White-Tailed Deer
I visited the Chicago Portage on Sunday. Not as early as I wished, but I went out Saturday night and couldn’t get up before dawn. While I suspected by 8:00 a.m. I missed quite a bit not being there at sunrise, it was still nice to hear a lot of birds and even see a few now and then. The surprises were more the omissions: only a few Canada Geese flying over, no ducklings or goslings, not one Mourning Dove, no raptors. Yet the place was brimming with life. The deer came closer to the lens than most of the birds.
Cedar Waxwing
Cedar Waxwings often appear in flocks. But this was the only one I saw.
Tree Swallow
This Tree Swallow let me take his picture while he caught a breath in between sallies for insects.
Song Sparrow
This Song Sparrow was… not singing.
Gray Catbird
But this Catbird was. Actually, the song clip below is from another Gray Catbird that serenaded me but never showed his face.
Everything is so green, including the carpet of duck weed, after all the rain.
Painted Turtles were sunning themselves here and there.
Painted Turtles
Deadly Nightshade, also known as Beladonna, is in full bloom. I pull a lot of this stuff out of my yard every year, even if the bumblebees seems to like its pretty flowers.
Deadly Nightshade and the Bumblebee
Most cooperative was this beautiful damselfly, an Ebony Jewelwing.
Ebony Jewelwing
I start out counting Red-Winged Blackbirds and then give up. It’s impossible to tell if this is the same one I heard over there..I estimated the entire preserve had about 40 total.
And below is a fledgling Red-Winged Blackbird, stuck on a dry spot, waiting to see what happens next.
I might not have seen the Green Heron below if a Red-Winged Blackbird had not chased him into this tree.
Green Heron
This sole female Mallard Duck looks like she’s got a secret. Maybe I’ll see ducklings on my next visit.
It’s hard to believe this little preserve, sandwiched in between the Chicago Metropolitan Water District, railroad tracks and an Interstate, has room for young deer.
A female and a young buck, just beginning to grow antlers. Growing season for everything.