I saw some birds this week – in between practicing for the Spring Music Festival which will occur tonight. We had a rehearsal/run through last night and I survived. At least people like the song, so I guess that’s a good indication of something.
We canceled our scheduled walk at Columbus Park this morning because the weather was potentially threatening with the possibility of thunderstorms. We will more than likely have that kind of weather later tonight as we warm up to 70 degrees. But the overnight lows are still predicted to be in the 40’s for the coming week, which delays the yard cleanup even further.
These photos are from Monday at the Chicago Portage. I warn you, there are Way Too Many of them. The warm wave from the two days before brought migrants into the area. It was cooler on Monday so a lot of birds were foraging for food on the ground, like this Pine Warbler sampling seeds on the asphalt path.
Believe it or not these photos are of two separate individuals. I couldn’t capture them close enough to each other for a group photo.
The one Pine Warbler in the trees at first was not recognizable to me, but it turned out to be a Pine, albeit a drab one. The photo of the undertail helped me identify it.
A few more of this bird. Either way, it blends right in with the wood.
Palm Warblers have been all over the place in great numbers. it has gotten so that after taking all these pictures I haven’t bothered much with any of them the rest of the week.
I barely managed a few fuzzy photographs of the Black-and-White Warbler below.
it was delightful to see the return of a Yellow Warbler. One or two always stays the summer at the Portage so I expect to see this species again.
Warblers were not the only thing going on. There were lots of Chipping Sparrows, albeit most of them on the ugly asphalt.
There were a few group photo opportunities.
There were one or two Field Sparrows and then quite a number of White-throated Sparrows through the break in the fence.
I saw my first Baltimore Oriole of the year. My feeder will go up tomorrow. As you can see he wasn’t moving much.
Vocally and actively, the Blue-Gray Gnatcatchers are back. The lack of light emphasized the the Gray half of their name.
Here’s what the sky looked like that morning.
I had a cooperative White-breasted Nuthatch doing his thing.
Male Northern Cardinals are a little easier to photograph these days as they advertise their territories.
But the lack of light kept everything pretty cool-looking.
In her elusive stage, I managed half of a Red-bellied Woodpecker.
My volunteer American Robin. They are all over the Portage now.
The Yellow-rumped Warblers were the first to show up, but now their numbers are diminishing.
The return of water this year is making the place attractive to waterfowl again.
It would have been nice to see the rest of the bird below, but I think after going back and forth between Hermit Thrush and Swainson’s Thrush, it’s the latter.
Northern Flickers are determined to not be seen and this one wasn’t any different.
The Great Egret stopped by to see if conditions were conducive to fishing. I can only assume the sight of me changed its mind. But it was back the next day, on the bank of the stream.
I can only imagine what these Mourning Doves were up to. If that’s the male on the right, his neck feathers are iridescent…
I think these are flowers of a Box-elder Maple Tree. I found them attractive.
So thanks to the canceled bird walk and my nap, I was able to finish this offering. If you made it all the way to the end of this post you are a rock star! I must go back to my chores and prepare for this evening’s performance. I hope to be back again sooner after all this. Thanks for checking in and Happy Spring!
That said, there’s still only so much you can do with anything in poor light. Like the very cooperative and friendly Golden-Crowned Kinglet below, he was pretty dull and drab yesterday.
The dead wood in the water was perhaps more suited for the weather. It is transforming into…I’m not sure what bird that resembles on the right, below.
Sparrows were abundant. White-Throated Sparrows, which are a dime a dozen on the lakefront, seem special here. There were lots and lots of Song Sparrows singing like crazy, even though I managed to capture a silent one. Below these two, a couple hidden shots of a fairly distant Fox Sparrow, whose rufous caught my eye and brightened up the surrounding gloom. And the final sparrow at the bottom, a Chipping Sparrow, is my first one of the season, although I’m sure I heard one in neighborhood last week.
Lots of woodpeckers but they were hard to get on. Below is a Red-Bellied on the left. The little bird on the right is a Brown Creeper, not a woodpecker, but spends as much time on trees as woodpeckers if not more, and it’s also the first one for me this spring. Click on the pictures to enlarge, and look at how beautifully the creeper blends in.
Okay, well, tonight I’m going swimming unless there are thunderstorms, and I promise I will finish The Panama Pictures so I can start sharing them with you.
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