Category Archives: spring migration

Columbus Park in Two Visits

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I managed to show up for only two organized walks at Columbus Park this spring with the Oak Park Migration Bird Watchers. The second one was this past Saturday on May 17. The first was almost exactly a month earlier on April 19. Both mornings were overcast, making the birds a little harder to see, but they are perhaps fitting bookends to the height of what we hope to see during spring migration. While migration continues, the warblers are fewer and farther between. I will be back later with other outings that produced more warblers, but first, here’s a roundup from Columbus Park, beginning with highlights from last Saturday’s walk.

We always walk across the lawn and look toward the lagoon to see what’s happening out there first. We found several Ring-billed Gulls and a Caspian Tern, along with an occasional Canada Goose on the “island.”

There was also a Great Blue Heron on another, smaller island.

After trying to no avail to make one of the gulls into another species, we began paying more attention to the trees, watching for movement. We began to see some American Redstarts in varying plumages. I got photos of what appear to me to be first spring males, differentiated from females by splashes of black on the face and breast.

To better illustrate the point, but unfortunately with less-clear photos, check out the two pix of the bird below.

I also captured a very pale female individual. These look like young birds, taking a little longer, perhaps, to leave for their first spring migration.

Later, I caught the face of another interesting-looking first-spring male.

We eventually started seeing several flycatchers which I tried to capture and for the most part, figure out later. Flycatchers can be really confusing to identify. One bird that had its back to us was a little difficult to figure out until I was finally able to see a little yellow on its belly feathers later. I also check the bill shape, arrangement of the wingbars, whether there’s an eyering, and general overall appearance, such as how the bird carries itself. It’s a lot easier if you can place a vocalization with a flycatcher, in particular the empidonax species, but we didn’t get very lucky with calls despite many Merlin apps listening. Merlin did hear an Alder Flycatcher, and there might have been one, but I didn’t find it in my photographs.

That said, I used several sources to finally determine some of these IDs. The bird below turned out to be a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher.

My head full of flycatcher photos, I didn’t figure out this one until later when it occurred to me that it had to be an Eastern Phoebe. I’ve been looking at Eastern Phoebes for a month or morel, and yet in the presence of several other species it appeared confusing.

In between the flycatchers, we caught fleeting glimpses at Magnolia Warblers

Returning to the flycatchers, we had a Willow Flycatcher or two. Merlin was helpful with this ID, first telling us the species was present. Again, I am generally quite familiar with Willow Flycatchers, or so I think, but I have to admit it’s more often been where I expected to see them.

To make matters more confusing, here is an Eastern Wood-Pewee. I just started hearing this species, anticipating its return. I am happy to start seeing them.

We saw several Canada Goose families on the lawn as we walked around toward the wildflower garden and the trail that runs through it.

Once inside the wildflower garden enclosure, we saw hardly any small birds, but we noticed a Red-shouldered Hawk in the distance. I should probably take a moment to mention that as of yet we saw only foliage and no wildflowers as it is too early for the natives.

The sequence of my photos tells me I must have seen this Least Flycatcher nearby.

A Mallard was resting inside a log.

A Double-crested Cormorant flew by.

Then, as we started to approach the end of the little winding trail through the wildflower enclosure, we saw a backlit heron that, as we started to approach closer, appeared to be a first-summer Black-crowned Night Heron.

Sitting down low by the first summer bird was an adult. This is the same individual at the top of the post.

And down by the water in the same area was this beautiful individual. This is a cropped closeup of the same bird in the header. In all, we reported five Black-crowned Night-Herons. Since they forage at twilight and at night, then can sit so still during the day, I often wonder if they are asleep with their eyes open.

Now here’s a little roundup of the first visit back in April, for comparison purposes only – I was a bit surprised to find I had never reviewed or processed the photos, and I apparently forgot before taking them to adjust the exposure i my camera settings, so I had to lighten up most of them…

Here’s what the “island” looked like that day. One indomitable Caspian Tern and a few Canada Geese.

We spotted a Black-crowned Night Heron sitting at the edge of a planned island in the lagoon.

Throughout the morning I was paying attention to the Caspian Tern(s).

This was the beginning of spring warbler migration. Basically, all we were seeing on that cool, cloudy day were hearty Yellow-rumped and Palm Warblers. However much we take them for granted, they are still beautiful little birds.

Magnolia Warbler

The Palm Warbler below started out singing.

Among other birds that day, we saw a Pied-bllled Grebe.

We can nearly always count on a Great Blue Heron.

An Eastern Phoebe, that earliest of the flycatchers, had returned. Here it doesn’t look particularly like anything at all, but we likely heard it vocalize. Lighting, posture, everything comes into play.

I was surprised to find photos of a Ruby-crowned Kinglet with just a hint of the elusive ruby crown. The crown was a hard thing to see this spring.

We were also introduced to the location of a Red-shouldered Hawk nest. All we could see at the time was the adult’s tail. This nest likely belongs to the bird we saw sitting in a tree on May 10.

For what it’s worth on such a gloomy day, a Red-winged Blackbird’s perch on a stump must have attracted my attention.

And toward the end of our walk. we were fortunate enough to see a Swamp Sparrow. Although not rare, they are less common.

I am not scheduled to return to Columbus Park until the fall migration walks begin, but I might be tempted to take a walk through before then.

We have a forecast of rain and possible storms all day today and tomorrow, and possible into Thursday. We did get some rain overnight which was at least enough to wash the dirt off my car from the rare dust storm on May 16 – yes, that’s right, a dust storm. I am taking advantage of the rainy forecast to get caught up with photos, posts, mail, laundry, cooking. It’s not raining presently, so I put the bird feeders back out in the yard. After a short-lived heatwave last week, we are now experiencing cooler-than-normal temperatures this week, making gardening a little precarious as I don’t want to disturb the bees, for instance. But for now, I’ll settle for rain as we really need it. Send in the clouds.

A Walk at the Chicago Portage, and Rarities

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On Saturday morning, I led what has now become my annual bird walk at the Chicago Portage. I have lost track of how many times I have offered this walk as an auction donation for Unity Temple Unitarian Universalist Congregation (UTUUC), but I suspect it’s been at least 5 years now if not more. When I scheduled the date for this walk back in the fall, I was looking for something closer to peak spring migration, totally forgetting that May 10 might likely be the annual Illinois Spring Bird Count, not to mention May 11 being Mother’s Day. To put it mildly, it was a busy weekend to schedule anything. But it was a beautiful day, as we have finally emerged from the cold, gloomy weather of past weeks, and this day proved to be rather unusual for birds as well.

I arrived at the Chicago Portage about 45 minutes early, to walk in a bit and get a feel for the morning. The first bird I photographed was a male Baltimore Oriole. These birds have returned in great numbers this year.

I started following a Nashville Warbler high in the treetops. I’ve seen a lot of Nashvilles this season, but you never know who might be up there with them.

For a moment, I was following another bird with the camera, but I didn’t realize what it was at the time. Too tired to properly review my photographs until Sunday, I then discovered that the bird was a rare individual. I had never seen anything like it before. It turned out to be a Lawrence’s Warbler, which is a hybrid species of a cross between a Blue-winged and a Golden-winged Warbler.

I was still following the Nashville after I took those photos of the Lawrence’s.

Then it was time to go back to the parking lot and greet the walk participants. After a few minutes, we walked in on the paved trail to the bridge closest to Harlem Avenue. And there we saw a muskrat swimming in the water.

There’s often a Yellow Warbler at this spot and we were able to hear it singing and see it flitting about in the trees. I managed a parting photo.

Yellow Warbler

We were hearing Indigo Buntings singing, and soon we saw some. The first bird below was some distance away, but then we had better looks at the second, who is also at the top of this post.

I took a look back toward the bridge where we had first stood

Not too far down the dirt trail that runs parallel to the fence dividing the preserve from the property of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD), we stopped to see an Osprey fly in.

Almost immediately following the Osprey, a Bald Eagle flew in and landed in a tree across the water.

After watching the eagle for some time, the eagle left and we started walking again, and noticed a female Red-winged Blackbird down at the edge of the water.

A couple warblers came into view. The first is a Yellow-rumped Warbler, and the second, a Magnolia Warbler. Because they share the same color scheme, it can sometimes take a while to figure them out.

We encountered two male Rose-breasted Grosbeaks. They started having a bit of a territorial disagreement and the bird in the second photo chased after the other one.

Then we got a better look at a Magnolia Warbler. The black tip of the tail always gives this bird away to me even if I don’t see any other part of it.

The Osprey returned briefly.

Toward the end of our walk, we managed to see a female Blackpoll Warbler. I think this was the first Blackpoll I have seen this spring. After developing my photos, I confirmed the identification even further later with the bird’s orange feet showing in the photos, something unique to this species.

We encountered a Chipping Sparrow in the grassy portion that leads to the parking lot.

I also photographed a late American Tree Sparrow. Apologies to Liz if I remember that she correctly identified it as a tree sparrow, but I said it was too late. It’s not a very flashy-looking individual, but it is definitely a Tree Sparrow, recognizable by it’s bi-colored bill and further by the feather pattern of its wingbars. Anyway, getting back to my “too late” comment – that made it another bird that turned up on the Rare Bird Alert when I reported it with the supporting photo documentation.

After the walk participants left, I continued to bird a while. I found this interesting-looking male Baltimore Oriole.

A female Baltimore Oriole was down on the ground, likely finding nesting material.

A somewhat raggedy Black-and-White Warbler caught my attention.

I had run into Bob on the trail and we were birding together when an Indigo Bunting sang and displayed to us, making me wonder whether this individual knew us from last year. I also caught a photo as he flew down to the ground and have included it for a comparison of how the blue color changes depending on how the sunlight hits it.

That’s it for May 10. And now it’s time for a brief flashback. Here are a few photos from April 1. Yes, all the way back to the beginning of last month. My how things have changed.

A dozen Blue-winged Teal were present for weeks.

An Eastern Phoebe had just arrived.

There were still Golden-crowned Kinglets.

And a Pied-billed Grebe was hanging out for a few days.

In an effort to keep up with the daily overabundance of birds and my overabundant attempts to photograph them, I think I will be including some more photos I never managed to post from the beginnings of 2025 spring migration. We seem to be all-in now for sunshine and warmer weather. I’ll be back as soon as possible.

Two Days in May

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I kept trying to get caught up with April, but it’s already May and there are more birds showing up despite some really chilly, windy weather. The other thing is the days keep getting longer and yet there aren’t enough hours in one day. But I can stay inside today after singing two services with the choir this morning, and take some time to recap the last two days of birding before they too become ancient history.

Yesterday morning, the Oak Park Area Migration Bird Walkers (that is such a mouthful, but I think this is the Official Name) met at Columbus Park. It was chilly and partly cloudy, but we found birds. Here are a few photos of some of the birds we saw.

As we stood on the lawn looking over the larger water area, the Great Blue Heron at the top of this post flew in for a landing. Its choice of location was too close to a pair of nesting Red-winged Blackbirds, and I caught some of the action as the male blackbird tried to get the heron to relocate.

I then captured the top photo and the one below as the heron left for another location.

We saw a few Tree Swallows. They were easier to capture perched. I suspect they weren’t catching much for taking so many breaks.

While we saw Palm Warblers in numbers, it took a while before we started to see a few other species across one of the tributaries of landscape architect Jens Jensen’s “Prairie River.” As birds were foraging around near the bank, it was nice to see a male Black-throated Blue Warbler in particular.

A male Common Yellowthroat was more difficult to see.

There were a few Yellow Warblers. Although we heard some singing, I believe the bird below is the first female Yellow Warbler I have seen this season.

Blue-gray Gnatcatchers were showing off for us.

And we heard and saw at least two individual male Baltimore Orioles.

Here’s a token Palm Warbler.

I noticed a singing Warbling Vireo.

A pair of Canada Geese swam by with goslings in tow.

Toward the end of the walk, we got some furtive glimpses of a Cape May Warbler.

I will team up again with the Oak Park group in two weeks. As for now, looking back to Friday morning in Riverside, my walk was pretty tame but eventually rewarding. It only takes one unexpected sighting to make my day. Starting off more predictably, I got close views of a Mourning Dove and a Common Grackle.

As I walked on the paved Swan Pond trail, a Yellow-rumped Warbler was busy trying to catch bugs.

A Pine Warbler sang and sat rather still.

A sidewalk Chipping Sparrow appeared.

I saw a Hermit Thrush after a while.

After I crossed the river and started walking in Riverside Lawn, I was pleased to see a Great Egret across the river and a Double-crested Cormorant as it flew by.

Then suddenly, almost out of nowhere, my surprise bird showed up: a female Ruby-throated Hummingbird. She appeared to have some nesting material in her bill.

I caught a glimpse of a Nashville Warbler, and then the Nashville with a Tennessee Warbler. I didn’t realize I had captured the Tennessee until I developed my photos.

I expect things to get much crazier in the days ahead. That said, yesterday morning around 6:00 AM I was delighted to see one, and then another, beautiful, healthy-looking opossum in my backyard. I went back inside the house to grab the camera and the opossums apparently felt safe enough hanging out by the fence while I took their pictures. You can barely see the second opossum on the left of the third photo.

I know I always say this, but I will try to be back soon with some older photos before I whisk them away to make room for more spring migration.

Sunday at the Chicago Portage

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Sunday morning was full of sunshine and the temperatures were warmer than the cold cloudiness of previous days. I decided that a visit to the Chicago Portage was in order and it turned out to be fruitful. I had 39 species on my eBird list. One in particular was the Blue-headed Vireo at the top of the post.

That said, things started out a bit slowly as I stood by the same Box Elder Maple tree as last time, watching for movement. A male Northern Cardinal sat patiently.

Then I barely saw a Warbling Vireo, but they are nearly always elusive, so I settled for a small photos anyway.

Warbling Vireo

I spotted a Pine Warbler.

A Yellow-rumped Warbler appeared and disappeared into the foliage.

I caught a female Red-winged Blackbird in a furtive moment.

There was only one Blue-winged Teal in the open water, but I later discovered some in the flooded marshy area, although they were too far away and obscured by vegetation to photograph properly. For what it’s worth, there was also a Solitary Sandpiper. So the Blue-winged Teal are still present.

Here’s what I saw later from the paved trail looking out onto the marshy area.

Solitary Sandpiper and Blue-winged Teal in the background

And a close-cropped view of two Blue-winged Teal.

Solitary Sandpiper with Blue-winged Teal

I heard and saw several Blue-gray Gnatcatchers.

Then I was pleasantly surprised to see my first Black-throated Green Warbler of the season, even if I had only obscured views.

It took me a while to find a Yellow Warbler, but I managed to capture one rather distant individual.

The turtles were enjoying the abundant sunshine.

I barely saw an American Kestrel as it flew in the distance.

Here’s another Blue-gray Gnatcatcher.

And I found a Ruby-crowned Kinglet – with just a tiny bit of red in the third photo

One more Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. They will quickly become increasingly difficult to see.

Next, I found a Black-and-White Warbler foraging on a Hackberry Tree.

Then a couple Orange-crowned Warblers appeared. They became more evident in my photo review later.

Another Orange-crowned Warbler.

And another Black-and-white Warbler appeared.

I was quite happy to see a Nashville Warbler.

One more Orange-crowned Warbler. They are sometimes confused with other “drab” warblers, such as the Tennessee Warbler. One definite clue to an Orange-crowned is the yellow undertail coverts. Don’t bother looking for an orange crown…

I took a photo of a nearby Palm Warbler, even as I already feel like I have seen enough of them. They don’t try to hide themselves too well, which probably encourages our tendency to dismiss them, but they are still beautiful.

There was yet another Black-and-White Warbler.

My last Ruby-crowned Kinglet of the morning…

As I started to walk along the paved trail toward Harlem, a male Eastern Bluebird came to see me. I wonder if it was my turquoise windbreaker that attracted him.

I went down to the picnic tables by the water and sat down on the one directly under the tree. As I sat there, a Blue-headed Vireo flew into the branches above me.

A male Red-winged Blackbird displayed close to the shore.

On my way back out on the paved trail, I spotted a Field Sparrow.

And the next-to-last bird I photographed was a male Baltimore Oriole.

I apologize for the photo overload. It’s just been so long since last spring. I went back to the Portage this morning and it was warm, cloudy and windy. My Merlin app heard more warbler species than I saw. But the week is young and more birds will continue to appear. To quote Emily Dickinson, “Hope is the thing with feathers.” Indeed.

Here’s the last bird!

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

After the Rain

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The rain stopped Wednesday and it was still mid-morning, so I decided to take a look around Riverside Lawn before I went swimming. I’m glad I did. Even though the light was poor, I had some birds I hadn’t seen among all the Yellow-rumped and Palm Warblers.

I was first greeted by a beautiful female Eastern Towhee.

I saw two Chimney Swifts returning from Chile.

There were a couple Yellow-rumped Warblers bathing in a puddle on the trail.

I noticed a couple Northern Flickers getting ready to make more flickers.

A Yellow-rumped Warbler seemed interested in posing for me.

There were so many Palm Warblers I found it hard to estimate, but eBird would only allow me to enter 20 without requiring documentation, so that was the number I entered. I’m sure there were more than 20, but I would have needed an assistant with a counter to keep track of them all.

Ruby-crowned Kinglets have been abundant. I haven’t been seeing any Golden-crowned Kinglets lately.

Here’s another Palm Warbler and a Yellow-rumped Warbler.

I then felt lucky to see a Swamp Sparrow on the muddy trail.

I heard and then saw this Northern Waterthrush. It sang and posed on a branch right ih froht of me.

Palm Warblers were still pretty to look at.

A couple female Red-winged Blackbirds were hanging out.

This Ruby-crowned Kinglet was cooperative, but I have yet to get a photo with one displaying the crown.

Then I was delighted to see my first Gray Catbird. It was totally silent, but the quiet won’t last as soon as a number of them come to nest. Then I will more likely hear than see them.

Not to be outdone by the Palms, another Yellow-rumped Warbler.

I was going to end the post here, but because the last few days have been increasingly birdy and I am accumulating too many photos already, I have decided to include Friday morning’s visit to Riverside as well.

That morning, before I left, I put out my oriole feeder. Moments after I came back inside, I looked out the kitchen window and saw a male Baltimore Oriole on the feeder. He had first been attracted to the hummingbird feeders that I had put out the night before, but then he saw his preferred color and got busy. I managed to get a few photos through the back porch windows.

When I got to Riverside and parked my car by the Hofmann Tower, I looked out on the rock “island” and saw a Solitary Sandpiper.

This time I walked first on the Swan Pond side of the river following the paved trail. I spotted a Pine Warbler.

Then I encountered a Yellow-rumped Warbler who thought he looked spectacular in a Redbud tree. I agreed and took too many photos of him. Here’s one.

A Great Blue Heron flew to the top of a tree on the other side of the river to survey his options.

The male Eastern Bluebird who knows me came to say hello.

While I was paying attention to the Bluebird, the Great Blue Heron decided to try fishing on my side of the river.

I took note of what appears to be a female Yellow-rumped Warbler.

I found a White-throated Sparrow on the dirt trail that leads to the library. I then stopped to have an engaging conversation with a man who was fishing at the bend in the river.

As I approached the swinging bridge, I heard and saw an Eastern Phoebe. Not far from him, perched on a cable of the bridge was a Tree Swallow making chattering sounds. I mused that they were exchanging bug stories and did a quick recording on my phone (below). The Eastern Phoebe sings his name, “Fee-bee.”

An American Robin thought I should take its picture as it stood on one leg.

On the trail, I sat down on a fallen log and after a moment or two, a male Common Yellowthroat popped up in front of me.

I also got a very good look at a Ruby-crowned Kinglet.

One more Ruby-crowned Kinglet

I finished walking Riverside Lawn with a Black-capped Chickadee, two Downy Woodpeckers and another White-throated Sparrow.

Other highlights of Friday morning’s walk were several more conversations with humans. Maybe we are all eager to talk with each other a little bit more these days. I am always ready to trade bird and (when appropriate) music stories. Spring migration gives us all something to look forward to.

Here’s one more photo of that hammy Yellow-rumped Warbler. I hope to be back soon as there’s lots more to report. Warmer temperatures and rain are in the forecast this week. More birds are on their way.

Earth Day at the Chicago Portage

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I was working on another post about what’s been going on at the Chicago Portage lately, but it seems only fitting to quickly make note of yesterday morning’s walk as the birds return. And I’m just a little rained out this morning…

The first bird I saw when I walked in was a Palm Warbler on the ground. It flew into a tree for a couple quick photos. I’ve seen a couple of these in other places the last few days, but there seemed to be a few more individuals yesterday.

As I walked in, just beyond the bridge by Harlem, I found a burst of activity in a big Box Elder Maple tree. There were several Yellow-rumped Warblers, and then I heard and saw a Yellow Warbler. This spot is generally where I have encountered the first returning Yellow Warblers who come to stay for the summer.

Yellow-rumped Warbler

I always think of my birding instructor’s comment years ago, that Yellow Warblers have yellow on every single feather.

Next a Downy Woodpecker flew in to join the loose flock.

It was hard to tear myself away from the activity in the tree, but I was curious to see what else was going on. I saw only one male Blue-winged Teal in the water, where just a few days ago there were a dozen. Although they are good at hiding, I’d be surprised if the others haven’t left. As things progress it will be interesting to see who’s next.

I heard and managed to just barely see my first Warbling Vireo of the season.

I discovered an Orange-crowned Warbler later in my photos. The second photo is a confusing preening shot which didn’t help much in the poor light.

I took one more photo of the Blue-winged Teal.

Then I saw a hawk flying in the distance. It turned out to be a Red-tailed Hawk. I also heard a Red-shouldered Hawk later, but did not see it.

It was nice to see more species returning, even if there were not many individuals and they were staying high in the treetops. It’s already a bit of a challenge as the tree buds open. Here are a few so-so photos of a Pine Warbler I encountered.

Hearing Blue-Gray Gnatcatchers and not seeing them was frustrating. But eventually I managed to see one or two.

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

A couple female Brown-headed Cowbirds were low to the ground and making a lot of noise. When I refused to bother looking for them, they flew right up in front of me into the tree hanging over the trail to make sure I couldn’t miss them.

A Song Sparrow had its back toward me until it struck this pose.

After hearing them sing, I found one of a few White-throated Sparrows.

After I turned around to meet Bob on the trail, I saw the Yellow Warbler again.

I had an appointment to take my car in for an oil change, so I had to leave. My walk ended as it began, with another Palm Warbler.

Anything could happen in the coming days. We have several daytime highs in the 70’s and some storm activity is predicted. Strong winds are blowing birds considered vagrants into the area. I will try to keep up with some of this in my little corner of the world. I start leading walks this Saturday. For the moment, the Saturday forecast is for sunshine. I wish you some sunshine in your life.

Elsewhere on Sunday Morning

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I decided to visit Little Red Schoolhouse, a Cook County Forest Preserve in the Palos Area, for a change, just to take a bit of a longer walk and perhaps see a different bird or two. I did not see the Common Loon there (at the top of the post), but I’ll get to that later.

Almost immediately as I walked around the back of the nature center along the path close to Longjohn Slough, quite a large body of water, there appeared an abundance of Tree Swallows. These days, an abundance is anything three or more…

Observing the slough from a small platform blind, waterfowl was dispersed and distant, but things perked up quickly when an Osprey flew in. The Osprey picked up something that appeared to be nesting material and flew off with it.

Ironically, there is a nesting platform for Osprey in the middle of the slough, but it was serving as an observation deck for some Double-crested Cormorants. This Osprey must be nesting somewhere else.

A little while later, a Bald Eagle was flying around very distant, I couldn’t make it out until I went through my photographs. It looks like a first-year bird. The cloudy sky didn’t help.

I did manage to capture a couple Wood Ducks that were not out too far.

I also found a female Bufflehead. There were several Common Mergansers and likely a few other species but they were too far away to capture well.

I started to walk the trail through the woods and found a willing Song Sparrow.

I encountered a couple Tree Swallows up close.

I looked back out toward the slough and saw that two Canada Geese had taken over the osprey platform.

After a while I found some Yellow-rumped Warblers. There may have been half a dozen of them in a loose group.

I have seen a few Ruby-crowned Kinglets the last week or so, but they’ve all been hard to capture in poor light and this one was no exception.

Then when it seemed like there was nothing else, a bright Pine Warbler sang and hung around long enough for a few photos. Lack of light added to the fuzziness of these photos, but it was just so nice to see a new bird for the season.

Done with this location and ready to go home, I looked at my phone and noticed Lori from the Oak Park Bird Walkers had been trying to contact me to tell me there was a Common Loon in the lagoon by the Trailside Museum parking lot at Thatcher Woods. At first I dismissed the idea of going up there to see it, but then I thought it over, realized it was only a 25-minute drive, and that the bird would likely not be going anywhere soon as it was off course and stuck there for whatever reason. So that explains the photo at the top of the post, and here are a few more.

There were plenty of other people with large lenses taking pictures of the loon and I didn’t feel like hanging around. It always upsets me to see a bird that has somehow gotten lost. Lori was kind enough to let me know later that the bird was eventually seen trying to cross Chicago Avenue which is quite a busy street, while being protected by people who thought it might be injured, and was taken eventually to DuPage Wildlife Conservation Center. That was probably the best possible outcome.

Our weather is still on the chilly side of things, but we are starting to green up, and I am still taken by surprise with the ever-increasing daylight hours. This is perhaps a side-effect of messing too much with reality. (/s) More encounters to follow.

Any Minute Now

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When I was in Riverside Monday morning and it was gloomy and chilly, as it had been all week, there were still signs of things about to get better. This will be a quick post.

I don’t see a lot of Canada Geese these days, but there are a few, like the regular couple that hangs out on the wall by the Joliet Avenue bridge. I think this is the goose doing her morning exercises.

Things brightened up a little with a Golden-crowned Kinglet.

A Great Blue Heron flew up the river. Any day now, one will find a place to fish on the shore.

Cooperative Blue Jays are rare, but I guess this one had enough twigs in the way to make it feel less exposed to my lens.

One of the Red-breasted Mergansers flew by.

I thought I heard this Song Sparrow start to sing while he was still on the ground.

A Downy Woodpecker appeared.

I never get enough of the Brown Creepers.

I wondered what the Eastern Phoebe could possibly be catching on a chilly, gloomy morning.

Then I saw my first warbler of the season. Not surprisingly, it was a Yellow-rumped Warbler. The same individual is at the top of the post.

I was heading back to my car when I noticed two Ring-billed Gulls on the “island” near where the Hofmann Dam used to be. They behaved like a couple of young lovers and they were fun to watch.

They were joined briefly by a Killdeer which you might be able to see coming in for a landing on the left, in the photo below.

The gulls continued to dream.

Then one of them caught something, and ultimately they both appeared to share the treat. I knew then that they had to be a couple, because I have never seen such cooperation among gulls before.

I always have a lot more photos than I can ever get around to posting here. I’m sorry it’s taking me so long to churn these things out lately. Especially when I am now anticipating Birding Boot Camp this weekend, when I start getting up before the birds and going out earlier, as more birds are starting to arrive. À bientot.

McGinnis Morning

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This morning started off cool and a bit cloudy, but I was feeling up to an outing and, after checking eBird for recent sightings, I decided to visit McGinnis Slough. I haven’t been there in months and it was time to see some more birds in a different habitat. It was especially gratifying to see that the recent rain has improved the water level from last year.

Predictably perhaps, the first birds I saw were some American Coots. They weren’t in huge numbers but they were just about everywhere.

And this is a very popular place for Red-winged Blackbirds. In addition to scores of males on territories, I saw my first female of the species.

Then I started seeing some distant Ring-necked Ducks. All these photos were taken at quite a distance and have been heavily cropped.

There were a couple Pied-billed Grebes.

Pied-billed Grebe and American Coot

Here’s a male Ring-necked Duck and a Pied-billed Grebe,

More Ring-necked Ducks. You’ll hardly ever see the ring on their necks. I have seen it only once and the bird was much closer than these were.

Then I was very happy to see a Horned Grebe rather close in the marshy area next to the mowed trail. I used to see these birds frequently on the lakefront when I worked downtown, but it’s been years since I’ve seen one. This is the same bird at the top of the post.

There were a couple Northern Shovelers at the far edge of the same area and the male suddenly took off.

I walked all the way back to the northern end of the trail where you can view the largest part of the slough. There wasn’t a lot to see as the waterfowl were sparsely distributed at quite a distance, but the toads were making a racket. I sat on the picnic table and listened to them.

Then, as I walked back toward the center and the parking lot, an Osprey flew overhead.

I said goodbye to the Horned Grebe and headed home. In my backyard, the birds had emptied the feeders, except for the American Goldfinches who were still working on the nyjer seeds that I refill their feeders with daily. They have had it good all winter. The photos were taken through the back porch screened windows.

A male House Finch flew in for a second and I almost caught him on his way out except for a photo-bombing goldfinch.

It’s been a good day. The sun is shining and it looks like we have a few more cold days ahead but soon it will be warm enough to start cleaning up the yard and welcoming the greening of everything. I hope to be done with this cold by my next post. I’ve been improving steadily.

More or Less in Riverside

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These photos are from the middle to the end of March by the Des Plaines River. I let the Hermit Thrush at the top of this post fly in from March 31, but I will return to the rest of that day in a later post.

On March 17, the Eastern Bluebirds were watching me from the Swan Pond area.

There have been four Red-breasted Mergansers consistently in the river. That day it wasn’t easy to get them all in one photo.

A Song Sparrow, a female Northern Cardinal and a Dark-eyed Junco put up with me.

On March 19th, a little sunshine made all the difference.

Song Sparrow

I saw a Ring-billed Gull fly by with something in its beak. I could not determine what the delicacy was. But the gull made things more interesting.

A pair of Turkey Vultures flew over and I managed these photos of one of them.

On March 26th, I heard an Eastern Phoebe sing, then saw him as he sidled up against the wall and then later perched in a tree.

The female Eastern Bluebird was available.

And I had visits with a couple Golden-crowned Kingleta.

The Red-breasted Mergansers were still around. If you look closely to the left side of the group you can see the head of the second female emerging from the water.

I was thinking of stopping at this point, but I decided to stuff one more morning’s photos in here. March 26 was cloudy, nothing new there. By now I was hearing and seeing two Eastern Phoebes.

The clouds called to be noticed.

Then I encountered a burst of color from an Early Crocus. There was a brave insect checking out the right-most blossom,

Two Canada Geese got into a brief disagreement.

Near the end of my walk, I encountered a couple Brown Creepers. It’s the first time I’ve captured one in flight.

I didn’t expect it would take me so long to get around to these photos, but I’m taking a break this morning from most outdoor activities. I have been quite busy draining my sinuses from a cold that started to challenge me on Thursday. I am keeping up with WFMT’s spring pledge drive, and I plan to check out the live videos of the protests. I wasn’t planning on joining a protest today, but it didn’t seem quite right to go for a walk in the woods either if I’m not feeling up to par. I’d rather get over the cold.

In any event I will be back with more recent excursions and maybe I can manage a walk tomorrow, as every day more and more migrants are showing up. The plots thicken on all fronts.