The Oak Park Bird Walk group met twice this past week at Thatcher Woods and I took way too many photos on both days. We were there Monday morning and again on Saturday morning. Though fall warblers were our focus, we had some good looks at other birds. The warblers are quite challenging here as they can be too far away even for my long lens, so I often have to piece together some not-quite-in-focus parts of birds for identification.
Below is a case-in-point for a bird barely seen on Monday. It was a Northern Parula. You can click on the photos to get a better idea of where the bird is in the leaves.
I caught a glimpse of a Red-tailed Hawk moving through the woods.
We went out to the field and saw some deer running across it.
There were distant, backlit woodpeckers. Below, a Northern Flicker, a Red-headed Woodpecker and a Northern Flicker flying past a Red-bellied Woodpecker.
And then, capturing our attention for quite a while, a Merlin arrived and perched likely in the same tree, and may even be the same individual we saw last year.
White-breasted Nuthatches are more often heard than seen.
The same could be said for a Red-eyed Vireo except that they’re not singing in fall migration. We managed to see this one briefly.
Eastern Bluebirds were abundant that day.
Below, an Eastern Wood-Pewee, and then the same bird with a White-breasted Nuthatch to its right.
It was delightful to see a couple Chipping Sparrows.
Just when we had about given up on warblers, we started to see some more.
Tennessee Warbler
There was a Bay-breasted Warbler that wouldn’t stop posing.
I was going to attempt to do Saturday’s visit as well in this post, but it’s already long enough, so I’ll be back with Saturday’s photos right away, and then a subsequent visit to Riverside the same day. It’s hard to keep up, all of a sudden!
I will be back with more confusing fall warblers. These two are often mind-boggling to separate.
I went to Riverside Friday morning as usual, not knowing what to expect with the absence of rain and any changes in the wind. The river is low enough to walk across in some places. I have arranged the photos in chronological shooting order simply because there turned out to be way too many of them to try to arrange them any other way.
I checked to make sure the Great Egret and Great Blue Heron were in their usual spots south of the Hofmann Tower. And then, by the location of the dismantled Hofmann Dam, I saw some Kildeer on the rocks.
I crossed the Joliet Avenue bridge and started walking the paved trail into Swan Pond slowly, knowing that warblers tend to like the trees. I found a Bay-breasted Warbler.
Then a Magnolia Warbler appeared.
…and another Bay-breasted Warbler…
And then, I took a huge number of what turned out to be a very confusing set of photos of a Bay-breasted Warbler which I had to determine from its eye arc, undertail, bill shape and general body color without the help of seeing its wing bars. If you click on the photos you should be able to see them enlarged and in sequence. The reason why I am putting up all these photos, and indeed, a copious amount of fall warbler photos in general, is so you can get an idea of what the camera is seeing as I follow these birds around through the foliage, and maybe, just maybe, some of these images will begin to make sense, fall warbler identification being what it is.
As for the bird above which I determined was a Bay-breasted Warbler, after both the Merlin app and I tried to make it into something else, there is no other logical option. The bill shape and face do not match a Tennessee Warbler. The bird is very yellow, but not yellow all over enough to be a Yellow Warbler. Having said all that, I have decided to tune into Cornell’s Fall Warbler Identification presentation tomorrow night, which could cast even more doubt and confusion into my identification skills. But I am hoping it will strengthen and confirm some of the things I think I know.
Here is yet another Bay-breasted Warbler. So much individual variation!
I’m not done yet. The bird below, another Bay-breasted, exhibits all the classic characteristics of this species in the fall.
And now, just to shake things up a bit, below is a Blackpoll Warbler. The wing bars tend to be less prominent than the Bay-breasted although they are arranged similarly, there is often faint streaking on the breast, and the bill shape is thinner.
I then found a Philadelphia Vireo, which is maybe not too surprising after seeing one a day or two earlier at the Portage.
Next in line was a Chestnut-sided Warbler. This time of year one cannot expect to see the chestnut sides. But this bird has a lot of other characteristics: greenish-yellow on the crown, clean white throat and belly, and a beautiful greenish-yellow pattern on the back if you are lucky enough to see it. I am also enamored of the tail feathers spread out in the next-to-last photo.
I think all that was before I crossed the swinging bridge and started walking in Riverside Lawn. I have to keep better track next time
You guessed it. Another Bay-breasted. I promise this is the last individual for this post.
I caught a glimpse of a Nashville Warbler with its prominent eye-ring, gray crown and bright yellow breast and belly.
Then I encountered a Magnolia Warbler. This bird is also at the top of the post. Another bird with an eye-ring. Most identifiable to me is the black and white tail pattern and the black streaking on its yellow sides.
Then I found an Eastern Wood-Pewee, a flycatcher I have seen several times this summer.
And another Magnolia Warbler.
Then a Downy Woodpecker posed for good measure.
Another Nashville Warbler.
Then came my biggest surprise. I saw a rather stocky-looking warbler sitting on a branch obscured by vegetation. It was hard to focus but I managed to take enough photos of it as it sat fairly still. It turned out to be a Connecticut Warbler! This bird is elusive and somewhat rarely seen. This is a first-year bird with what Sibley describes as a “complete brownish hood.”
Another Downy appeared, right at my feet.
Downy Woodpecker
And yet another Nashville Warbler.
A Black-and-White Warbler was briefly available.
And it has been impossible to totally ignore the flocks of American Goldfinches feasting on seeds.
Yet another Nashville Warbler. I think I made up for all the individuals that have been so difficult to capture this season. Note the individual variation.
Merlin says the bird below is a Least Flycatcher. I have checked The Crossley Guide and I can’t disagree. Empidonax flycatchers are often difficult to determine.
The last bird I photographed was a very pale Chestnut-sided Warbler. All that gorgeous greenish-yellow I was talking about isn’t there yet. So the other characteristics (eye-ring, wing bars, undertail) have to kick in.
Fall migration marches on. With no rain for too long and the temperatures too hot, the birds are still taking breaks from their migration flights to hang out with us for a day or two. With no northerly winds to help them, they may linger a bit longer.
This morning I joined the Oak Park Bird Walkers, led by its founder, Henry Griffin, at Thatcher Woods. I then walked through Riverside Lawn before swimming. When I came home I managed to go through the morning’s 454 photos and reduce their number to 340 in the first pass. Tomorrow morning I will be at Columbus Park with more Oak Park Bird Walkers. Depending on how that goes, I may extend my search for fall warblers to yet another location. All I can say is, beware, more photos to come.
I was planning on a post of visits to the Chicago Portage from last week, but I had some special birds Tuesday morning so this is an almost unusually current installment (I was trying to finish it same day and yesterday but didn’t manage it).
The morning started off inauspiciously enough with the American Goldfinches in the duckweed. They nearly match the color of the duckweed this time of year. And then they disappear into the goldenrod blooms.
As I walked beyond the bridge near Harlem Avenue, I began to see a little warbler activity in the vegetation running along the fence that separates the Portage from the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District. I tried to capture a Magnolia Warbler, but it outsmarted me. And then, I was suddenly looking at a male Black-throated Blue Warbler. This is a special bird in that we don’t see them as often as some other species. I have found them to be a bit more deliberate in their movement which can make them a little easier to photograph. My biggest challenge with this bird was the darkness of the leafy area and the bright sunshine behind it. He graciously moved out more into the open. I’d like to think we had a little conversation.
I next caught a brief glimpse of a Nashville Warbler.
Then along the trail I found a Red-bellied Woodpecker.
I caught up with a couple Magnolia Warblers before the break in the fence. They nearly eluded me but I managed a few furtive fotos.
Next I caught a glimpse of a Swainson’s Thrush. It turned to peer at me in the second photo.
A few young Indigo Buntings were present. I’ll never know if they hatched here or came in from somewhere else.
Tennessee Warblers have been coming through for a couple weeks now. Here’s one individual.
And another. I took way too many photos of this bird but it was close enough and successful catching an insect.
I found a first-year male American Redstart in an unusually quiet moment.
I barely caught a glimpse of an Ovenbird.
Young Red-winged Blackbirds all flew up from the abundant goldenrod and boneset to check me out as I took their class photo.
I spotted a Red-tailed Hawk perched on a tree by the water. The light was better when I got on the other side of it.
On my way back out the paved trail, a bird flew up into a tree in front of me and was not immediately recognizable. After perusing the photos, I was happy to find it turned out to be a Philadelphia Vireo.
Below, the Philadelphia Vireo especially looks like one in the last photo where it’s hanging upside-down.
Below is the last Tennessee Warbler I caught a glimpse of on the way out. It looks nothing like the other two.
Here’s another photo of the one Tennessee Warbler with its catch…down the hatch.
I’ve seen many more birds over the past few days, not to mention the ones from the last two weeks, so I will try to launch those photos soon. We are in the middle of another heat wave of sorts, we haven’t had any rain and there is none in the forecast, so now we are approaching a drought too. I’m refilling the water in the birdbaths twice a day. Luckily there’s still plenty of water in the rain barrels. I guess there is some small relief that the days are getting shorter, too.
It was very chilly and windy Saturday morning, which made it difficult to even imagine seeing birds, but we did manage 25 species. I didn’t see them all.
Shortly after we convened, the Great Blue Heron that hangs out in the water by the Hal Tyrrell Trailside Museum of Natural History flew in and landed in a likely spot.
After standing around trying to identify distant birds perched hundreds of yards away, we did manage to see very few warblers in the sunny tree tops. At one point, two Blackpoll Warblers came out to engage for the camera.
Then I managed to barely catch one leaving.
Blackpoll taking off
With some frequency, a Red-tailed Hawk would fly over.
We were having a hard time finding passerines until we got out to the grassy area, but even then they were difficult to see as they were far away. So I have no usable photos of the Eastern Bluebirds, numerous American Robins, two Eastern Phoebes, and a few Northern Flickers. The Bluebirds and Phoebes might have been related to those nesting in boxes and the shelter this spring, respectively.
I forget exactly where we were when we noticed some activity in a bushy area. The bird was hard to see, moving around in the middle of a mess of branches. But then it started to move closer to us where we could see some of it. I first caught sight of a “spectacle” eye-ring and speculated that it was a Yellow-throated Vireo. The bird must have heard me, because it came out just then to prove otherwise. It was a Blue-headed Vireo. This was the Bird of the Day.
Later, for added excitement, two Red-tailed Hawks flew over, interacting with each other.
The last Red-tailed Hawk photos I took were when the hawks were flying right over us saying hello.
With luck we will get good views of more species this coming Saturday in Columbus Park, and then we have a couple walks the beginning of next week, and then I am on duty every Saturday morning through the last walk at Columbus Park on October 12.
Meanwhile, Linda Rios and I are preparing for our auction-event flute and piano recital on October 13. It will be a very birdy music month.
These are photos from two fairly recent visits to Riverside, on August 30 and September 2. I was happy to see more warbler activity in the treetops. There are likely too many photographs below. But here they are, in mostly chronological order.
I always start out by checking to see if the two fishing friends, a Great Egret and a Great Blue Heron, are by the remnants of Hofmann Dam.
Then a Merlin appeared briefly. I was still by the Joliet Avenue bridge.
I followed a rather distant Blackpoll Warbler in the trees on the Swan Pond side of the river. The warblers are particularly attracted to the black locust and oak trees.
An Osprey flew overhead.
I didn’t see much of anything in Riverside Lawn after almost not proceeding after I encountered hundreds (thousands?) of maggots on the trail off the Swinging Bridge. (I’m going to try to remember to capitalize this now as what I have invariably referred to on other times as the “footbridge” but have encountered enough Riverside habitants who refer to it by this name.)
I did not observe an animal carcass, but I didn’t look that hard either. I just walked through the rest of Riverside Lawn which was very quiet, and I checked behind the Hofmann Tower again to see if there were any herons. Here’s my last photo of three Great Egrets in the trees by the river in Indian Gardens.
I went back to the same location on September 2, Labor Day, and saw a lot more. This time, my first warbler after I crossed the Joliet Avenue Bridge into the paved Swan Pond trail was a Bay-breasted Warbler.
There was a Blackpoll too. I’m including all these photos for their identification points. You can see the bird’s orange feet in several of the photos.
Then I encountered three Blackburnian Warblers, but they were harder to capture. The bird below is the same one at the top of post.
I had a brief view of a Cape May Warbler.
Then I found a bird that defies definite identification from these views. I speculate it could be a female Black-throated Blue Warbler although I never got to see the white patch on the wing.
I found another Blackpoll Warbler.
When I finally got to the Swinging Bridge, I found it had a family fishing on it.
A Great Blue Heron was standing watch in a nearby tree.
The trail was clean where the maggots had been, but the skull remains of their likely host were off to the side. Later in the week, I encountered my friend Chris who walks his white dog Isabel and he told me she found a dead raccoon about 10 days earlier. That solved the mystery for me.
I spotted an American Goldfinch.
And now there were Tennessee Warblers.
Here’s another Tennessee Warbler in what unfortunately looks like buckthorn.
Another Blackpoll Warbler was also in the buckthorn. The fact that buckthorn doesn’t provide anything except a resting place could be why I was able to obtain these photographs.
A Swainson’s Thrush popped up.
And a Warbling Vireo made a rare appearance. I have still been hearing them singing.
I found a Bay-breasted Warbler.
And then a Gray-cheeked Thrush appeared.
A Magnolia Warbler nearly defied my ability to follow it.
Here’s another Gray-cheeked Thrush.
Birds have been showing up at the Chicago Portage too. Maybe I can take you there next.Yesterday morning was a very chilly one with the Oak Park Bird Walkers at Thatcher Woods. It’s been a busy weekend with a choir party last night and then our return to singing in Unity Temple this morning. We are back to singing two services like we did years ago, pre-Covid. It’s like reinventing the wheel.
I’ll try to be back soon. I already have too many photos and need to make room for more.
We began the Oak Park Bird Walks on August 24 at Thatcher Woods. The second Saturday walk was on August 31 at Columbus Park. We will continue to alternate between these two locations on Saturday mornings through October 12.
The birds were far away at Thatcher Woods, which made it necessary sometimes to rely on the telephoto lens to identify some of them, like this Northern Flicker perched high on a dead tree.
We saw a Red-headed Woodpecker. Apparently they have been seen here with some regularity, so that’s nice to know. It was too distant for a great photo, but since I haven’t seen one in quite a while it was nice to have some image.
We saw some Red-bellied Woodpeckers.
Eastern Wood-Pewees like this one have been easy to see this summer.
I got a lousy photograph of an Eastern Bluebird.
But my reward later standing in the same field was looking up at a young Ruby-throated Hummingbird perched on a branch.
I stopped by the Chicago Portage before I went home, but there wasn’t an awful lot happening there either.
Juvenile House Wren
Then, on August 31, after some serious numbers of migrants were reported by the Birdcast, I expected we would see more birds at Columbus Park. With 12 people spread out over the trail, there were more birds on the list than I saw, but I did manage a few interesting captures. Also of note, Jackson Boulevard, which runs adjacent to the northerly border of Columbus Park from which we enter, was blocked off for what I now see was the 45th Annual Back to School Picnic and Parade that morning which made access challenging, but we all managed to park and start looking for birds.
A male American Goldfinch was feeding his offspring. These birds are strictly seed eaters, so their breeding season starts and extends much later than the other birds.
We spotted a Belted Kingfisher perched across the water. I did not capture its dive, but it returned to its perch with its catch and ate it.
A couple Warbling Vireos turned up in my photos.
We enjoyed looking at a Swainson’s Thrush in the dogwood berries.
I couldn’t resist a Pearl Crescent Butterfly.
A juvenile Cedar Waxwing was perched way above with its back toward us. The yellow band on the tip of its tail gave away its identification.
Tennessee Warblers were on hand.
We had an Eastern Wood-Pewee here too.
Then someone spotted a hawk perched in a tree. We couldn’t see the whole bird, but it turned out to be a juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk very busy with its feathers.
Wood Ducks made a brief appearance.
Instead of seeing a Great Blue Heron by the water near the refectory, we only saw the heron fly in quite late. I suspect the parade had driven it elsewhere.
Finally we began to see some warblers. Tennessee Warblers below.
Cape May Warblers were on hand as well.
Another Tennessee Warbler is below.
Then in the planted prairie area, we found a Cape May Warbler eating pokeberries.
Beyond that, I saw one more Cape May Warbler. And then we had a Pied-billed Grebe, a Gray-cheeked Thrush and a distant Red-shouldered Hawk flying over.
Cape May WarblerPied-billed GrebeGray-cheeked ThrushRed-shouldered Hawk
Northerly winds seemed to be making it easier for warbler migration the last few days, and I have taken many more photos to share. The winds have shifted again, however, and will be southerly until, it looks like. Thursday night. Still, anything can appear anywhere this time of year and I will be out looking for more migrants, especially while we have a break from hot weather.
Wednesday morning was cloudy after some overnight storm activity accompanied by a measure of rain. I decided to put on my Wellies so I could walk through Riverside Lawn without worrying about the mud.
I started out walking the paved trail on the Swan Pond side of the river and didn’t hear or see much of anything until suddenly an adult Red-tailed Hawk landed on a branch of a big cottonwood tree. One of its likely offspring followed, flushing the parent, and then took off after it.
I don’t think I saw much of anything else until I crossed the swinging bridge and started walking into Riverside Lawn. I found a new dragonfly for me – a Russet-tipped Clubtail. Shortly after that, I started to see some warblers.
I puzzled later over this warbler that I think turned out to be a Pine Warbler. This is the confusing part of fall warbler migration.
I had a Bay-breasted Warbler for good measure. These were the earliest specIes I saw last week.
Then there were at least two Black-and-White Warblers.
A Swainson’s Thrush appeared on a branch, and later on the trail.
Through a tiny window I spotted a female Northern Cardinal with a wormy catch.
Four Cedar Waxwings were considering their options.
In the Riverside Lawn woods, I encountered a young Common Yellowthroat who seemed to be as glad to see me as I was to see it. This individual is also at the top of the post.
Then I began to see more Black-and-White Warblers.
A Red-eyed Vireo stopped moving just long enough.
And I found another Bay-breasted Warbler.
Tennessee Warblers have been showing up all week. These were a little harder to see.
I was delighted to find a glimpse of a Golden-winged Warbler in my photos.
And I barely captured a Chestnut-sided Warbler.
As I walked out of Riverside Lawn, I found an American Redstart foraging low.
And then coming out of the woods, a Red-tailed Hawk soared overhead, motionless.
Here are a couple more photos of my friendly Common Yellowthroat.
Fall migration doesn’t feel real until we start seeing warblers, so this was a good start. With winds coming from the north the next few days, I expect to see more birds and, with luck, more species. Keeping up with them all in the blog will be a challenge. I started this post three days ago… and I’ve seen more birds since.
On the home front, I need to do a lot of yard work to catch up on what I didn’t want to do in last week’s extreme heat. And of course everything has overgrown that much more. But this is turning out to be a blessed, beautiful weekend with cooler temperatures and sunshine. I treasure these fleeting moments when everything seems possible.
Two days at the Chicago Portage last week turned out to be good for birds as they get ready for migration. I thought I’d cram the photos from both days into one post but there were just too many of them. Sound familiar? Here’s the first batch from August 17.
The first bird I saw that day turned out to be rare for that date, if my identification is correct. I determined it was an Alder Flycatcher. It’s notoriously difficult to tell the empidonax flycatchers apart unless they vocalize, but with all the photographic references and the Merlin app available, when I didn’t exactly recognize it right off the bat but needed to call it something, Merlin headed me toward Alder Flycatcher and then, I checked more references to help me decide. Since I wasn’t able to photograph the front of the bird, its bold wingbars played an important part of the decision.
Next I found an enterprising male Downy Woodpecker.
And then another bird that I see only during migration showed up. I wasn’t able to get sharp photographs, but I don’t know when I’ll have better ones, so here is a Yellow-throated Vireo.
An upside down White-breasted Nuthatch appeared.
And after not seeing Blue-gray Gnatcatchers for quite a while, although they breed at the Portage, I saw the one below.
Next I found a Red-bellied Woodpecker.
A Ruby-throated Hummingbird was perched rather far out in the marshy area.
And a bedraggled-looking Song Sparrow appeared there as well.
Here’s a juvenile Red-bellied Woodpecker.
It was a good day for young Baltimore Orioles, including the one at the top of the post.
I am not sure if I followed the same Baltimore Oriole, but the one below became intent on finding something in the dead leaves.
I guess I was expecting the Northern Flicker below to do something more, but it didn’t.
Then a juvenile Broad-winged Hawk flew over. That was fun.
Yet another Red-bellied Woodpecker. Sometimes they’re everywhere and other days you never see them.
That may have been the last time I saw one of the rabbits that were hanging out on the paved trail.
The interesting tiny insect below is a Ailanthus Webworm Moth.
My last photo from that day is of a female Red-winged Blackbird and a male Indigo Bunting.
I expect to be back shortly with the photos from August 18, now that it’s easier to sit still and stay cool indoors. Our high temperature today is 94 degrees F. with a heat index of 104. I walked in Riverside this morning when there was some cloud cover and it was cooler. The dry heat is cooking plant life and the river is so low, I saw a fisherman standing in the middle of it. Afterward, I was thankful for a swim in cool water, now that the fitness center pool has reopened. It feels like fall can’t come soon enough.
As promised in my last post, here are some more photos from August 13, 20 and 22 at the Chicago Portage.
But first, on August 13, when I stepped out my front door, there was a female American Goldfinch in the front yard feeding on the purple coneflower seeds. I just barely captured her as she was in the thick of it.
Then at the Portage, I observed a fine-looking union of two non-native species, a Cabbage White Butterfly and Burdock.
There were a few Cedar Waxwings in distant conference.
Eventually, a couple individuals volunteered. These birds know how to pose.
I caught a brief glimpse of a Ruby-throated Hummingbird in the Jewel Weed. The Portage used to have a lot of this plant, and now it has all but disappeared, which is a disappointment for me and the hummingbirds.
There were American Goldfinches here too, of course. It’s a great time of year to be a goldfinch with so many flowers going to seed.
I saw a young Baltimore Oriole.
I first heard and then saw a juvenile Gray Catbird.
I couldn’t resist following a White-breasted Nuthatch as it scaled what looks like a cottonwood tree.
There were a couple Red-bellied Woodpeckers. The one on the left in the second photo below is a juvenile.
On August 20, the non-warbler species kicked off with a couple Eastern Wood-Pewees seen from the bridge near Harlem. One of them also appears in the first photo of this post. In the last photo below, a Song Sparrow flushed the Pewee off its perch.
American Goldfinches were enjoying the duckweed.
A tree full of Cedar Waxwings showed up.
A Black-capped Chickadee checked out the statue.
And a Chipmunk vied for my attention.
On August 22nd, I first caught a Downy Woodpecker landing onto a tree trunk.
A Gray Catbird flipped its tail toward me.
I had one of my last glimpses of an adult male Baltimore Oriole.
I’m starting to think the Chipmunks recognize me.
I thought I had what appeared to be a young Philadelphia Vireo in my photos but upon review I have decided it was a Warbling Vireo.
I found a disheveled, molting Indigo Bunting.
I have not encountered any large flocks of Red-winged Blackbirds yet, only a few solitary individuals like the female or juvenile below.
An Osprey flew overhead.
It was one of two
There are many more photos I can share of this emergent transition from summer into fall. And if the forecast holds for unbearable heat through Wednesday, I may have more time to post rather than take more photos. My only consolation is that the birds don’t like extremely hot weather either. It was very quiet when I stopped by the Chicago Portage this morning after an early walk in Thatcher Woods with the Oak Park Bird Walkers. Next Saturday I meet them at Columbus Park. We should be back in the low 80’s by then, and see a lot more birds.
Fall warblers are starting to arrive here and there. These pictures were taken at the Chicago Portage. The winds were from the north the past few nights, making easier flights for the migrating birds and blissful sleeping weather for me. But we are going to have another warm spell which started today. I’m still coasting by with open windows and the standing oscillating fans, but we’ll likely go back to the air conditioning tomorrow.
This is a little roundup of a few warblers I’ve been able to photograph over the last week and a half. The first warbler I saw was on August 13, a first-year male American Redstart.
Then this past Tuesday just as I was leaving the Portage, having seen very little and being quite sure I wasn’t going to see anything more… I saw a little movement in the trees by the south entrance and found a couple Bay-breasted Warblers.
I also saw a Blackpoll Warbler.
Two days later, my camera found a Cape May Warbler.
And I spent some time with a Magnolia Warbler that didn’t seem to mind my attention. The same individual is at the top of the post.
I have seen Tennessee Warblers here and there, first one on the 18th…
and then one on the 22nd.
I’ll be back with more birds I’ve been seeing lately, but I just wanted to share the few warblers I’ve encountered in the past week and a half. Now that the winds have shifted and are coming from the south, things might slow down a bit, but absent strong winds or storms, more warblers, the jewels of migration, will likely start to trickle in.
