Red-Breasted Extravaganser

Posted on April 3, 2013 by Lisa Rest

Red-Breasted Merganser

I went a different route at lunch yesterday, after realizing halfway to the park I’d forgotten the peanuts (can’t go out empty-handed). So after walking back to work to fetch my bag and start out again, I decided to try the Chicago River riverwalk to see how it’s faring, because Millennium Park soon will be too crowded and too crazy to visit every day, come warmer weather and passerine migration.

Not a lot to see yet on the way out to the lakefront, save the tile artwork inside the underpass that goes beneath Lake Shore Drive,

Chicago River underpass art IMG_3574_1 Chicago River underpass IMG_3576_1

but when I got down to the harbor, there were Red-Breasted Mergansers everywhere.

RB Mergs 'IMG_3589_1

There may have been a couple Coots, but it was otherwise Red-Breasted Merganserland. Except for people walking in the other direction which sometimes spooked the Mergansers,

RB Mergs IMG_3671_1

I got close enough for some nice shots which is always lucky with the smaller lens and the 40D (my workday gear).

RB Mergs IMG_3621_1

The female Red-Breasted Merganser below struggled quite a bit with her catch, until finally it was down the hatch.

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RB Merg IMG_3656_1

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On the way back, past Millennium’s north sculpture garden, I got a preview of the new exhibit. Colorful. Don’t know how the migrants will like it…

Sculpture Garden IMG_3702_1

but it should attract a lot of people.

Meanwhile, Back on the Lakefront

Posted on February 21, 2013 by Lisa Rest

Ring-Billed Gull

Last Wednesday was the only day with promised sunshine, so my theory is, if I’m going to get out of bed at 4:00 a.m. so I can hang out with wild birds before going to the office, I try to pick the day with the best weather. It was cold, but clear.

Crows IMG_0753_1

Of course the crows are in charge of all this. I had maybe a total of 20 crows from Jackson to Randolph. Sometimes I am not quite sure if they are simply reappearing as clones of themselves. This is very frustrating to me, since they apparently have no problem distinguishing me from other humans. Do they sit around worrying that we all look alike and then study certain individuals they want to remember? I do recognize the crow below as being Fuzzy, one of last summer’s crop of youngsters, so named because of his rounded head.

Crow IMG_0921_1

There were not many birds on the lake, but I did manage to get a few images.

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A few Coots have arrived. As far as I could tell the Canada Goose and the Coot were getting along.

Common Goldeneye

First year Common Goldeneye male

Common Goldeneye are still…common.

Pied-Billed Grebe

There was one Pied Billed Grebe in the harbor…a nice surprise.

Later that afternoon on land, in Millennium Park, one of two Northern Cardinals

Cardinal IMG_0942_1

and one of several White-Throated Sparrows that have been there all winter.

WT Sparrow IMG_0938_1

As I sit here pondering our first true snowfall of the season, which is due overnight, I am also wondering why so many people are behaving like it’s going to be 3 to 7 feet instead of 3 to 7 inches…

Crow IMG_0831_1

…no need to be in a hurry.

Le Corbeau.

Please Let It Snow

Posted on January 6, 2013 by Lisa Rest

Sunrise, 1-4-13

January finds us in a winter drought. The lake level is so low, the shallow water froze overnight as soon the temperature dropped, something that normally takes weeks…

and even the ice looked like it was caught by surprise…

jagged, disjointed,

delirium…

and the water stains on the sides of the harbor show just how low the water is.

There were no diving ducks Friday morning, only some Canada Geese and a few gulls sitting on the ice. And a handful of crows came to my party.

Hot dogs always go first.

In weather this cold, make as few trips as possible. Cache and carry.

All You Can Stash…

Hold on for dear life.

Windblown Crow

I didn’t realize until I developed the photograph below that the sculpture pays tribute to the ferris wheel at Navy Pier…!

Anyway, I’m glad I finally figured out the new image editor.

Briefly, on the home front, here’s a quick rendition of the Gigue to the Bach A Minor English Suite recorded yesterday afternoon when I was trying to see if I still remember it. If you can last until the end (it’s only about 2 minutes total) one of my spice finches sings a final note, and I decided to leave my appreciation of his contribution in the recording.

Chicago Lakefront Longings

Posted on December 29, 2012 by Lisa Rest

Crow IMG_7859_1

A couple weeks ago I went down to the lakefront before work, to reconnect with whatever crows I could find, and see if there were any interesting waterfowl present.

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It was a nice, if crisply cold, sunny morning. New was the addition of some sculptures.

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The revisions to the park where a lot of the crows used to hang out continued apace.

Park Project IMG_7895_1

Not half as many crows as I had before the demolition of Daley Bicentennial Plaza began. I can only imagine they have dispersed up and down the lakefront.

Crow-One More Peanut IMG_7804_1

Crow IMG_7906_1

In addition to the obligatory Canada Geese…

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there were some Common Mergansers and a few Common Goldeneye too far away to photograph, but not much else.

Common Mergansers

Some lifeguard chair…?

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C’mon, Crows!

Posted on October 14, 2012 by Lisa Rest

One of the first times I went down to the Daley homestead elms to see if I could get pictures of the warblers, I ran into Jerry Goldner with his amazing lens. You can check out his fantastic photos on his “Profiles of Nature” flickr page here.

I had been down earlier that morning on my weekly foray of the parks at dawn and had somehow managed to not unload all the hot dogs to the crows. The crows were too busy forming a “murder” which is the rather derogatory, scary name for a congregation or flock of them.

a subset of the “murder”

I counted roughly 40 crows flying over at one point, taking into account that ten years ago it was all I could do to find two or three. I was moved by the site of so many crows and feeling somewhat responsible for their comeback, but their carrying on seemed to have little to do with my presence, unless they were showing off to me their strength in numbers.

Not wanting to leave the hot dogs, which I always store in used quart yogurt containers, in the office refrigerator, I was eager to distribute them to their intended recipients when I went on my lunch break (I can hear those unaware of my crow connection, if there are any such people left on the planet, talking now: “She always eats so healthy, I can’t believe she’s secretly eating hot dogs!”). So when the crows started following me around and making noise while Jerry and I were trying to see the warbler action, I did something I’ve never done before. And will probably always live to regret. I walked away from the action toward the south end of the park and called “C’mon Crows!” And wouldn’t you know, they followed me immediately as if they had been waiting for this day their entire lives.

The downside of bringing the crows back from the brink is that as they increase in numbers, it gets harder to train them, if you will, to be quiet and tread lightly while I’m stalking migrant visitors.

Bench Crow

At least I got rid of the hot dogs that day, which is usually not a problem…

when earlier that day, the first crows of dawn met me on the bridge that goes over the train tracks between Michigan and Columbus avenues…

Bridge Crows

Best to let my body language dictate the protocol, I guess. I did manage to get a few crows to follow me around slowly and quietly Friday afternoon, much like this pensive crow.

Pensive Crow

And soon as the migrants are gone, the crows will have me all to themselves again, to spoil them rotten with treats throughout the winter cold.

I know I will too, especially when I come back from my vacation (which is barely two and a half weeks away), tropical birds in my head, but guilt over leaving my crows and pride over the expected greeting they will give me upon my return.

Last year at this time

Posted on March 21, 2012 by Lisa Rest

it was still seasonably chilly, the trees were bare. Hard to find color anywhere –

except maybe in the lake. It was full of Horned Grebes in their spring finery.

Horned Grebe

Here’s one living up to his name. These pictures were taken on March 28, 2011.

And here we are, barely a year later, and the trees are in full bloom

or leafing out. The grass is green, and we have had no rain.

Very few divers remain in the lake, mostly gulls among the buoys. Are the buoys out earlier this year?

A Ring-Billed Gull this morning, coming in for a landing.

In the parks, there are lots of Common Grackles…

and Red-Winged Blackbirds,

but much of spring migration has not yet caught up with the weather and the flora. We have another month or more to go before we see the warblers.

Magnolia Warbler, Grant Park, May 22, 2011

Cape May Warbler, May 10, 2011

Last week’s birds

Posted on February 15, 2012 by Lisa Rest

I’m out of town so I won’t be visiting the lakefront this week, but I have a few images from last week to share. In the back yard for starters…

Male Northern Cardinal

The male cardinal who visits frequently finally allowed me to take a picture of him through the porch window.

Dark-eyed Junco

And this Junco was in his element; we had just a little snow last week.

On Friday it was bitter cold and bright on the lakefront. These characters always tag along as I walk north looking for water fowl, and then they fly in front of me, frustrating me because I’m too late to capture them as I struggle to carry their treats and the camera. This time, I threw peanuts behind me and turned around in time, freezing them in a couple frames before I froze my fingers.

Lakefront crows

The water was like glass shimmering in the sunshine.

Common Merganser and Canada Goose

Waiting patiently on the dock for my next move, this Crow sits…

Dock Crow

Sunday I went to the Morton Arboretum with a friend to find birds, and got pictures of this white-morph Red-Tailed Hawk in flight.

Red-Tailed Hawk

The previous Sunday I went on an organized owl field trip with the DuPage Birding Club. I was fortunate enough to ride with three friends who graciously shared their expertise. They found five species of owls that day, but either the conditions were not conducive to taking photographs, or I hated to bother the birds when they should be sleeping. Mostly I was in awe of the owls when I could see them, as I feel like a voyeur in their presence. But come sundown, this Great Horned Owl had the last word.

Great Horned Owl sunset

Winter in Chicago, then and now

Aside

This has been the warmest La Nina ever, and I have to wonder if this hasn’t been the warmest January in Chicago. Of course it’s early yet. Last year on January 13 we had snow and the lake had a think layer of ice on it.

Snowcrow 01-13-2011

Lake birds, 01-13-2011

But the prediction this coming Friday is for above-normal temperatures to continue.

The lakefront sunrise Wednesday morning was earlier, the days are getting ever so slightly longer.

The crows, of course, were in attendance.

A now very famous Black-Throated Blue Warbler hanging out by the bicycle rental at Millennium Park…

has been sipping sap from the trees the Sapsuckers have drilled into.

The Sapsuckers themselves are late to leave.

Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker

There was also a Cooper’s Hawk at Millennium Park that morning, and I annoyed him enough by taking his picture. He eventually moved on, leaving the warbler safe.

I woke up this morning with the prelude to the Bach A minor English Suite playing in my head. Only the purest silence eventually makes me aware. There was a little frost last night, but by the time I left the house it had melted off. I went to the Chicago Portage to see what exists. The tangled web of bare trees and dried vegetation offered winter views. All quiet, asleep, but potential lurks in that dormancy.

I did not get pictures of all 11 species that I saw. The first bird was a flyover Mallard duck. A little later I heard a constant sound that resembled a murmuring quack, or perhaps it was a squirrel sound. It turned out to be a Downy Woodpecker pecking away at the dried stems of Phragmites that grow by the water. I can’t imagine if the stems harbor dead bugs or some other delicacy but the Downy was persistent, until he flew up into the tree and gave me this nice photograph, one of several.

There were Mourning Doves sitting quietly in a tree.

Music in my head at the Portage was Albeniz, since I recently decided to revive the few pieces I once knew. The birds complied and remained in C#.

Female Northern Cardinal

On the path ahead there were several cardinals and goldfinches foraging.

American Goldfinches

It has been so warm, lichens are growing on this dead log.

I left the Portage and went to the grocery store, where by this time my head was playing the Tango by Albeniz which is in D major. I only remember this because the woman in line behind me thanked me for giving her my “tickets” – there’s some kind of promotion going on that I don’t have time for – and our conversation was in D. What would she think if I told her I had made her talk to me in the key of the music playing in my head? Was it worth the tickets I gave her?

I saw a Junco at the Portage but didn’t get a picture of one until I got home. This one is through the porch window.

Dark-Eyed Junco

Later this evening I counted 23 Mourning Doves under my feeder. It was too dark to take a picture, but I counted them three times to be sure. I had thought they were in decline because I wasn’t seeing them. I have never seen that many in my yard, ever! The new feeder must be doing a good job.

With a little luck I’ll have some musical excerpts coming up soon. So you won’t have to try so hard to hear the music playing in my head…

Pictures for Peanuts

Posted on November 30, 2011 by Lisa Rest

The Peanut Gallery

I went down to the lakefront this morning because after days of stormy clouds and 60 mph winds this was the only day of predicted sunshine. Sunshine was in abundance, at first glistening off the water by the yacht club with no birds in sight.

South of the Yacht Club

Flying Crow

But that changed within a minute or two of my arrival. Of course the Crow Crowd was following me. Carrying my camera in one hand and the bag of goodies hanging off the other arm isn’t ideal but I thought it might be a good day for flight pictures.

Fuzzy Crow

I’m calling this crow Fuzzy because his head feathers are so brush-like. Maybe this is a bad hair day for a crow but I think he’s pretty cute.

Sunbathing

A friendly Horned Grebe surfaced close to the sidewalk shore.

Horned Grebe

Farther out I spotted the Red-Necked Grebe, a less-frequent visitor.

Red-Necked Grebe

And a Red-Breasted Merganser took off to catch up with her buddies.

Female Red-Breasted Merganser

Eventually a Black-Capped Chickadee will come for peanuts too.

my little Chickadee

I sometimes shell the peanuts for them if they’re fast and sneaky enough to make off with the goods before the larger birds come back. But I caught this Chickadee shelling his own peanut a few days ago. It was almost as big as he is.

White-Wing flying

When I got up to the park this morning, the White-Winged Crow youngster was showing off her caching abilities.

Goldbird Variations

Why Birds Sing in Key with Music, or how I finally put perfect pitch to use.

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