Tag Archives: Chestnut-Sided Warbler

Early May at the Chicago Portage

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In spite of life’s challenges, confirming existence itself, not to mention sometimes extreme ups and downs in the weather, spring migration continues to inspire hope and reassurance that not everything is over yet. A lot has been happening, lately with a lot of singing, at the Chicago Portage.

On May 2, the Baltimore Orioles were arriving, perched far away. I was leading my annual auction walk for the Unity Temple Unitarian Universalist Congregation. We stopped along the trail to listen to the orioles and several other singers, many of which we could not see, but the birdsong was entertainment in itself.

A Cooper’s Hawk flew over.

At one point later in the walk, an Eastern Warbling Vireo came right down in front of us and started gathering nesting material.

On May 5 before I left for the Portage again, I took a photo of one of the White-Crowned Sparrows that had been spending a few weeks in my backyard.

It was rather quiet at the Chicago Portage when I got there, but I was delighted to see a Wood Thrush sitting in a tree right beside the unpaved trail.

Then I found a Black-throated Green Warbler.

Blue-gray Gnatcatchers were everywhere. They still are omnipresent, but less visible as they are busy nesting.

On May 12, I saw a Northern Waterthrush.

An Osprey flew overhead, and a Great Egret made an appearance.

I was able to get a better view of a male Baltimore Oriole.

I was very happy to see a Blue-headed Vireo.

I caught glimpses of a Barn Swallow and a Northern Rough-winged Swallow.

On May 14, I found an enthusiastically singing Northern House Wren.

The Green Heron at the top of the post was back.

I saw a Veery and a Swainson’s Thrush.

I managed to capture a couple Eastern Warbling Vireos.

A Bald Eagle flew over rather distantly, but was still easy to capture with the 400mm lens.

I’d forgotten about this flycatcher which Merlin seems to think is a Least Flycatcher.

Chestnut-sided Warblers were all over the preserve that day. I wish I’d thought to record them as they were singing like crazy.

I found a female Rose-breasted Grosbeak.

It’s been a little harder to see White-breasted Nuthatches lately. I suspect they are very busy.

Indigo Buntings are arriving. I expect to see them a lot more frequently the next week or two.

Every migration season is unique or so it seems, with the appearance of certain predominant species varying. We seem to have a boom in Canada Warblers this spring and I will be back with them and others in my next post.

I am feeling hopeful and much better since my diagnosis of carpal tunnel was confirmed – add in some arthritis – and I expect to get a date for the outpatient surgery soon after the holiday weekend. It’s tremendously encouraging to know relief is on the horizon. And while I’m still being careful and trying to avoid pain, I am finding it just a little easier to type. That’s a relief in itself.

September in Riverside

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I was going to try and be more current, but it’s been a really busy week. Life is short. So why not take a peek at some photos way back from September 8? A time of drought and young Mallards in the Des Plaines Reiver. But it looks like it was a beautiful day in Riverside anyway. I discovered afterwards that I was shooting on the second memory card because I had forgotten to put the compact flash disc back in the camera. I think the images are a little flatter, but crisp (I could be describing biscuits, or does it sound more like wine?).

A Great Blue Heron flew over the river and landed in a tree.

The Chestnut-sided Warbler at the top of the post gave me some nice views.

A young American Robin surveyed the scene before it.

A Great Egret fished from a mudflat along the curve in the river.

It was a good day for the Osprey to hunt over the shallow water.

It found something to go after and was successful.

Other summery delights were available in the bright sunlight: two Blue Jays, a Monarch butterfly, a Northern Flicker barely hiding in the tree leaves.

And then I found a Northern Waterthrush on the rocks.

Back to my parked car by the Hofmann Tower, I found a Great Blue Heron was preening its feathers across the river.

I still hear refrains from the wonderful music we sang on Saturday night for the Best of the Unity Temple Choir concert. It seemed nearly impossible at the outset that we would ever pull it off after several setbacks, but our indefatigable and inspiring conductor Martha (“Marty”) Swisher made it all happen with wonderful musicians and guest soloists, not to mention fabulous lighting effects and graphics which I hope to see eventually in a video replay.

In a few days I will get back to birding and more blog posts. In the meantime, I have been helping my lifelong friend since junior high school while she is in town, we have been going swimming, and I have been enjoying cooking up a storm for more than one.

‘Round Riverside

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Warblers have been coming in all the colors of the browning leaves. Here are some photos from Riverside from September 17 and September 22. Since then we have had a heat wave of sorts, but migration has been steady if slower. We had hardly any rain in September. On the 17th, the story was still primarily Great Egrets and Great Blue Herons.

On September 22, the Des Plaines River was even lower. Several Great Egrets were still gathering south of the Hofmann Tower.

When I got out of my car, I noticed a young Cooper’s Hawk hunting for house sparrows in the yews by the condominium complex.

I watched a Great Egret fishing in the shallows by the former dam.

Then, when I entered Riverside Lawn, I was greeted by a Hermit Thrush.

Warblers were next, starting with a Magnolia Warbler.

After a brief rain a day or two earlier, a Chicken of the Woods fungus sprung up on the log where I often sit.

I found a Blackpoll Warbler.

I have seen a lot of Gray-cheeked Thrushes this fall, and this day was no exception.

I got a brief look at a Ruby-throated Hummingbird in a small patch of Jewelweed (impatiens capensis), which also has the common name of Touch-Me-Not. Years ago, when the Chicago Portage had a lot of this stuff growing, it was a magnet for these hummingbirds in migration. I can remember walking in on the trail one day and seeing what must have been 100 hummingbirds.

I saw a Chestnut-sided Warbler on the 22nd. This is another species I have seen fairly frequently this fall.

American Redstarts were present. Below is a second-year-or-better male.

It has been good for seeing Cape May Warblers too. The one below is a different individual from the one at the top of the post.

I found a couple Tennessee Warblers.

Here is another Magnolia Warbler from that day. This one appears to be a female.

There was a more dramatic looking Chicken of the Woods mushroom on a tree stump. This is apparently edible. I could almost be tempted.

The Cape May Warbler below is the individual at the top of the post.

And here is yet another Blackpoll Warbler.

I saw a couple more American Redstarts.

The bird below is.a female American Redstart.

And for good measure, I saw a Rose-breasted Grosbeak. I think this is a first-winter male.

I have many more photos to share with you. I was not so optimistic a couple weeks ago, but now things have picked up again, and with a cold front coming in and rain (finally!) expected tomorrow night, I had better make more room on the hard drive.

For what it’s worth, I found some photos from August 20th when we must have been getting more rain. You can see the difference in the water level of the river. I also had one of the last male Indigo Buntings and about 40 European Starlings, some of which you can see in the bare tree against a cloudy sky.

Fall Migration at the Chicago Portage

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For the most part, it’s been a sluggish fall migration season, but I have been glad to see the birds when they show up. Here are some photos from three September visits to the Chicago Portage: September 18, September 23 and September 25. I have been there thrice since. It’s a challenge to keep up with even this.

September 19 started out with a Song Sparrow, a Gray-cheeked Thrush and a Ruby-throated Hummingbird.

A look across the creek

I caught a Gray-cheeked Thrush in flight and stopped to check out some milkweed beetles. Then had one more look at the thrush,

A Downy Woodpecker caught my attention

And then a Black-and-White Warbler emerged. I grew hopeful.

Soon, I saw an American Redstart, and I had a brief look at a Rose-breasted Grosbeak.

Next, a Tennessee Warbler emerged, matching the green leaves.

Another, more yellow Tennessee warbler was also present.

A Blackpoll Warbler volunteered.

And another American Redstart that looks like a first-year male.

I had a brief encounter with a Red-eyed Vireo.

Here’s another American Redstart. This is the second-year or better male at the top of the post.

On 9-23, it was cloudy, but I took my chances. It actually started raining in earnest about an hour after I got there and I had to leave. That was the last time we had some rain. In any even, I first saw a Chestnut-sided Warbler.

I found a Cedar Waxwing and a Downy Woodpecker on the same twig.

I found another first-year male American Redstart.

I was happy to find an Ovenbird. I’ve seen these birds a few times over the past couple of weeks. I even had one briefly in my yard.

I got distant views of a Black-throated Green Warbler.

And as I gave in to the steady rain shower, I found a Box Elder Bug on Snakeroot.

On 9-25, things were quieter still, with a Gray-cheeked Thrush…

a Rose-breasted Grosbeak,,,

and a Yellow-rumped Warbler. The sight of a Yellow-rumped Warbler usually indicates we are nearing the close of fall warbler migration.

I found a Magnolia Warbler.

A Gray Catbird barely emerged from the foliage.

And my last photos were of an Eastern Wood-Pewee.

There’s still a lot more to report and I hope to get ahead of it soon. There are a lot of other things going on this month, but I will still be birding every morning that I can.

Fall Warblers and Others

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The fall warblers are trickling in. Here are a few warblers to get started with from morning walks in Riverside and the Chicago Portage. On August 27 in Riverside, I saw a female American Redstart.

Also present was a Cedar Waxwing. I included the middle photo because if you look closely at the yellow tip of the tail, it appears to have a serrated edge.

I caught a Chimney Swift and a Double-crested Cormorant in flight.

A Great Blue Heron and a Great Egret were available for long views.

On September 1 at the Chicago Portage, I briefly saw a Blackburnian Warbler.

I also had a Cape May Warbler, but only got a glimpse-and-a-half.

The next day, September 2, at the Chicago Portage, I had only a Nashville Warbler.

But I did get an interesting photo of a young Hairy Woodpecker.

And I made the acquaintance of a Chickweed Geometer Moth.

Back again on September 4 at the Chicago Portage, I had an American Redstart that could be a young male.

I then saw a Bay-breasted Warbler.

And I got some fair looks at a Magnolia Warbler or two.

I also had Tennessee Warblers.

I caught a glimpse of a Gray-cheeked Thrush.

And a Field Sparrow sat still for a moment.

Also that day, Bob and I saw a Broad-winged Hawk and a Cooper’s Hawk. They were both in the air at the same time, and then the Cooper’s Hawk made a return solo visit.

Broad-winged Hawk
Cooper’s Hawk

In Riverside on September 5, I saw the Chestnut-sided Warbler who is also at the top of this post.

I also had an American Redstart, again, a young male.

Great Egrets were here and there..

On my walk through Riverside Lawn, I came across a Green Heron perched by the river close to where I was walking.

And I heard and then saw a Northern Waterthrush.

I just had a very interesting morning at the Chicago Portage, so I think I will be back with that recap as soon as possible before I go back a little bit to the five days in between. Anything can happen during fall migration, even when it’s least expected.

Looking Back to Going Forward

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While we await the spectacle of fall migration, where thousands if not millions of birds will pass through our area on their way back south to their winter homes, I find myself pleasantly surprised to see there are still a lot of photos that I never managed to process and post from spring migration, and while things have slowed down during the summer breeding season, it might not hurt to look at these birds.They won’t look entirely the same as they did in the spring, but we will still be glad to see them.

These are photos I took in Riverside on May 5, starting with a Yellow-rumped Warbler by the Hofmann Tower parking lot.

I hadn’t gotten very far before I saw the Canada Goose that likes to stand on the wall and then, a female House Sparrow doing a little dance.

Then after I crossed the street and the bridge at Joliet Avenue, I saw a female Baltimore Oriole near the beginning of the paved trail.

Then I encountered a friendly Chestnut-sided Warbler. This is the same individual at the top of the post.

There was a Palm Warbler.

And another female Baltimore Oriole.

A White-crowned Sparrow was close to the trail.

I found a couple perched Tree Swallows. I haven’t seen many of these birds this summer.

White-crowned Sparrows must have been everywhere.

I saw a Great Blue Heron that day. I have expected to see this bird all summer long, but they have been noticeably absent lately.

In Riverside Lawn, I found a Hermit Thrush.

I got a look at a Northern Waterthrush.

Briefly, I saw a Ruby-crowned Kinglet.

Then, a Blue-winged Warbler appeared, a warbler I don’t see very often. The distance between me and the bird made it difficult to get good photos.

I found a White-throated Sparrow. I didn’t see a lot of these guys this year, but sometimes they can show up in good numbers.

Here’s a Blue-Gray Gnat-catcher. There are several still here for the summer, but they are much harder to see now.

And I caught a glimpse at a Black-and-White Warbler.

There were several other birds and my list totaled 45 species that day. I was going to add pirctures from the present at the end of this post, but I think this is enough for the moment. I will return with a more timely post soon. Until then, one more look at the Chestnut-sided Warbler.

Friday the 13th

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I went to Riverside Friday morning as usual, not knowing what to expect with the absence of rain and any changes in the wind. The river is low enough to walk across in some places. I have arranged the photos in chronological shooting order simply because there turned out to be way too many of them to try to arrange them any other way.

I checked to make sure the Great Egret and Great Blue Heron were in their usual spots south of the Hofmann Tower. And then, by the location of the dismantled Hofmann Dam, I saw some Kildeer on the rocks.

I crossed the Joliet Avenue bridge and started walking the paved trail into Swan Pond slowly, knowing that warblers tend to like the trees. I found a Bay-breasted Warbler.

Then a Magnolia Warbler appeared.

…and another Bay-breasted Warbler…

And then, I took a huge number of what turned out to be a very confusing set of photos of a Bay-breasted Warbler which I had to determine from its eye arc, undertail, bill shape and general body color without the help of seeing its wing bars. If you click on the photos you should be able to see them enlarged and in sequence. The reason why I am putting up all these photos, and indeed, a copious amount of fall warbler photos in general, is so you can get an idea of what the camera is seeing as I follow these birds around through the foliage, and maybe, just maybe, some of these images will begin to make sense, fall warbler identification being what it is.

As for the bird above which I determined was a Bay-breasted Warbler, after both the Merlin app and I tried to make it into something else, there is no other logical option. The bill shape and face do not match a Tennessee Warbler. The bird is very yellow, but not yellow all over enough to be a Yellow Warbler. Having said all that, I have decided to tune into Cornell’s Fall Warbler Identification presentation tomorrow night, which could cast even more doubt and confusion into my identification skills. But I am hoping it will strengthen and confirm some of the things I think I know.

Here is yet another Bay-breasted Warbler. So much individual variation!

I’m not done yet. The bird below, another Bay-breasted, exhibits all the classic characteristics of this species in the fall.

And now, just to shake things up a bit, below is a Blackpoll Warbler. The wing bars tend to be less prominent than the Bay-breasted although they are arranged similarly, there is often faint streaking on the breast, and the bill shape is thinner.

I then found a Philadelphia Vireo, which is maybe not too surprising after seeing one a day or two earlier at the Portage.

Next in line was a Chestnut-sided Warbler. This time of year one cannot expect to see the chestnut sides. But this bird has a lot of other characteristics: greenish-yellow on the crown, clean white throat and belly, and a beautiful greenish-yellow pattern on the back if you are lucky enough to see it. I am also enamored of the tail feathers spread out in the next-to-last photo.

I think all that was before I crossed the swinging bridge and started walking in Riverside Lawn. I have to keep better track next time

You guessed it. Another Bay-breasted. I promise this is the last individual for this post.

I caught a glimpse of a Nashville Warbler with its prominent eye-ring, gray crown and bright yellow breast and belly.

Then I encountered a Magnolia Warbler. This bird is also at the top of the post. Another bird with an eye-ring. Most identifiable to me is the black and white tail pattern and the black streaking on its yellow sides.

Then I found an Eastern Wood-Pewee, a flycatcher I have seen several times this summer.

And another Magnolia Warbler.

Then a Downy Woodpecker posed for good measure.

Another Nashville Warbler.

Then came my biggest surprise. I saw a rather stocky-looking warbler sitting on a branch obscured by vegetation. It was hard to focus but I managed to take enough photos of it as it sat fairly still. It turned out to be a Connecticut Warbler! This bird is elusive and somewhat rarely seen. This is a first-year bird with what Sibley describes as a “complete brownish hood.”

Another Downy appeared, right at my feet.

Downy Woodpecker

And yet another Nashville Warbler.

A Black-and-White Warbler was briefly available.

And it has been impossible to totally ignore the flocks of American Goldfinches feasting on seeds.

Yet another Nashville Warbler. I think I made up for all the individuals that have been so difficult to capture this season. Note the individual variation.

Merlin says the bird below is a Least Flycatcher. I have checked The Crossley Guide and I can’t disagree. Empidonax flycatchers are often difficult to determine.

The last bird I photographed was a very pale Chestnut-sided Warbler. All that gorgeous greenish-yellow I was talking about isn’t there yet. So the other characteristics (eye-ring, wing bars, undertail) have to kick in.

Fall migration marches on. With no rain for too long and the temperatures too hot, the birds are still taking breaks from their migration flights to hang out with us for a day or two. With no northerly winds to help them, they may linger a bit longer.

This morning I joined the Oak Park Bird Walkers, led by its founder, Henry Griffin, at Thatcher Woods. I then walked through Riverside Lawn before swimming. When I came home I managed to go through the morning’s 454 photos and reduce their number to 340 in the first pass. Tomorrow morning I will be at Columbus Park with more Oak Park Bird Walkers. Depending on how that goes, I may extend my search for fall warblers to yet another location. All I can say is, beware, more photos to come.

Warbler Overload – Part I

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Suddenly the weather is summer, and with the heat after a long, rainy prelude, the trees are leafing out and spring migration is in full force. I was contemplating two other posts of recent outings but Tuesday’s visit to Riverside and Riverside Lawn demands attention first. I didn’t go out yesterday because I was helping a friend, but it’s just as well as I needed some extra time to process nearly 1,000 photos to begin this series.

There was a tremendous fallout of warblers along the Des Plaines River. While I anticipated as much – this was the kind of thing I dreamt about previous years while stuck sitting in front of a computer at work – I just didn’t expect the magnitude of this fallout. I literally saw so many individuals of several species, it was almost maddening. It took me 3 hours to cover a little over a mile, which up until now has taken me two hours tops. I was moving slowly anyway, as the morning grew hotter, but I just kept seeing more and more birds. I counted 16 warbler species. They will not all be represented here, but I have even more species and photographs to come from the day before at the Chicago Portage. So hang on, here we go. (I have decided to split this up into three or more installments or it will never happen.)

I started seeing Chestnut-sided Warblers right off the bat, which made me happy because I had not yet seen them this year.

They ran the gamut, from brightly-colored individuals…

To drab birds…

And somewhere in between…

If I accomplish nothing else in this first of many installments, I must pay tribute to the beautiful Prothonotary Warbler that is at the top of this post and appears in more photos below.

Seeing the Prothonotary so well and having the opportunity to photograph it was breathtaking.

I would like to continue but it’s late and I have to get up early to beat the heat tomorrow morning, so I will be back as soon as possible with some more birds from my big warbler day. Because I have to make room for even more birds seen since then!

Leading Walks

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I led two walks for the Unity Temple Unitarian Universality Congregation (UTUUC) auction again, on September 11 and September 25 this year. I didn’t take a lot of pictures, even though I was in much better shape than I was last time with the broken elbow. The pictures from the 11th are first and the ones from the 25th start with the Yellow-Rumped Warbler.

More than anything, it was good to get out with people from the congregation, most of whom I had not previously connected with, which was the whole point, beyond raising money, of offering a walk as an auction item. We had great conversations and the weather was good on both days, so I find myself looking forward to doing this again. And again.

Not quite the last Indigo Bunting (a juvenile).

I managed to capture this Chestnut-sided Warbler with a bug.

The Yellow Warbler below was deemed “rare” in that it was late to be seen on September 11, so perhaps I developed too many photos of it to prove I had seen it.

A Red-tailed Hawk flew over.

It was nice to see yet another Eastern Wood-Pewee.

I am always grateful to the bees that remind me the Canada Goldenrod, however strident in taking over spaces, is needed and appreciated by them.

A closeup of some galls that attach themselves to hackberry leaves.

Not a representative photograph at all, but below was my first of many Yellow-Rumped Warblers to come.

Below is a somewhat hard-to-see Blackpoll Warbler. You can always click on the image to see it better.

For a few days there was a juvenile Rose-breasted Grosbeak or two.

Finally started seeing some Ruby-crowned Kinglets on September 25th like the one below. I have since captured more – to follow eventually.

Magnolia Warblers just kept popping up all month.

One more of the delicately decorated Swamp Darner also at the top of the post. It was on its way somewhere on September 25th,

I led a walk this morning at Columbus Park – I was the only participant. I think I might return shortly with that adventure before I continue to plow through the accumulated backlog: for instance, I wound up going back to the Portage before and after the second walk and found it to be very birdy, so be forewarned.

Bemis Woods Twice

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I decided to visit Bemis Woods a couple times two weeks ago as it is on the way to the grocery store where buy my organic veggies and then I wouldn’t be wasting a trip running all the way over to the store just for a couple items the first time, and my weekly groceries the next. I have now changed my shopping day to Friday instead of Saturday, so… visiting Bemis could become a weekly event.

I wasn’t sure if I would ever visit Bemis after the installation of a “Go Ape” Zipline feature a couple years ago. It’s right off the parking lot. but I thought I would see how it was to walk the trails, figuring the pandemic had probably put a damper on Go Ape for a while. While it doesn’t take up the whole preserve, that much human activity, in addition to plenty of bike riders, walkers and runners…well, you get the picture for a slow-moving quiet person like me. Bemis is also huge and there are trails sprawled out leading to oblivion, or so it seems, but luckily the GPS on my phone confirms I am going back in the right direction.

Black-throated Green Warblers have been everywhere this season. Period.

I was delighted to find the female Black-throated Blue Warbler below in my photos.

I could not resist documenting this Blackpoll Warbler’s struggle with its prey.

Not to be outdone by the warblers chasing bugs, this Black-capped Chickadee showed me there are other interesting things to eat.

I have no idea what the plant below is but I liked the way it has gone to seed.

Another view of part of Bemis that is not woods.

Bemis is otherwise thick with tall trees like the view below, which makes seeing anything a challenge.

The Salt Creek runs through the preserve and there were Mallards at least one morning. It was nice to see some water still deep enough to afford waterfowl.

The asters below caught my eye. There are so many different types of asters, the more I learn the more confused I become. I’m glad the bee in the right-hand photo has figured it out.

Two more views of the Northern Flicker at the top of the post.

Below is a confusing fall warbler that has to be a Bay-Breasted but looks almost nothing like the ones below it in different light.

I have not seen many Chestnut-Sided Warblers this fall but am always glad when I do see one.

Below, some type of phlox and then golf-ball-sized galls that are found on Staghorn Sumac trees.

There’s always room for a Downy Woodpecker in my estimation.

This is still just the tip of the iceberg. However I have to use up more photographs soon or I won’t have room on my hard drive for the ones I have yet to take. Or something like that. I did get a bit of a reprieve last week when we had a string of rainy, cloudy mornings – which I devoted to projects I’m starting in my yard. We had cool weather and then we went back to hot and dry – and now we seem to be somewhere in between, but I am really hoping for some more rain, again.