What a surprise to visit the Chicago Portage Tuesday morning and find that there had been a controlled burn last Saturday. I had gone to McGinnis Slough that morning and remember passing by the Portage on the way back home and seeing a lot of vehicles in the parking lot. Although I think the intervention was long overdue, the timing couldn’t have been more precarious. The ground was still somewhat damp from all the earlier rain. But the subsequent hot, dry and windy forecast would have been prohibitive. Below are some views of the charred ground.
A Red-winged Blackbird perched on some remaining vegetation
The female House Sparrow below was the first bird I noticed when I started walking from the parking lot. I thought the buds on the tree and the blue sky background made her look extra special.
An American Robin was by the first bridge, fluffing its feathers as if it had just taken a bath,
It was a beautiful day for photos of the regulars.
Later, when I was on the inside trail, the Belted Kingfisher saw me and took off.
But he soon surprised me by hovering and flying over the water, as if he was happy to give me a little demonstration of his technique.
A male Brown-headed Cowbird caught my eye,.
By the second bridge, a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker put on a little show.
One Yellow-rumped Warbler paused just long enough for me to capture his image.
Two Canada Geese were flying back and forth.
Earlier the geese shared a log island with the turtles.
The turtles are ready for this weather. The Blue-winged Teal have been around for the last couple weeks, but I don’t always see them if they are tucked in to the vegetation by the shore.
I met a friendly White-throated Sparrow.
And I saw my first Eastern Phoebe.
I had gone to sit on a log by the shore off the inside trail, when a Bald Eagle flew over briefly.
We continue with hot, dry weather until late tomorrow night when the forecast is for cooling off, rain (I hope!) and then – wait, there’s more! – we are supposed to get some snow on Monday. I don’t think it will be with us for long because the temperatures are not likely to hit freezing, but this is really messing up with my plans to clean up my yard. All those insects that are starting to emerge will need a place to take shelter. In the meantime, however, I have been removing invasive Lesser Celandine from the backyard.
The Portage is already starting to come back through the ashes. I have much more to report and I will try to keep up the next few days.
Two Sundays ago, I went first to McGinnis Slough, and then to Little Red Schoolhouse, which features Long John Slough. Suffice it to say the air was filled with the songs of Red-winged Blackbirds. I must have encountered at least 100 of the birds between the two locations.
Yet there was very little happening at McGinnis. I didn’t realize until I took my photos off the camera that the Red-tailed Hawk below was carrying nesting material in its talons.
A Northern Cardinal managed to pose while still feeling protected by branches.
There weren’t many birds to see in the water. Over on the far side I could barely see two Trumpeter Swans and a few gulls. I assumed that they are Trumpeter Swans as they always nest here.
I continued on to Little Red Schoolhouse.
Not much was going on at the feeders near the visitor center.
In the slough, there were perhaps fifty or so Common Mergansers. They were quite far away so the photo below is quite cropped.
I walked the Black Oak Trail and found myself looking out at the slough with a couple other birders when we spotted a juvenile Bald Eagle taking flight. It appears to be 3 to 3-1/2 years old.
One more distant look at a few Common Mergansers.
About the only thing I could get close enough to as I walked the rest of the Black Oak Trail was a tree stump with a conflomeration of fungus, lichen and moss.
The weather continues to interfere with my resolve to take a daily walk. But there was enough to accomplish inside today. I filed my first “totally retired” tax return. I formatted the lyrics for the program which will accompany our choir Sunday performance of a chamber version of “Considering Matthew Shepard” on April 2. And I just made a batch of red lentil soup with lemon, and some Peruvian aji amarillo dipping sauce. I will have some roasted veggies with the dipping sauce for dinner. This will help me get over the idea of “losing” an hour: I can’t wait for the birds to wake me up at sunrise anymore, it will be too late.
We haven’t had much snow this year. That which we have received did not last for long. These photos are from two visits to the Chicago Portage on February 2 and February 7 respectively. There haven’t been a lot of birds available for photographs lately but it’s still good to go out because sometimes the unexpected occurs.
At least it was nice and sunny. American Tree Sparrows are still a possibility.
The Dark-eyed Junco below was barely visible in the snow.
Also tucked into the snow, a Song Sparrow, a male House Finch and another American Tree Sparrow.
The Downy Woodpecker below was a willing subject.
On my way out, I saw a coyote in the distance.
And then I had a brief, close encounter with a Red-bellied Woodpecker and his friend, the White-breasted Nuthatch.
I suspect the man who feeds the deer is responsible for the ridiculous offering below.
On the 7th it was quite cloudy, with most of the snow gone.
The best part of that visit was the local pair of Bald Eagles. Unfortunately because of the light, and the fact that they were fairly distant, I couldn’t get great photos. But it was nice to see them fly over.
Not much going on with this Downy Woodpecker.
And then I caught him briefly in flight.
All the other birds were at a considerable distance and with the lack of light, focusing was problematic. Below, a Song Sparrow, an American Tree Sparrow and a Dark-eyed Junco leaving the bridge.
I did follow a White-throated Sparrow as it foraged for seeds to eat.
A group of American Goldfinches was happy to sit still, probably because they knew they were barely noticeable. This is more goldfinches than I have seen all winter at my feeders. They have been staying in the wild, so to speak, I suspect because it hasn’t been all that cold and bleak and they are still able to find plenty of food.
It’s hard for a male Northern Cardinal to disappear in any season.
I am recovering from a little right-knee setback – thankfully it hasn’t lasted long at all and I am already back to about 97%. It was also a busy weekend with the 21st annual Gull Frolic on Saturday and singing two of my favorite songs with the choir on Sunday morning.
This morning in Riverside, in addition to Northern Cardinals singing, I heard and saw three Red-winged Blackbirds, a Black-capped Chickadee trying out his “hey, sweetie” tune, and Red-bellied Woodpeckers have started singing their quirky song as well. I heard a House Finch vocalizing a couple days ago. An American Robin has been here and there, albeit not singing quite yet. Spring is coming. Any minute now. I hope to be back soon.
I returned to Riverside Monday morning, after my previous visit last Wednesday. The weather was sunnier on Wednesday than Monday. But on Wednesday, I heard and then saw a Winter Wren, and even managed to get some photographs of it. Which is more than I got this past Monday when I had even better looks at the Winter Wren, but that’s another story.
Since this is a long and somewhat complicated post, I think I’ll revert to chronological order. Below is what the Des Plaines River looked like last Wednesday, for starters. The water level was a little bit higher than it was Monday.
In the raptor department, there was a distant, perched Cooper’s Hawk with its back to me.
American Goldfinches are still seen here and there.
I can remember complaining the last few years about never getting a photograph of a Dark-eyed Junco. Now I have way too many of them.
In good light, Downy Woodpeckers can be good subjects.
The sky was almost too blue a background for this White-breasted Nuthatch.
Shortly after I crossed the footbridge to Riverside Lawn, I had my Winter Wren encounter. The wren was at some distance but on a sunny day I was able to capture it cavorting around.
Perhaps the only bird the sun did not treat well that day was this female Northern Cardinal.
When I returned on Monday, it was cloudy.
Des Plaines River
And the river was low again, with many places for Canada Geese to stand in.
I caught a flurry of Rock Pigeons around the Hofmann Tower, but there was no accompanying raptor so I don’t know what caused them to go into flight drills.
Two Dark-eyed Juncos are below, with a White-throated Sparrow in the middle. Unfortunately they were backlit but I because haven’t seen very many White-throated Sparrows this fall I am including it.
Off Riverside’s paved trail, I found this Red-bellied Woodpecker busily inspecting a stump.
When I got over to Riverside Lawn, it wasn’t long before I realized that another tree had fallen and the trail, such as it is, was now totally obscured and not exactly passable. Before trying to decide how I was going to go around all this mess, I decided to just sit on the first fallen tree that I had been negotiating easily for about almost a month.
Almost simultaneously, the flock appeared. I suspect they were intrigued by the newly fallen log as well. Of course there were Dark-eyed Juncos.
A Downy Woodpecker was present.
For comparison, I was also lucky to see a Hairy Woodpecker.
A couple incidental photos from Riverside Lawn…I think before I sat down on the log.
Some tree fungusNorthern Cardinal male
While I sat on the log, the Winter Wren came in and was so close I could not photograph it with my big lens. Below is the only image of the Winter Wren I managed to capture on Monday.
But soon after that, a Carolina Wren arrived and perched on a stump a short distance directly in front of me and I complied with its request to be photographed. It’s also at the top of the post.
There were also a couple White-breasted Nuthatches not too far away. Directly below is a male, and the bird in the gallery beneath it is a female.
This is the time of year when Red-bellied Woodpeckers stand out against the drab, leafless trees. And this one was no exception.
Sometimes I manage to focus on a busy Black-capped Chickadee.
More snaps of the Red-bellied Woodpecker.
I have managed to find a way to walk around the new obstacle although I am not sure how easy it will be later, in snow and ice.
The most astounding thing Monday occurred hours later on my way home from the pool. I was approaching a busy intersection at 37th and Harlem when I saw a Bald Eagle rise up from behind a strip mall and fly right over my car, and then there was a smaller raptor chasing after it. I suspect they both may have been attracted to some prey which I never saw. I got through the intersection, pulled into a gas station and pulled out the camera.
The smaller raptor turned out to be a Peregrine Falcon. The two birds chased around for what seemed like a few minutes, and then the Bald Eagle eventually headed south, after the Peregrine gave up the chase and sat on top of a utility pole. It’s something to consider, that both these species were endangered not all that long ago and now there are enough of them to spill over into the suburban sprawl.
So it’s been quite a week for raptor action with this going on Monday morning and then the Red-tailed Hawk rescue on Tuesday. Yesterday and today were much quieter mornings. Tomorrow we are due for rain mixed with snow so I won’t be going for a walk but if I can drive, I will go for my swim in the middle of the day.
I’ll try to be back soon with some earlier encounters. Next week will be busy with choir singing and the Christmas Bird Count on the 17th, so blogging may have to wait for a while. ‘Tis the season.
It’s been a week. This post has nothing to do with the Fourth – or now, the Fifth – of July except that I realize it’s the first such holiday I have not been compelled to visit Goose Lake Prairie for my annual prairie and Dickcissel fix. I will be going there perhaps in the next week or so now that I have no obligations to a workplace.
I’m going back to photos from the Chicago Portage taken on June 12 and June 18. Just last month, but it already seems like those were slightly cooler days of innocence. Before the loud music from my neighbors’ pool stereo. Before the fireworks. I’ll stop there.
Below is the first time I captured Tadziu, the indomitable Indigo Bunting, on his new perch across his bridge. Also are recordings of his song on both days.
Recording of Tadziu singing on 6/12/22 with Warbling Vireo in backgroundTadziu singing on 6/18/22Looking at Tadziu’s bridge from afar, on 6/18
I captured a Bald Eagle flying over the Portage both days after not having seen one for quite a while.
I still think Brown-headed Cowbird males are good-looking guys.
More Bald Eagle flight photos.
These are not good photographs of a Northern Flicker but perhaps they are interesting in the shadows.
Here’s another Indigo Bunting – not Tadziu – I saw on June 18.
And here’s another Northern Flicker. These photos intrigued me because in the first ones, his tail completely disappears into the tree.
I keep expecting to see flocks of Cedar Waxwings in the mulberry trees, but so far had only barely seen a couple individuals.
12-Spotted Skimmers are relatively common at the Portage.
I haven’t seen Red-bellied Woodpeckers as often as I have heard them, but was able to capture this one at a distance.
Red-winged Blackbirds are not as visible as they were right now, so in good light I try to photograph those I can.
On June 12 I saw this Indigo Bunting and then managed to record his song. You can hear how different it is from Tadziu’s.
Indigo Bunting with Baltimore Oriole answering
I was happy to see a Black-capped Chickadee for a change of pace. It was busy and quiet.
This Ruby-throated Hummingbird was far away but perched so I attempted a couple photos. I hate calling them “shots”…!
Vegetation I haven’t seen or noticed before always attracts my attention. From left to right, Motherwort, a non-native species; Red Clover, also introduced; and galium aparine, known by a plethora of colorful names including Bedstraw, Sticky Willy, Catchweed, Whippy Sticks – now naturalized in the U.S.
Below, perhaps more or less native, allium canadense or Wild Garlic, and Fox Sedge.
There was this beautiful orange fungus on the 12th. I haven’t seen it since, I will have to remember to look for it.
Two tiny insects, what looks like some sort of fly, and a beetle I am too lazy to look up and identify.
I keep photographing this bridge as long as I can still see it through the vegetation, and then a view of the stream overgrown.
Not the clearest photo of a somewhat distant White-breasted Nuthatch but I hadn’t seen one all summer and the two tree barks almost make me dizzy.
One House Wren pondering his next move…
A view of the Des Plaines River from the trail above the bottomlands…
Today is also the 11th anniversary of my blog. And my birthday. I may not be posting as often as usual (albeit I post infrequently enough as it is!) for the next few weeks as I have penciled in – no, engraved in stone – my intention to start working on the book I’ve been meaning to write for the last 20 years. I don’t intend to finish it, but it’s a good time to start: I have no immediate obligations without choir rehearsals during the summer, the weather, whether too hot or stormy, may interfere somewhat with my propensity for morning bird walks, and I don’t know, I just have a feeling that if I start writing it may take me over like the last long writing project I was involved with years ago, and that will be worth doing in and of itself. A long retreat into another corner of my mind. A brief respite from the world’s troubles. Truth in observation. Trying to make sense of it all, but acknowledging when it makes no sense.
There has been a Lesser Scaup at the Chicago Portage for over a week. I first saw him on March 4 and have seen him on every visit since, including this morning. He seems to be content to hang out and has managed to evade predation. I find him an irresistible subject, even if most of the time he is somewhat far away.
This is a rather long post encapsulating what transpired on my walks at the Portage on the 4th, the 8th and the 10th of March. Immediately below are more photos of the Lesser Scaup from March 4 when I first discovered him.
The 4th was the first time I heard and saw male Red-winged Blackbirds here.
European Starlings are usually way at the top of the trees across the stream from where I am standing, but these two surprised me by being on my side for a change.
Robins are starting to return to the Portage and my neighborhood. They just started singing.
There wasn’t a lot happening on March 4, but it was a sunny day at least.
This young deer was too close and fearless.
Then on March 8, things were a bit more interesting. It started with Downy Woodpeckers chasing around.
I hadn’t gone too far before I saw what I believe to be the local pair of Bald Eagles perched on the electric utility structure. I can’t remember the last time I saw them here but it seems like at least two years.
When I got a bit closer, there was only one eagle perched. I then saw the other flying close by.
It was a beautiful morning.
I kept taking photos of this Red-winged Blackbird as he sang. I don’t know why I have them all here, he didn’t change his position much. But you can hear what he sounded like below.
Song Sparrows could be seen foraging on the ground near the trail.
The Lesser Scaup was present.
On my way out, I encountered three young, lost-looking deer.
And then out on the front lawn, a dead doe that had been ravaged by some beast, likely a coyote. I suspect it was the parent of the three youngsters. I decided to spare you the gorier photos on my cell phone.
As I walked to my car I encountered two Cook County Forest Preserves workers who had come to investigate and clean up. When I drove by about twenty minutes later after running an errand close by, the lawn had been cleared of the carcass.
I began making a connection in my mind between the feeding of the deer and this terrible incident and decided to talk to the man who has been distributing peanuts the next time I saw him.
So I went back to the Portage on March 10. It was a cloudy day and pretty cold.
Sometimes an American Robin will just stare me down.
The Lesser Scaup was still there.
The views that always catch my eye, looking pretty much the same two days later.
An adult Bald Eagle flew over in the distance.
Everybody was down on the ground looking for food, including two White-breasted Nuthatches. I think the one on the tree is a female and the one on the path the male. I wonder if he was going after what looked to me like part of a peanut on the trail.
I was still able to see a Red-bellied Woodpecker.
And a distant Common Merganser was in the Des Plaines River when I walked through the hole in the fence for a quick look.
There’s a grassy area that leads to the parking lot straight off the trail, but I rarely walk through there. I stood and watched from a distance as several American Tree Sparrows and Song Sparrows foraged. The American Tree Sparrows are directly below.
And here are some Song Sparrows.
For a direct comparison, below is an American Tree Sparrow on the left and two Song Sparrows. Whenever I start to confuse Song Sparrows with other streaky sparrows, I always look for the noticeable dark malar which is in the cheek-throat area.
Squirrels don’t often tempt me to photograph them but this one was available, so I did.
On the way out, the orphans again seemed too close.
One more of the singing Red-winged Blackbird.
As it happens, I did run into the man feeding wildlife on March 10, and talked with him. He did not appear to be feeding at that moment, his hands were in his jacket pockets. He said he was aware of the rules and that once even the Forest Preserve police said to him, “You’re not feeding wildlife, are you? Because if you are I will give you a ticket.” Obviously that didn’t stop him. In fact, he told me he was the one who called the police about the dead doe. He also told me that she had had a broken leg, which he surmised may have been from an automobile encounter. I told him that he wasn’t helping the deer but in fact might be harming them as they have lost their wariness of humans and perhaps other dangers. He smiled and shrugged his shoulders and said he was only feeding for the next couple weeks, it was going to warm up and they would have new growth to eat. Plus he was running out of peanuts. He also went off on some inane tangent about there being too many deer and wondered if “they” cull them.
So there doesn’t seem to be much one can do about him. If I see a Forest Preserve police I can approach, I will talk try to ask about it, just to enquire, but I suspect they don’t seem to think there’s anything they can do either. The police do not stay long at any location but move around from one to the next, and I don’t think they are interested in sitting around waiting for the peanut feedr to give him a ticket.
My mother always used to call March the Adolescent Month. She must have been referring to the weather. It’s as if it is on the cusp of indecision – stay in winter or grow up into spring.
I went to Riverside on March 2 which was on the beginning of a brief warm front, and then back again on March 9. On the first visit it wasn’t particularly warm in the morning, but the winds were blowing from the south. I saw the Eastern Bluebird briefly.
There’s nearly always a Black-capped Chickadee somewhere. This one was close enough to photograph.
The sky wasn’t too encouraging.
This Blue Jay tolerated me long enough to focus on those few parts of him that weren’t obscured.
The Des Plaines River is flowing again.
Waterfowl are here and there now, the large groups of Canada Geese and Mallards have dispersed. Below is a female Common Merganser.
With the strong shift in winds from the south, Sandhill Cranes were taking advantage of a free ride. I saw the larger flock when I came back to my car in the health club parking lot after swimming the same day.
