August at the Chicago Portage, Scene 2: Lepidoptera et al.

Posted on August 19, 2014 by Lisa Rest

Comma

Saturday’s outing at the Portage continued, with birds here and there, but this post will concentrate on the butterflies who stole the show as the sun climbed more directly overhead.

The main draw was the Burdock blooms, which sometimes made walking on the narrow path narrower and a bit precarious. After all, Burdock was the inspiration plant for Velcro.

Second Year Burdock, Chicago Portage

As it turned out I encountered two distinguished gentlemen on the path who, after asking me what I was interested in, announced they were into plants. They were happy to tell me the Burdock blooms were the second stage of the biennial plant, those monstrous huge leaves being the first year. I returned the favor by identifying the juvenile Red-Tailed Hawk from my previous post and the trouble it was causing the juvenile Green Heron. They went on to identify a few other plants for me, one of which I used on my picture of the now-named Heal-All in a previous post.

Burdock has an entire culture built around it, including medicinal and culinary uses, which don’t tempt me. But to see the butterflies and other insects enjoying the flowers gave me a new appreciation for what I previously wrote off as a pesky invasive.

Question Mark

The butterflies were all on the north side of the creek that runs through the Portage. I usually walk all the way around the south side first by crossing the east bridge, and then cross the west bridge over the creek and turn back toward the way I came only on the other side of the creek, which is where the burdock grew thicker and more and more butterflies appeared.

Upside-down Comma – is this now an Apostrophe?

Comma

It was nice to have the swallowtails and the purple for comparison.

Spicebush Swallowtail – 8/23 update – Linda P things this is probably a female Tiger Swallowtail

Red-Spotted Purple – at least I got this one right this time

Tiger Swallowtail

I am not convinced of my identification for the butterfly below but have not yet found anything else it resembles.

Most likely Silver-Spotted Skipper, according to Linda P

There were several dragonflies, unfortunately the most cooperative sitting on the gravel which makes a lousy picture. The White-Faced Meadowhawks are abundant this year.

White-Faced Meadowhawk

Blue-Fronted Dancer? Too hard to tell.

Not sure who this is, could be a female White-Faced Meadowhawk – Linda says they are hard to distinguish

Perhaps most fortuitous was the Red Admiral pictured below. First it landed on my pants, then on my sleeve, and I guess it knew I wanted a picture because it moved to the camera. I was loaded down with both cameras hanging on my shoulders and my binoculars, so the only option left was the cell phone. That’s how I got the three pictures below. The Red Admiral wasn’t going anywhere and I stood still as it kept investigating my skin with its little proboscis, until I finally started moving again and it flew away.

The bees were busy too.

Bee on Burdock

I will be back to birds for a recap of Sunday’s return visit to the Chicago Portage.

Is This What It Feels Like?

Posted on August 1, 2014 by Lisa Rest

Cabbage White on thistle, Chicago Portage

I have told everyone I know that I am retired for One Day. Today is The Day. Basically this means my last day at The Big Law Firm was yesterday, I am taking today off, and Monday I will start working Elsewhere. Elsewhere is the antithesis to The Big Law Firm except for the fact that it is another law office, but it is minuscule compared to the monolithic proportions the old place is taking on. But this blog is supposed to be about birds and music, or at least birds, so that’s all you’re going to get out of me for now, on my One Day of Retirement.

Female American Goldfinch, Chicago Portage

Back to business – there’s that visit to the old Chicago Portage, which, I understand, is a destination for tours open to the public on Saturdays. They had a notice on public radio which I heard driving back from the pool on Wednesday night, so I now know not to be there on a Saturday at 10:00 AM. Of course I hardly ever go out on Saturday mornings unless it’s a special occasion anyway, so this is probably why I have not seen the tours taking place. It is comforting to know that the gravel path is half a mile in length as I have been estimating it to be about that when I enter my sightings in ebird.

Burdock

I rarely if ever see any birds at the Portage until I get to the first bridge over the water, whatever phase of swampiness it’s in. Again, we have not had much rain lately, so the duckweed has taken over, providing that solid green background behind a female American Goldfinch who was the first bird to greet me and pose willingly.

Juvenile House Sparrow waiting to be fed

As I write this, there seems to have been a spontaneous if barely noticeable shower. In a way I am hoping for enough rain to make me feel less guilty about staying inside, because I have a lot of indoor tasks to attend to, even if retirement is making me feel less like doing them for One Day.

Juvenile Barn Swallows

There were plenty of baby birds waiting to be fed, but I was not able to catch the actual feeding.

Green Heron, Chicago Portage

And the Portage offered up its own Green Heron. There was another one that flew by later but I could not catch it.

Canada Geese, Chicago Portage

The Canada Goose family was hanging out.

American Robin, Chicago Portage

And one of many molting American Robins gave me that “What are you looking at?” look.

Killdeer

I could swear out heard more than one Kildeer but I was able to photograph only one. There was a lot of mud to support more than one shorebird.

American Bellflower

The wildflowers at the Portage were most cooperative.

Not sure if this is Field Thistle or not but it sure was striking.

So the Portage continues, as does summer, and the sun has come back out, so I better get up and get busy. I have not yet decided exactly where to go birding during the rest of my last three-day weekend until Labor Day (that sounds so sad, I was beginning to like this feeling of not having to do anything), but wherever I wind up I will take more pictures.

Portage Portraits

Posted on August 26, 2013 by Lisa Rest

Red-Tailed Hawk

Knowing the Jewelweed is blooming was enough to get me up early on Sunday to visit the Chicago Portage. In years past, I have been there and seen perhaps a hundred Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds, all feasting on the Jewelweed.

Jewelweed

Outside of hummingbirds, I had no expectations for this time of year. There could have been a shorebird or two. Perhaps the Green Herons had not yet left. I had no idea what I might find, but it’s so easy for me to go to the Portage just for the sake of its familiarity and it takes so little time to get there, all the associations of past visits guide me through the trails as I compare the experience to the last time I was there.

I was certainly surprised to see this Red-Tailed Hawk out in the open, observing her domain from the branches of a tree that extend over the creek. I took these pictures from the bridge where I stood in awe of her presence. She flew farther away at first, but eventually came back to pose for the picture at the beginning of this post.

Baltimore Orioles

Then I saw and heard a Baltimore Oriole, and the next thing I knew, he was facing off with yet another male. A snippet of his song is below.

A moment later I did see a Ruby-Throated Hummingbird, but it was the only one.

Ruby-Throated Hummingbird

And the Green Herons were both still present, though pretty far away.

Green Heron

Later as I was walking back I heard what sounded like an almost-cardinal, and sure enough it was just that. The scruffy little creature below is a Northern Cardinal-To-Be.