Birdz Cookies: 1 Week Later

Posted on January 31, 2016 by Lisa Rest

As planned, I got out to Millennium Park again on Friday, with pretty much the same menu options. The Birdz Cookies were one week older, but the Crows didn’t seem to mind. The snow was for the most part gone and the sun poked out from behind the clouds every now and then.

The squirrels may turn their noses up at hot dogs, but they like the Birdz Cookies.

There were a lot more birds than last time. See if you can pick out the White-Throated Sparrow among these House Sparrows.

Visitors included a male Northern Cardinal and a couple Black-Capped Chickadees.

But what I really wasn’t expecting to see was a Brown Thrasher! They normally start showing up around April.

I knew this was going to make my list exciting so I was that much more pleased when the Thrasher gave me several good pictures.

The photographic data I submitted to ebird was more than sufficient. I found it funny though that the Thrasher was the only sighting on the Rare Bird Alert for the entire county on Friday.

What I suspect is going on with the Thrasher is that it is expanding its year-round range, which now cuts off at the southern tip of Illinois. This is likely the effect of global warming. So the data is important for that reason alone. This particular bird might be related to the male declaring his territory near the BP Bridge a couple years ago.

What I didn’t know about Brown Thrashers is that they eat seeds, so that explains why the bird came back to explore the food some more.

The crows got their fill of hot dogs.

On the way back I stopped at the Boeing sculpture garden and saw two beautiful female Northern Cardinals and a couple more White-Throated Sparrows.

So even though I hardly get out during the week, it’s still possible to find something unexpected. This is part of the magical attraction to birding. You can never predict what will happen.

(This post has been recreated, replacing photos that were inadvertently never “attached” and therefore deleted.)

Birdz Cookies

Posted on January 29, 2016 by Lisa Rest

The weather finally turned cold enough last week to warrant baking the Birdz Cookies, which have gone through several iterations over time. I have managed to find a way to cut down on the sugar content and increase the peanut butter, which suits the Crows just fine.

I was quite pleased that the Crows went for the cookies first, saving the hot dogs and peanuts for later. So I guess baking cookies is the way to a Crow’s heart…

There were a few White-Throated Sparrows too. It still amuses me that they have chosen Millennium Park for a winter habitat, but I suspect they picked up lots of tips from the House Sparrows and are able to get enough food and shelter to make a go of it. On this day there was only one individual available for pictures.

I haven’t been out to see the Crows all week but I’m going to visit them today. Very chilly today but we are supposed to have a two-day warming trend.

Until the next post, I leave you with a few more pictures from last Friday. It’s very likely the Crows are paying attention while I’m posting this and salivating in advance.

AMCR 1-22-16-9969

AMCR 1-22-16-0027 AMCR 1-22-16-9974

WTSP 1-22-16-9956

WTSP 1-22-16-9959 AMCR 1-22-16-0001

Crow Celebration

Posted on November 30, 2015 by Lisa Rest

As I was going through the accumulated mail this weekend, I found the latest issue of the Chicago Audubon Compass and as I was reading down the list of presenters at the upcoming Birding America XI which will happen on March 19, 2016, I saw that Kevin McGowan from Cornell University is the keynote speaker!! I am so excited! Kevin McGowan studies CROWS, and I found I knew a lot of what he was talking about from his video presentation last year, “To Know The Crow: Insights and Stories From A Quarter-Century Of Crow Study” which is still available for viewing on the Cornell website.

Kevin McGowan was all excited about following the peanut tradition, but I wonder if he knows the power of hot dogs. I bought some new hot dogs yesterday to start off the cold weather season. I may start spoiling my crow friends later this week. In the meantime here are a few crow pix that didn’t make it into previous posts.

I can hardly wait to continue my crow study which always goes better during the winter months when there are fewer distractions…

Winding Down

Posted on August 26, 2015 by Lisa Rest

These days are beginning to feel like writing classes where I’ve been given three totally unrelated objects and have to write a story connecting them. Apologies if my posts seem a bit disjointed lately. It’s been hard to get out of the office: we’re moving on Friday…

Ovenbird, Lake Shore East Park

There was one rather nice day last week at Lake Shore East Park. I was almost starting to believe in fall migration. The Ovenbird above popped out near where I was sitting and posed for more pictures than I can possibly use.

Young Common Grackle checks out the fountain pool.

Female Scarlet Tanager in the trees by the children’s play area

The fountain pool designed to look like a riverbed

Several young crows were in attendance. They greeted me on the ledge across from the Radisson just upstairs from Lake Shore East Park.

I don’t know what these flowers are, but the Eastern Comma below was enjoying them.

On the way back, the wall-of-water fountain at the west end of the Aon Center looked refreshing on a warm day. The Aon is the third tallest building in Chicago. It’s recently been sold, so there may be some changes to the name and the landscaping in the future.

Here’s where those totally unrelated things come in. I made myself get out Sunday morning even though it was cloudy and threatening rain. Not willing to chance going far, I went to the Portage, of course, and did not find too many more birds than the ones below.

Great Blue Heron, Chicago Portage

American Robin

Where there used to be water, now there is marsh

Here’s one more picture of my friendly Ovenbird.

And one more of the inside of the Comma.

The winds have shifted the last few days, bringing cool air in from the north. The forecast is for warbler migration to start occurring along the lakefront today through the rest of the week. I am trying to ignore the forecast and am almost glad it’s cloudy because I won’t get out today. There was one American Redstart, likely a first-year male, at 155 N. Wacker this morning.

I know this slow wait to get back out will be over soon. In spite of my complaining, I look forward to fall which is my favorite season, and feel energized by the cooler weather. Enough to make me feel a bit like I’m on the verge of Something.

Crow Post: Getting Caught Up with the Crows

Posted on July 5, 2015 by Lisa Rest

It’s occurred to me, and likely to my Crow friends too, that I have not published a Crow Post in a while. It’s time to get caught up with the Crows.

A Murder of Crows over Michigan Avenue, May 17

A small section of the Murder

I must admit I haven’t been out too much at lunch lately and when I have, the Crows have not always been around. The one day I went down early before work to see migrants back in May, I did have a small murder of Crows, if around 50 Crows can be called a small murder, as they gathered on a rooftop over Michigan Avenue and then took to the sky for a spring celebration.

Fledgling Crows, Lake Shore East Park, May 18

I saw the first fledglings in May, and then we had such changeable weather. It’s safe to assume the crows were keeping a watchful eye on their youngsters and not parading them around very much.

But last week I walked down to Lake Shore East Park with Crows on my mind and they materialized. Time to put in an order for more peanuts.

Fledgling Crow trying its wings

One Crow came and sat nearby. He settled in and I figured he was functioning sentry, but he also seemed to welcome my company as well. I think it’s my old friend Fuzzy. He sat on top of an electric box which I suspect runs the fountains or the lighting in the park.

The flower beds have all been planted now, affording more places to stash peanuts.

The problem with the Crows is they aren’t afraid of the camera so I get lazy and take too many pictures and they get lazy too…

On my way out I was greeted by a Crow at one of our favorite peanut deposit places (the distant crow out of focus, after he called in his buddies), the ledge across from the Radisson. I thought the human looking at her cell phone would prevent the Crows from landing, but they all seemed to know better than I did that she wouldn’t pay us a bit of notice.

I hope the Crows enjoyed the free Fourth of July concert last night in Grant Park. I’ll try to brave the heat tomorrow when I go back to work — we’ve finally crossed the threshold into summer weather — and see if I can hang out with them again in a shady spot. Now that the 50 pounds of peanuts have arrived.

I took the picture below of the “Aqua” building, which is part of the whole Lake Shore East complex, on a whim on the 23rd because I go by it constantly, and it was a slow bird photography day. But now reading about the rooftop gardens and the limestone balconies I wonder how many of my crows visit. Oh to be a Crow in downtown Chicago.

Spring…backward

Posted on March 9, 2015 by Lisa Rest

Perhaps setting clocks ahead an hour signifies spring to some. But the birds have been responding to the longer days for weeks. In particular I was getting used to being able to leave the house in the light, but now that the clocks have gone forward an hour, I have to give up and go back to leaving lights on timers when I leave at 7:00 a.m. The indoor crowd thought I was insane this morning to be getting up so early.

I will be crabby about the lost hour of sleep for a while.

The crows have been doing fairly well, I think. They seemed to like the omelette.

Friday I decided to see if they cared for organic bananas. I didn’t know there was a difference until one week I went to the store, there were no organic bananas for purchase, so I bought regular ones…and suffered with tasteless bananas all week. Next time there are no organic bananas I will wait.

Okay, so they’re not Fruit Crows. Anyway the crows were not impressed by the banana. If anything they felt compelled to eat some of their peanuts on the spot, I suppose to make sure the presence of the banana slices had not altered anything.

As much as my thoughts seem concerned with feeding crows I have been looking for nostalgia or craving catharsis or something like that. I stumbled across a stunning video of Hélène Grimaud playing the Ravel Piano Concerto in G and lavished a good cry over the Adagio which has wormed its way into becoming my favorite piece of music the past few years. Then reading a review of Bettyville by George Hodgman in the New York Times brought tears to my eyes. I think it’s all a pent up desire to get out and experience something more than cold, hard, stupid days.

But going back to feeding crows, anyone who has not yet seen this story about a young girl who feeds crows and receives gifts from them should check it out. I was originally made aware of it by my friend Lesa and have since seen it cropping up all over the place. My crows haven’t heard about it though: as far as I know they haven’t brought me gifts. That could be due to the fact that I feed them in a public space and they know how efficient the maintenance people are about considering anything trash. But I like to think the bond I share with them is enough of a gift. Just the fact that they recognize me and announce my presence to each other before they fly in swooping gently overhead is enough.

So now, as if on cue with the time change, we are in the midst of enough of a warm up to thaw all that messy snow away. We go from the temperatures of the last couple weeks being colder-than-normal to normal-and-warmer-than-normal.

Time is probably running out to be feeding the crows their favorite food, hot dogs. But they can count on peanuts year-round.

The little birds will be preoccupied soon and they won’t be looking for handouts anymore. But I’m not quite done feeding everyone just yet.

The Essence of True (Crow) Love

Posted on February 19, 2015 by Lisa Rest

Ah…Birdz Cookies!

Or you could just say Food is Love in just about any language. Like Music…

In the midst of this miserable cold, my crow friends and I are reunited in thought and purpose. Last week they sent me a request for Birdz Cookies, and so it was Birdz Cookies on Monday and Tuesday. On Monday, I put out lots of peanuts and broke up the cookie pieces on top of them, and the Crows went straight for the cookies.

Then yesterday, after two days of cookies, why not some of those delicious hot dogs I used to bring?

Between my knee event (which I am happy to report is totally over), the weather, the baby boom indoors and other distractions, I haven’t managed to get up early and visit the crows an hour before work all winter, so I have focused on the Millennium Park bunch whenever I get out for a late lunch break, and now that my knee is working properly the weather becomes less of an excuse for staying inside when I realize my friends don’t have that choice.

White-Throated Sparrow

Sparrows, mainly House

Northern Cardinal and House Sparrow, both males

This has also been good for the Cardinals, Chickadees, White-Throated Sparrows and House Sparrows.

On Monday, the male Northern Cardinal actually came toward me and posed for pictures when I pointed the camera at him. It had to do with the peanuts I shelled and left for him on Friday. He was asking me to repeat the favor, which I did after taking a few more pictures. Then later he was down on the ground sampling the general offering.

On Tuesday I was surprised to see the Robins back at what I believe must be some type of hawthorn trees in the northwest corner of the park, I guess to clean up every last fruit they might have left on their last visit.

The Black-Capped Chickadees have been more about food than enticing me to take their pictures.

Black-Capped Chickadee

But from time to time the female Cardinal wasn’t too shy to engage the lens.

So as cold as it is I will probably venture out again today. The sun is shining brightly, and it is always a bit warmer by the lake, even in this extreme cold. It’s amazing how much even one or two degrees makes a difference.

The “what-to-feed-the crows next?” question has been on my mind, since after cookies and hot dogs, simply peanuts seems too mundane. So I rustled up an omelette this morning with about 10 eggs that have been in the refrigerator too long to boil for the indoor crowd’s egg food. I figure the crows have probably sampled Egg McMuffins and will recognize an omelette (indeed I think one crow sent me the thought on the way in that I could have added cheese — ha!). Plus it’s eggs in a cache-and-stash form.

White-Throated Sparrow

I do intend to wade through the Gull Frolic pictures by the weekend…but the park birds were making it a lot easier for me to post about them sooner.

Sunshine!

Posted on January 15, 2015 by Lisa Rest

We may have had sunshine this week that I missed, but this afternoon the temperature was forgiving, the sun was shining so strongly snow started to melt a bit and I was just happy to be out. Earlier in the week when it was still cold and cloudy, the crows were nowhere to be found, but today was a good day to be an all-black bird on top of the Pritzker Pavilion soaking up the rays.

Crows on the top of the Pritzker Pavilion, Millennium Park

I wish I could have recorded one crow cawing right inside the “waves” of the pavilion, its song reverberating against the steel forms, a perfect echo chamber. I’m sure the crow thought it was pretty neat too.

The crows didn’t stay perched long. We haven’t had a peanut party since last week but the moment I started walking through the snow two crows helped me select the best location.

The presence of peanuts did not go unnoticed by two other park residents.

Black-Capped Chickadee and Northern Cardinal

There were many ways to approach and to take off, and the bright light reflecting off the snow lit up these dark birds.

Winter has a long way to go yet, but today almost felt like spring.

Hope your weather is good too, wherever you are.

We’ll see you again soon. 🙂

Baby, It’s Cold Outside

Posted on December 31, 2014 by Lisa Rest

Gray Catbird, Thompson Center 12-30-2014

2014 goes out with a shiver for us. Yesterday the temperature dropped to 20 degrees Fahrenheit (that was the high), and today it’s even colder with a wind chill of minus 15 below. I am blessed to have the day off from work, which turns out to be that much more fortuitous since the trains were not running this morning due to mechanical failure and I would have been shivering at the station shelter trying to figure out the next best way to get to work.

Chicago River Fog

There was ample sunshine yesterday which is often the way with extra cold temperatures, so I stopped by the Thompson Center on the way in with the camera already assembled this time to see if the Gray Catbird was available for a photograph. I found it first shivering under a bush and looking not too happy.

Then when a woman asked me for directions, it gave the Catbird a chance to perch on a twig while I wasn’t looking, and when I turned back to see, it posed for several photos before taking off for the top of one of the small trees planted in the sidewalk by the curb. The next time to check on this bird’s status will be Friday, the second day of the new year.

Later, after noon when the sun was shining full blast, I set out for the lakefront parks to see if I could visit some crows before next year. It’s been weeks. I decided to check out Maggie Daley Park first as it is partially open in time for ice skaters to use the skating ribbon.

While a lot of trees have been planted and there is sod and whatever else, the immediate lack of green space and preponderance of human kitsch is disappointing to me.

I suspect this is the “Climbing Wall”…?

I have no idea what this bodes for hungry migrants along the lakefront come spring, but I suspect I will continue to find more migrants at Lake Shore East Park than at Maggie Daley for quite a while.

Another view – the lakefront is beyond. Are those wooden trunks recycled trees “planted” upside down?

I hated Millennium Park when it was first built, but after I started seeing things like a flock of Golden-Crowned Kinglets on the lawn and the crows adopting the Pritzker Pavilion for a nesting site, not to mention the birds that visit Lurie Garden, it has become bird friendlier with time. So maybe in 5-10 years Maggie Daley will be okay for birds too. But I feel as if the more improvements being made lately to the lakefront, the less friendly they are to any species other than humans. Which in the long run means they’re not really human-friendly improvements either.

“Howdy, Stranger”

It wasn’t until I was practically on my way out of Millennium that I found my crows.

There were some adjustments to be made. Has it been so long since we had peanuts that we can’t remember how to carry more than one at a time to a cache location?

Eventually I was joined by a few Black-Capped Chickadees, and almost out of the park I located the Northern Cardinals I heard earlier but they were not interested in becoming visible. Maybe they’re waiting for snow because they know it makes a better picture.

I think I will stay inside most of today. The sunshine does a good job on the indoor crowd, we all feel a bit more possible. Maybe I can post an update of the indoor birds’ status for the new year.

Happy New Year and Thank You to All Who Visit, Read, Follow, Comment, and Fly By my blog – Who ever thought we’d see a year called 2015? This is pretty amazing. 🙂

Rainy Day Crow Post

Posted on October 15, 2014 by Lisa Rest

As promised, a little update on the Chicago Loop crows. As in previous years I seem to be a trusted source of peanuts and general interest among the juvenile crow population as they head into their first winter.

Juvenile American Crow on the ledge near Lake Shore East Park – particularly recognizable as a youngster by its remaining brown feathers

The interesting thing to me, as their human provider, was the fact that they seemed to identify me in their earliest days of independence just a few months ago, and when a couple crows would approach me, I was unaware of having made their acquaintance previously. There were a couple individuals that I knew from their Lake Shore East Park nursery days, but too many others hanging out in other locations were recognizing me. So this confirms my suspicion that I am genetically imprinted on successive generations of American Crows as a Trusted Peanut Provider. I like to think of myself as an Honorary Crow.

We do peanuts in several places but none are as fun as the cement wall that prevents cars and people from dropping down to the lower level where directly at present there is a vacant lot. I hope the lot remains vacant. It has a couple cottonwood trees and weedy patches where I have seen birds on occasion, albeit from a distance.

A couple weeks ago I would encounter a few crows at a time, maybe up to four individuals. But now I have an army of 15 crows attuned to my whereabouts and they are often vying for peanut rights. I take these to be three or four family groups learning how to get along with each other. Or not.

As the weather gets colder and the days shorter, the crows will pretty much have my undivided attention, and that is just how they like it. I like it too, I get to visit with them. In some way they confirm my existence. They know more about me than I do.

It will be fun to try out The Birdz Cookies on a new batch of crows. See if that’s genetically imprinted information too. It oughtta be.

Please pardon a brief weather update. We have had rain for three days in a row. Today it is tapering off a bit but still too cloudy for the camera. I made use of Monday’s rain by taking time to get a haircut. Tuesday’s rain kept me inside working. Today’s rain? I may go out for a drizzly walk with binoculars only, just to see if there are any birds left. This morning I could not even get a White-Throated Sparrow to respond to my call. Monday morning there was a little Winter Wren at 155 N. Wacker that almost looked like a field mouse. But you’ll have to take my word for it as I have no pictures.

Just as well, the light is a challenge now even on sunny days in Lake Shore East Park due to the shadows cast by the surrounding buildings. Might be time soon to check out Maggie Daley Park and see if there is any habitat surrounding the Skating Ribbon.

Goldbird Variations

Why Birds Sing in Key with Music, or how I finally put perfect pitch to use.

Category Archives: Crows