Tag Archives: Brown Creeper

Springing Forward at the Portage

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We were in the midst of a warm spell, which always comes as a welcome surprise this time of year. I needed a morning walk before singing with the choir Saturday afternoon in a memorial service for a beloved choir member. It was cloudy but not too windy, and warm enough for turtles to emerge.

I saw only a few of the usual suspects, but everybody was singing, like this Song Sparrow.

Red-winged Blackbirds have been about for over a month now, but they still fulfill their purpose as official spring arrivals.

Red-winged Blackbird

I was delighted to see a Brown Creeper. I never tire of seeing this bird.

And there were a couple White-tailed Deer, one of which posed nicely

Then on Sunday morning, with a promise of sunshine and continued warmth, I went out again, although it was extremely windy and passerines were simply not available. But I hedged my bets, so to speak, and after walking the trail without seeing much of anything, I decided to sit on the picnic table bench by the water and wait a few minutes to see what might occur. After a moment or two, I saw my first Turkey Vulture of the season, albeit at a distance.

A moment or two later, a male Belted Kingfisher dropped in and back out again.

I had checked the wind direction on my cell phone weather app and it seemed that I had a good chance to see some Sandhill Cranes. Sure enough, a group of eight Sandhills flew over, in silence, but low enough for the camera to record them.

I am still recuperating from the sudden loss of my internet connection which occurred yesterday afternoon. After figuring out that my router had died, I was lucky enough to call tech support and visit a store to exchange the dead device for a new one. Everything is working fine again, but it was just such an exhausting spell of adrenaline, I never got around to eating anything substantial until dinner. But what a lovely meal it was.

Our brief flirtation with spring weather is over and we are anticipating stormy weather as the temperature drops. I did go out for a brisk walk this morning to clear my head for attending to some boring-but-important tasks ranging from vacuuming to passport renewal… To be continued.

Down by the River

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The river was too frozen for much of February, so I missed seeing some of the ducks that usually come to visit. With the recent warmer temperatures and the ice melting, it was rewarding to start seeing Red-breasted Mergansers again. And just two days ago, there were two male Buffleheads with them.

There was ample sunshine that morning and I had the best look at a Red-bellied Woodpecker that I’ve had for weeks.

Going back a bit, on February 27, I started seeing pairs of Canada Geese. There was one of a pair that like to stand on the wall leftover from the Hofmann dam.

A couple Red-breasted Mergansers were a bit closer that day.

I started seeing Brown Creepers again.

A Red-winged Blackbird was foraging in the leaf litter right in front of me as I sat on my favorite log,

Going back a bit to February 16, just before the water started flowing in the river again, the same pair of geese by the Hofmann Tower, practicing thermoregulation.

I also saw a Merlin that day.

A pair of Mallards found some open water next to the ice.

Three more quick photos from Monday: a Mallard drake, an American Robin, and the full moon that evening. I got up early Tuesday morning to ln hopes of seeing the lunar eclipse, but we were under cloudy skies with drizzle.

We are scheduled to get some rain the next few days. While it might discourage a morning walk or two, we need the rain as the promise of spring continues.

Winding Down with the Holidays

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It’s been a long week or two, or so it seems, with this end of the year business. I have been obsessed with baking enough Cinnamon Oatmeal Raisin Breads to give to people who make me happy all year long, and after all the baking was done and most of the breads delivered, it’s kind of a letdown to not have any more to bake, although now that I am making progress eating my own loaf and receiving appreciative reviews, I look forward to doing it all over again next year.

Here’s the rest of what the end of December has been looking like, when I have managed to get out and walk. There are still a few days left in the year, but so far the weather forecast is not too promising. We are drenched in rain and fog today and anticipate a sprinkling of snow and a lot of wind tomorrow.

Going back to 12-16 at the Chicago Portage, when the snow was still on the ground…

A pair of Northern Cardinals can always light up the gloom.

An American Goldfinch and a Dark-eyed Junco, two birds I expect to see, and a Fox Sparrow which is a less-frequent visitor.

The camera spotted an American Robin flying away over the snow.

On 12-17 in Riverside, two Mallards were fighting over what I will never know.

I found another American Robin in flight by the edge of the water, and then European Starlings bathing.

Here’s another view of a Dark-eyed Junco that pretty much gives away its identity this time of year: the splash of white in the tail.

And I saw a Muskrat on the river near the swinging bridge, which makes me think I may have mistaken it for a beaver the week before.

I joined Steve and Joann for the Christmas Bird Count on 12/21 in Columbus Park. There weren’t a lot of birds to photograph by the time I got there, but right before we left, four crows drew our attention to a Red-tailed Hawk. I managed the photos below and the one at the top of the post just as we got close enough to confirm the hawk’s identity.

The next morning in Riverside I encountered a rather large flock of House Finches buried in the bushy growth by the river bank. They soon took off after I managed to zoom in on a couple.

Downy Woodpeckers have been pretty consistent.

The two Mallards below were peaceful enough.

I am always drawn to Common Milkweed seedpods in winter.

And yesterday at the Portage, the snow was gone, but ice was returning.

I was pleased to see a Brown Creeper, even though I couldn’t get a very good picture of it,

I thought this little scene sums it up: an American Robin looking on as I was looking at two Downy Woodpeckers.

I am evaluating my options for a stuck-inside day. I’m thinking of cooking if my indoor crowd will let me monopolize the kitchen. They seemed to be rather active earlier, in between downpours, but it just got very dark in here and we’ve had a burst of thunder and lightning. I will reluctantly turn on the lights after receiving my latest electric bill this morning. I hope your holidays are going well, and I wish you a calm and loving start to the New Year.

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.

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.

Frustrated, Fumbling – Found!

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I have been spending a lot of mental energy trying to figure out how to function with the new camera and new software, trying to find the place where it all feels comfortable again. It’s been yelling in the back of my mind through nearly everything else I have tried to do independent of photo processing for the last week. I had pretty much decided to switch back to Lightroom and engaged in a 7-day free trial. I soon discovered that naturally, even the so-called “Classic” had changed since I bought the software that has been on my older laptop for years.

As familiar as Lightroom felt automatically, two things were frustrating me. One was getting the watermark to print on the processed jpg. The other was indexing: I couldn’t find the processed jpgs on my laptop. I finally solved these two problems on Sunday afternoon, and now it feels like home again. What a relief! Of course the reason for all this is because “improvements” – i.e., more options – have been added to Lightroom in the last 10 years, so one has to dig through menus to find the familiar features and select them. I am sure there are a lot more things I will discover as I continue to explore the new camera and applications. I have to remind myself it’s good I’m going through this exercise while there are very few birds to photograph.

So now, back to those Few Birds. I’ve been to Riverside a few times in the last week and I managed a few pictures of them. On February 5, there was very little light. I tried to encourage the sun by taking its photograph.

A pair of Common Goldeneyes swam in the river.

A Northern Cardinal, also at the top of the post, provided some color.

Beyond that, there was a Ring-billed Gull overhead.

The trail at Riverside Lawn was still mostly snow and ice, not worth navigating.

But the reward at the end as I was heading toward my car was a distant flying adult Bald Eagle.

I went back two days later and got a closer look at a male Common Goldeneye.

And navigating only part of the Riverside Lawn trail, I saw a few Brown Creepers.

Two days later, on Friday, the sun was shining. I first saw a Red-bellied Woodpecker on the Riverside paved trail.

The Des Plaines River didn’t have many birds in it at that point.

I did see two tagged Canada Geese from where I stood on the footbridge: 26N and 64H. According to the band reports I received previously, they are both males.

Otherwise, there were a handful of Dark-eyed Juncos.

And I barely captured a male Northern Cardinal this time.

It feels good to be operational again. I like the new camera. Perhaps all I really did need was some new Canon batteries… if so, the old camera can be my backup. But I am slowly accepting the fact that technology will continue to rule my life and I may as well get caught up in, or better, with it, while keeping the interference to a minimum. Now I can look forward to spring migration. Birds are starting to sing.

2023 Begins

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Gray day after gray day. The year got off to a gloomy start. But I am happy to report today was mostly sunny, tomorrow will be as well, and even yesterday afternoon – after I got back from a visit to the lakefront – the sun had broken through the clouds. So I hope to be sharing sunnier-looking reports with you soon.

That said, these photos are from visits to Riverside on January 2 and 4.

On the 2nd, perhaps most interesting was observing a disagreement between two Mallard drakes. The one on the right is the interloper. You can see the progression of their little spat by advancing the slide show. The guy on the left was eventually successful in defending his territory and saw the challenger off into the water.

Beyond that I noticed a pair of Mallards preening on their own little ice floe.

For the lack of birds to photograph I took notice of some other things.

The old Riverside water tower,,,

Some interesting lichen below…

That looks to be Phycomeces or “Snow Mold” below, then some of the moss that grows on the stones lining the paved river path, and I don’t know what to make of the stringy roots attached to a fallen log but it looked interesting on January 2.

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When I got back to the Lyons side of the river I found some distant Red-winged Blackbirds and Dark-eyed Juncos.

January 4 was considerably cloudier, if that can be imagined.

The light was so poor it was difficult to capture any birds clearly, but luckily I had an obliging Black-capped Chickadee or two.

Even these Northern Cardinals seemed skeptical that I would bother trying to capture their images.

I managed a few photos of a young-looking White-breasted Nuthatch.

And the best bird – because I haven’t seen one in quite a while – turned out to be a Brown Creeper, rather close to the paved path.

Canada Geese were coming back to the river as soon as enough ice was melting. I have seen “64H” so far every visit this year. I just decided to report it to the US Geological Survey to find out where it was banded. It will likely take several weeks to get a reply.

I hope to be back very soon with a 2023 Crow Post. The days are getting longer. Yesterday late afternoon when I was playing piano for the birds, we welcomed the first fledgling. It’s a beautiful little dark gray bird with a very striking white throat. I hope it does well and grows up to be a welcome member of the flock.

On top of everything, I have found a new source of energy in spite of the winter gloom. I am having fun writing the book, all of a sudden. I know one is not supposed to have fun writing a book, but that’s where I am right now, just slowly letting it happen. It’s much like falling in love.

Riverside Winter Comparison

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Here’s a set of photographs I have been meaning to share since they were taken way back when, December 22, 2021, to be exact, in Riverside. I figured I could contrast what this part of the world looked like before the snow and icy cold overtook everything.

The Brown Creeper at the top of the post was on a Hackberry tree right by the Riverside entrance to the foot bridge. It was foraging about waist-level.

December 22, 2021
February 1, 2022
The Water Tower
Foot bridge

There were a lot of Canada Geese that day, including the one above with its neck tag. When I was last there, only a few Canada Geese were down on the ice.

I never turn down a chance to photograph a Downy Woodpecker, although it was a lot easier back in December.

The Dark-eyed Junco below was over by the Riverside side of the Joliet Avenue bridge.

It’s been really hard to capture Black-capped Chickadees lately, so I’m glad I managed on December 22nd to photograph this one.

Mallards below are from February 1. The sole female Common Goldeneye was still with some of them.

The unidentified fungus below was from the December outing.

Also in December, across the river, I managed to pick out this Blue Jay having a drink of water solely by his blue color.

Here’s how the sky looked on February 1.

Another before and after comparison of the river.

I took notice of the hole in this stump on February 1, sheerly for its size and somewhat square shape, which made me wonder if I will ever see a Pileated Woodpecker at this location. I thought I heard one that day.

I keep thinking this downed tree by the trail looks like a hedge.

So, a last look at the snow and ice for now. It is not going anywhere for awhile. There likely will always be some Mallards and a few Canada Geese in the open water. I have yet to see a Bald Eagle here or at the Portage.

This morning I found myself going through some photographs from the end of September in Riverside, taken around the Indian Gardens location before I had discovered this location I have been to all winter. I am sure I will be birding both areas in the spring. In the meantime, I will be back with those photos from September 29, 2021, to brighten things up a bit and as something to look forward to.

The First Thaw

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I was almost going to revert back to sunnier and greener times – and I probably will in the next post – but it occurred to me that in the middle of summer, no matter how unbearably hot it gets, I won’t be going back to any cold, grey, icy scenes as something to look forward to, so I may as well organize a more recent outing here.

I went out yesterday morning to Riverside, where I hadn’t been since the end of December. The forecast was cloudy but warmer – and anything warmer than the 5 to 10-below wind chills sounded possible to me. Still I decided to carry the little mirrorless camera so my agility negotiating icy spots would not be compromised. I was sure there would be plenty of ice but at least there are no hills to navigate on the Riverside trail, unlike the Portage. Below is what the river looked like going over the Joliet Avenue bridge.

There was open water here, which was not always the case farther down the river. As I walked across the bridge I thought of the Yellow-rumped Warbler I saw close to the bridge back on December 22nd.

I started down the paved path, and I began to see some ducks in the water – but I was hearing an insistent little ticking call behind me. I turned around, and the Yellow-rumped Warbler was up in a tree telling me it was still here. I am glad I managed to get a photograph of it.

I don’t know exactly what it is, it’s probably a combination of things, but I think a point of mutual exchange occurs with birds sometimes that is plainly a result of my paying attention. This was not a “coincidence” but rather, the Yellow-rumped Warbler was responding to my thought about it. I remember a dear former boyfriend who was an electrical engineer, who used to say “thoughts are things.” Indeed they are.

I am also reminded of some lyrics from one of my favorite Peter Mayer songs, “World of Dreams”:

“In the smallest measure of anything at hand
Entities of energy are alive in a whirling dance
Even our own bodies are not as we perceive
But made of the same stuff our thoughts are made
In this world of dreams
So do we live and move amidst illusions?
Has what we’re seeing fooled us
And only exists in our minds?
And what are we to do with such conclusions?
For what cannot come true in a world of a
Mystical kind?”

Anyway, this encounter with the Yellow-rumped Warbler was special. It was encouraging to know it had survived the awful cold. I was beginning to wonder how much more cold I could take. Yesterday was the first day I managed without long underwear.

There were perhaps 50 Mallards total – where two weeks before there had been a couple hundred Canada Geese. There were no geese in the water yesterday. But there were diving ducks, which I had never seen at this point in the river before. Common Mergansers and Common Goldeneye.

It was gloomy all morning. The sun kept trying to get through the clouds but it didn’t happen.

Here’s how the river looked closer to the foot bridge.

And the foot bridge itself.

The closer I got to the ice, the more serious it looked.

But at least the foot bridge had a railing, and I was able to grasp the suspender cable at the end to go downhill toward the foot trail, which was a lot safer.

Not knowing what kind of pictures I could get of birds with that camera under these conditions, I just tried when I could, and got lucky with the one cardinal at the top of the post – they have been difficult subjects lately – and a few mixed results otherwise. There weren’t a lot of birds out. And yet I managed to report 16 species.

A Downy Woodpecker and a Dark-eyed Junco

And yes, another Brown Creeper. I’m just amazed the little camera did such a good job.

Not much else from yesterday – just snowy ice and predictable gloom. The temperatures rose quite a bit by the afternoon. Today was supposed to be cloudy and I started cursing the sun when it came out because I only had plans to go grocery shopping. But I decided to make more oatmeal cookies before I went out. I’ve been hooked on these lately – I’ve been making them with yogurt instead of milk and they’re not too sweet, just full of oats and raisins.

The last cookie – and the new batch for future consumptions…

May as well go out with the same color as the beginning. I will be back shortly with greens.

Footprints in the Snow

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It’s simply too cold to venture outside for a walk today. I had hoped I would be up for a walk anyway – the sun is shining brightly – but with a wind chill of 14 below and a predicted high of no more than 14 above, I think I will simply wait for it to get warmer over the weekend.

I was last at the Chicago Portage on January 4. Even though I was the only human there, it immediately became obvious that several others had preceded me the days before.

I always take a photograph of the statue first just to commemorate the light. And in this case, a little snow on it.

It was a fairly sunny day and not windy, so I could stand and wait for birds to pop up. But there really weren’t many. I struggled to get a halfway clear picture of one very cold-looking White-throated Sparrow.

When I did finally see some Northern Cardinals, they were too far away.

Here are a few snowy scenes. Just enough for a contrast to the shades of brown.

The sky was often undecided about sunshine or clouds.

A view of the Des Plaines River

But there were deer. Several of them.

And more footprints caught my attention.

I barely heard the woodpeckers and did not see them at all. My greeter Black-capped Chickadee was excited to see me but he wouldn’t stay still very long.

I barely captured a Dark-eyed Junco.

Before the snow and cold, Canada Geese were everywhere. On this day, I noted only four flying over.

On the way out, I heard a White-breasted Nuthatch but when I tried to find it, instead I saw a Brown Creeper. Since they don’t sound anything alike, there’s no way I could have mistaken the elusive nuthatch for a creeper or vice versa. But this is a phenomenon I have noticed on several occasions this winter, so they must be foraging in the same trees. Anyway, below are some photos of the creeper.

I have a treasure trove of some slightly older and significantly older photographs to go through and they will come in handy during this cold spell when I just can’t find the courage to brave the elements. The weather hasn’t stopped me from going out at night to swim, it has only made the outing that more surreal. But I am grateful for the opportunity to get some exercise.