A Rather Gull-less Frolic

Posted on February 26, 2023 by Lisa Rest

The weather wasn’t too bad for mid-February. The sun was shining and although it’s always colder by the lake, the wind chill wasn’t prohibitive. Indeed, it was quite easy to spend more time outside.

As in the past few previous years, the better the weather for humans, the fewer gulls come to this event. But this year was exceptionally pretty gull-less. With virtually no ice on the lake, there was no reason for the gulls to come to the shore. A lot of bread was thrown into the lake that day, but even the Canada Geese weren’t interested in it.

It was good to see some people I hadn’t seen in a long time, and the talk was interesting and informative. If I had stayed the entire day I might have seen a male Harlequin Duck that was reported being seen first over the Wisconsin border. But I had a busy evening and next day ahead and knew I would need a nap after the long drive back home.

Much of the time I spent outside was looking at some ducks. There were several Common Goldeneye.

It seemed most of the gulls were out on the ice beyond the yacht club. But as birders with scopes examined the flock, nothing unusual was reported to have been seen.

So I took a few token photos of the Herring Gulls that came in for bread early.

In addition to the Common Goldeneye there were some Lesser and Greater Scaup. When I managed to capture some of them in flight, I looked them up and discovered that the easiest way to tell them apart in flight is the white on the wing, which is a longer stripe on the Greater Scaup.

It was a beautiful day, and from time to time I took a few photos just to celebrate the blue horizon.

February is almost over. We’ve had a little more snow, a lot more rain, blustery cold and warmer temperatures. A bit more like March, perhaps, minus the longer days, but those are on the way too. And those increasingly longer days are calling some birds back to their breeding grounds already. I am starting to see American Robins here and there – individually, not in flocks. And Red-winged Blackbirds are proclaiming territories. Here’s a little sneak preview.

River of Geese

Posted on February 5, 2023 by Lisa Rest

Prior to the Deep Freeze of the last few days, my three most recent visits to Riverside were full of Canada Geese in the Des Plaines River, some of them tagged. I would have gone back on Friday in spite of the sub-zero windchill except for staying home waiting for a plumber to assess a more permanent solution to a clogged kitchen sink. I am now looking forward to that repair Monday morning.

January 27 was cloudy. The river was a gathering place for a couple hundred Canada Geese. It was among a group not far from the paved path that I saw 68B. The interesting thing about this bird is that I reported seeing her way back in September of 2014. She hatched in 2013 or earlier and was banded on July 16, 2014 near Brookfield in Cook County, which is the same location for banding of all the other geese I have reported. They have been pretty faithful to their original banded location. I saw this bird at the Chicago Portage, which is part of the same ecosystem.

A cold, gloomy view of the Des Plaines River

68B is in the third photo below.

To break up the goose monotony, I was entertained by an engaging Black-capped Chickadee. You may note that it has the same color scheme as the Canada Geese,

Then on January 30, there were two new numbers to report. 54H is a female banded in July of 2015.

And 26N is a male banded in July of 2016.

January 30 was cold and gloomy. This little group of geese was south of the Joliet Avenue bridge.

Other waterfowl included two male Common Goldeneyes and a pair of Common Mergansers.

The largest gaggle of geese was near the footbridge, as usual.

On February 1, 54H and 26N were in the group below near the Hofmann Tower.

A small gaggle of geese near the paved path in Riverside

There have been only a smattering of Mallards in the river.

This White-breasted Nuthatch had the courage to appear by himself instead of in tandem with a Red-bellied Woodpecker, which is how I have been seeing them lately.

Then, just on the other side of the footbridge, I saw a Redhead. Chris, who I see frequently walking his dog Isabel, had just said a little while ago that he hadn’t seen a Redhead. I concurred that I had not either. And then here was one. What a beautiful surprise. When I saw Chris later we both laughed, as he had seen it too.

Beyond that, likely the same two male Common Goldeneyes I have seen before. I haven’t seen the ladies lately.

And there were no more land birds to photograph that day, but I captured a sneaky look at my first Chipmunk of the year.

And just to confirm, the Hofmann Tower pigeons were in place.

One more of the Downy Woodpecker that is at the top of this post.

I have been to the Chicago Portage a couple times during the cold spell that followed and as far as I could tell, the Des Plaines River was likely frozen over, which doesn’t mean the geese weren’t sitting on the ice, but I suspect that maybe I wasn’t missing too much by not visiting Riverside. I will see if I can make a quick stop there tomorrow after my kitchen sink redemption.

With a little luck, I will be back before that with a little birds-at-home update. In the meantime, the sun is shining, the snow is melting, and it appears we are out of the woods, so to speak, for subzero or even single-digit temperatures. But I still have the memory of below-zero in my bones, which makes it that much more delightful to soak up the sun.

The River’s Slow Thaw

Posted on December 31, 2022 by Lisa Rest

One result of the cold snap – frozen water – resulted in diving ducks looking for open water deep enough to, well, dive in. Although much of the Des Plaines River remains frozen around Riverside, there is open water closer to the Joliet Avenue bridge on either side. On Wednesday morning, I saw some Common Goldeneye, and yesterday morning there were several Common Mergansers. To be expected, there are a lot of Mallards up and down the river, and I saw a few of them diving too, although they don’t stay submerged very long.

The Des Plaines River looking west from the Hofmann Tower in Lyons

Below are some groups of Mallards on the ice.

It looks like there were Canada Geese here before the Mallards.

As I started to walk along the paved trail, I saw these two male Common Goldeneyes.

And then a female.

And below is a first-year male Common Goldeneye.

The rest of the river from any close vantage point was still pretty much covered in ice and snow.

The snow on the fallen logs across the worn foot-trail in Riverside Lawn adds a layer of interest.

But I really didn’t see any passerines until I got back to where my car was parked in Lyons by the Hofmann Tower.

Close to the wrought-iron fence by the Hofmann Tower, where the landscape descends toward the river, I spotted a Song Sparrow. And then under the feeders, another Song Sparrow and a Junco, and then an American Tree Sparrow and the Song Sparrow.

Yesterday, the view looking west from the Hofmann Tower was a bit gloomier.

There was more open water, but much of the river is still ice.

This time close to the Joliet Avenue bridge were some Common Mergansers. Below is a first-year male.

Look closely inside this bird’s open mouth and you will see a fish it has caught.

Below is an adult male Common Merganser.

The next surprise was a first-year male Hooded Merganser – farther away, and determined not to be photographed, but I kept trying in between dives and managed the images below.

I don’t know when, if ever, I have noticed first-year male ducks, so this was an educational extra benefit from winter birding. You may see fewer birds, but notice them more.

Sometimes I just have to settle for the beauty of a big, slow-moving Canada Goose.

I noticed a Mallard hen trying to eat something that seemed to keep sliding onto the ice, but I had no idea what it was until I developed the pictures. It looks like a small crayfish or maybe a piece of one.

More pictures of yesterday’s ice.

The sun keeps trying to emerge from behind what seems like eternal cloud cover.

Land birds again, few and far between. There was a Hairy Woodpecker not far from the foot bridge.

And upon returning to where my car was parked in Lyons, there were a few cold-looking American Goldfinches.

One more of the four Common Goldeneye from Wednesday.

I will be back next year (!) with more winter birding and likely even more from before. It’s hard to get my head around the fact that this is the last day of 2022, but it is, so Happy New Year to all, thanks so much for checking in, and let’s all take a deep breath for the New Year.

Riverside Winter Comparison

Posted on February 4, 2022 by Lisa Rest

Here’s a set of photographs I have been meaning to share since they were taken way back when, December 22, 2021, to be exact, in Riverside. I figured I could contrast what this part of the world looked like before the snow and icy cold overtook everything.

The Brown Creeper at the top of the post was on a Hackberry tree right by the Riverside entrance to the foot bridge. It was foraging about waist-level.

There were a lot of Canada Geese that day, including the one above with its neck tag. When I was last there, only a few Canada Geese were down on the ice.

I never turn down a chance to photograph a Downy Woodpecker, although it was a lot easier back in December.

The Dark-eyed Junco below was over by the Riverside side of the Joliet Avenue bridge.

It’s been really hard to capture Black-capped Chickadees lately, so I’m glad I managed on December 22nd to photograph this one.

Mallards below are from February 1. The sole female Common Goldeneye was still with some of them.

The unidentified fungus below was from the December outing.

Also in December, across the river, I managed to pick out this Blue Jay having a drink of water solely by his blue color.

Here’s how the sky looked on February 1.

Another before and after comparison of the river.

I took notice of the hole in this stump on February 1, sheerly for its size and somewhat square shape, which made me wonder if I will ever see a Pileated Woodpecker at this location. I thought I heard one that day.

I keep thinking this downed tree by the trail looks like a hedge.

So, a last look at the snow and ice for now. It is not going anywhere for awhile. There likely will always be some Mallards and a few Canada Geese in the open water. I have yet to see a Bald Eagle here or at the Portage.

This morning I found myself going through some photographs from the end of September in Riverside, taken around the Indian Gardens location before I had discovered this location I have been to all winter. I am sure I will be birding both areas in the spring. In the meantime, I will be back with those photos from September 29, 2021, to brighten things up a bit and as something to look forward to.

Down by the River

Posted on January 27, 2022 by Lisa Rest

I did go out for walk yesterday after all – not leaving until we were at least 1 degree above zero. The sun was shining brightly and it wasn’t windy, so as long as I kept moving it wasn’t too bad.

Except for a few ducks and geese, I hardly saw any birds. Heard a few.

There were a few Common Goldeneye in the open water. A Mallard drake was hanging out with a female Goldeneye. I saw him actually dive a couple times, like he was trying to be a diving duck for her.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get a picture of him completely submerged – not that it would have been possible to see him anyway. But earlier I did catch a Canada Goose and a couple Mallards dabbling in their usual fashion.

Below is a Mallard during and after taking a bath.

Without many birds to photograph, there was plenty of ice and snow.

And the trail, such as it was…

Here are a few more views of the Des Plaines River and environs at this Riverside location. I was using the little mirrorless camera and because of the cold half the time I could barely see what I was shooting.

My last photograph from yesterday is of a Mallard and a Canada Goose asleep on the ice. That about sums up the morning cold.

We were pleasantly warmer in the 20’s today, but the day started off cloudy and I had grocery shopping to do, so I didn’t go for a walk. Tonight we have a winter storm watch which probably means I will be shoveling snow tomorrow morning. Maybe I’ll get out over the weekend. Except we will be back in the single digits again… Sometimes I wonder if it’s good or bad to know what’s coming next.

I was going to combine these photos with some from December but decided this is enough by itself. I’ll be back with the rest. In the meantime, the indoor birds and I have settled into a sort of routine where I play piano in the late afternoon before serving their evening snack. We’re slowly making our way through Bach’s sixth English Suite in D minor, among other things. I almost have the Prelude nailed, which means memorized… it feels like it takes several minutes to play, I have no idea, I haven’t timed it. But I am so aware as I’m playing of what’s coming next while simultaneously concentrating on what I am playing in the moment – it’s mind-boggling. I will be glad when my muscle memory completely takes over. I love playing Bach, I find his music so organic – but he really outdid himself with this suite.

The First Thaw

Posted on January 13, 2022 by Lisa Rest

I was almost going to revert back to sunnier and greener times – and I probably will in the next post – but it occurred to me that in the middle of summer, no matter how unbearably hot it gets, I won’t be going back to any cold, grey, icy scenes as something to look forward to, so I may as well organize a more recent outing here.

I went out yesterday morning to Riverside, where I hadn’t been since the end of December. The forecast was cloudy but warmer – and anything warmer than the 5 to 10-below wind chills sounded possible to me. Still I decided to carry the little mirrorless camera so my agility negotiating icy spots would not be compromised. I was sure there would be plenty of ice but at least there are no hills to navigate on the Riverside trail, unlike the Portage. Below is what the river looked like going over the Joliet Avenue bridge.

There was open water here, which was not always the case farther down the river. As I walked across the bridge I thought of the Yellow-rumped Warbler I saw close to the bridge back on December 22nd.

I started down the paved path, and I began to see some ducks in the water – but I was hearing an insistent little ticking call behind me. I turned around, and the Yellow-rumped Warbler was up in a tree telling me it was still here. I am glad I managed to get a photograph of it.

I don’t know exactly what it is, it’s probably a combination of things, but I think a point of mutual exchange occurs with birds sometimes that is plainly a result of my paying attention. This was not a “coincidence” but rather, the Yellow-rumped Warbler was responding to my thought about it. I remember a dear former boyfriend who was an electrical engineer, who used to say “thoughts are things.” Indeed they are.

I am also reminded of some lyrics from one of my favorite Peter Mayer songs, “World of Dreams”:

“In the smallest measure of anything at hand
Entities of energy are alive in a whirling dance
Even our own bodies are not as we perceive
But made of the same stuff our thoughts are made
In this world of dreams
So do we live and move amidst illusions?
Has what we’re seeing fooled us
And only exists in our minds?
And what are we to do with such conclusions?
For what cannot come true in a world of a
Mystical kind?”

Anyway, this encounter with the Yellow-rumped Warbler was special. It was encouraging to know it had survived the awful cold. I was beginning to wonder how much more cold I could take. Yesterday was the first day I managed without long underwear.

There were perhaps 50 Mallards total – where two weeks before there had been a couple hundred Canada Geese. There were no geese in the water yesterday. But there were diving ducks, which I had never seen at this point in the river before. Common Mergansers and Common Goldeneye.