

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I have been out every morning, even a few times in the rain, anticipating arrivals. Nearly every day has produced another species. And with warmer weather the last few days, I have seen 40+ species in either of my most-frequented locations.

These photos are from May 4th at the Portage, with the exception of the Baltimore Oriole at the top of the post who perched right in front of me yesterday and insisted on having his picture taken. A lot has transpired since May 4 but I figure I have to start somewhere.

Yellow Warblers have been abundant lately.

Warbling Vireos are recognized more often by their song. They’re not always easy to see. So I was particularly happy to capture this one somewhat.

Even before the Baltimore Orioles began arriving, I saw this male Orchard Oriole. I saw one again yesterday and now I’m wondering if perhaps there will be a breeding pair.

It was a little tricky following the Nashville Warbler below.

At some point I will devote more space to some better Yellow-rumped Warbler and Ruby-crowned Kinglet photos, but these were just in the sampling for this day.

Yellow-rumped Warbler
Ruby-crowned Kinglet

It wasn’t until I got home and took my pictures off the camera that I realized there was a Green Heron sitting to the right of the Great Egret.

Turtles are back, enjoying the sunshine.

Perhaps one could imagine a conversation between the Great Egret and the turtles.

I’m always happy to see a White-throated Sparrow. It’s been even better to hear them sing lately.

Chipmunks are sometimes curious enough to sit still.

I don’t try to get photos of Red-winged Blackbirds too often now that they are everywhere but I happened to capture this one in flight.

Below is a Song Sparrow in a quieter moment.

The Portage is very green now, over the burn.

It’s wonderful to see swallows again. Tree Swallows are everywhere.

Somehow I captured this Northern Rough-winged Swallow. I like the reflections in the water.

Barn Swallows were swooping low over the water too.

It took the Palm Warblers just a little while to get here but they are quite comfortable showing up everywhere and taking their time about it, which the photographer greatly appreciates.

European Starlings do well at the Portage. Some are nesting in the mouth of the statue.

A Brown-headed Cowbird atop the statue

Meanwhile back at the bungalow, the indoor crowd is cheering me on. After the Spring Music Festival, suddenly I have several non-paying gigs, so to speak, for which I have begun to learn a lot of new music. I am accompanying a soprano for the choir talent show. Linda the flutist and I are playing for the first Sunday service in July and I am also playing for the second service. I blame it all on the birds. Now that they expect me to play piano every single day, they have convinced me I can play everything.

I am trying to look at this philosophically. If I started playing piano at 2, it’s only fitting I go out the same way I came in.

I will be back with Lots More Spring Migration Photos: I hope sooner than later.

Meanwhile Back at the Bungalow

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As promised, here is a little update on the home crowd, inside and out.

Below is an early group shot of three of the five new Zebra Finch fledglings, with what I can probably assume is their mother on the left. Since I have not yet had a chance to name them, they remain First Bird, Third Bird, and Second Bird. Second Bird on the end is the most “normal” looking and will probably be difficult to distinguish once he/she reaches adulthood. But I am having fun keeping track of what markings survive the transition.

Below is a little video of First Bird being fed by his dad a couple weeks ago.

He started growing up rapidly. See how different he looks below. And immediately as he started to acquire adult plumage, he started trying to sing. You can hear his attempts in the video below – it’s the squishy little babbling sounds he’s making. He will be working on a song for a long, long time. With any luck I will be able to keep track of his progress.

Below, left, is Third Bird – I am sure she is a “she.” She has her dad wrapped around her little beak – she should be feeding herself by now, but she still begs for food even after trying out some food on her own, and her dad, being new at all of this, doesn’t seem to quite know how to say no.

Below in the second photo, I think the birds are Fifth Bird in front, with Second and First Bird toward the back of the photo.

Moving out to the yard one day, I managed to take some photographs in the snow.

At first it seemed all I would be able to do is capture the cardinals through the back porch windows, which makes for a blurry situation.

Then I did manage to go out a couple times without scaring everyone away. Three of the seven or eight Mourning Doves I have seen in the yard lately were happy to sit still when they knew I couldn’t get a good photo of them.

I don’t seem to get as many House Finches as I used to. In any event, the pair below were just barely visible from the back steps.

The woodpeckers tend to show up less often when the horde of House Sparrows is present.

I did finally manage to capture one of the male Northern Cardinals that frequent the yard.

Since these photos were taken, all last month, we had more snow and it has now all melted away.

I have heard cardinals singing the last few mornings, confirming that the days are getting longer. In spite of all the sameness and slowness of winter birds, I have come across a few surprises lately. I hope to be back with them soon.

As a sad postscript to this post, I am sorry to report that First Bird sailed right over my head and out the front door yesterday morning as I was leaving. He flew across the street and beyond, never to be seen again. I am quite confident he will not survive. I did wake up praying for an unlikely miracle this morning – that I might at least see him one more time – but more realistically, I suspect he is gone. We have had rain overnight and off and on all day, which is going to turn into snow later. Nothing even a precocious young Zebra Finch can handle. I miss his attempts at singing, and hope that I have another young male in development, though it is too early to tell. I haven’t lost a bird to the outside for years. I will have to be much more careful going in and out with youngsters around. But he was moving so fast and was so determined, I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if he had been planning his escape for days.