Earlier Encounters

Posted on May 31, 2025 by Lisa Rest

I’m going to skip back earlier to April for a moment to relate a couple unexpected encounters. On April 15, I was at the Chicago Portage, and on April 16, I was in Riverside.

Not much was new at the Chicago Portage. I took note of a few appearances from the usual cast of characters.

I had started seeing and hearing Eastern Phoebes like the one below.

Blue-winged Teal were still in the creek,

I was on my way back out along the paved trail when I noticed a Red-winged Blackbird atop a tree fragment. Since there hadn’t been much else happening yet, I was inclined to pay attention.

I then saw that the Red-winged Blackbird was monitoring a Red-shouldered Hawk perched quietly below as the hawk tried to figure out how to eat a snake it had captured.

The next day, I was in Riverside. But on the Lyons side of the river where I park, I saw a very healthy-looking coyote.

A Great Blue Heron was in the river with two Canada Geese. There were also two Herring Gulls.

As I started to walk the paved trail by Swan Pond, a male Eastern Bluebird who has claimed this territory came to see me.

I encountered a Tree Swallow.

I found a Field Sparrow foraging near the trail. I have seen this species a few times this spring.

Then I got several opportunities to photograph a Ruby-crowned Kinglet, ever hopeful that I might see the ruby crown. As it turned out, this individual showed just a bit of it.

My last photos were of a Red-tailed Hawk flying overhead;.

So even though spring migration was in its early stages, these photos are proof that there is always something new to see when you least expect it.

I have been on walks for the past three days with the Oak Park Migration Bird Walkers. I was beginning to feel like I was on a tour, getting up early every morning and birding with some of the same people. I will be back with a little roundup of some of the birds we saw in three different locations. I am also happy to report that I have regained my sense of smell. I was just peeling a couple clementines for brunch this afternoon and I could smell the rind as my fingernail pierced it. What a relief!

Winter Scenes at the Portage

Posted on February 20, 2023 by Lisa Rest

We haven’t had much snow this year. That which we have received did not last for long. These photos are from two visits to the Chicago Portage on February 2 and February 7 respectively. There haven’t been a lot of birds available for photographs lately but it’s still good to go out because sometimes the unexpected occurs.

At least it was nice and sunny. American Tree Sparrows are still a possibility.

The Dark-eyed Junco below was barely visible in the snow.

Also tucked into the snow, a Song Sparrow, a male House Finch and another American Tree Sparrow.

The Downy Woodpecker below was a willing subject.

On my way out, I saw a coyote in the distance.

And then I had a brief, close encounter with a Red-bellied Woodpecker and his friend, the White-breasted Nuthatch.

I suspect the man who feeds the deer is responsible for the ridiculous offering below.

On the 7th it was quite cloudy, with most of the snow gone.

The best part of that visit was the local pair of Bald Eagles. Unfortunately because of the light, and the fact that they were fairly distant, I couldn’t get great photos. But it was nice to see them fly over.

Not much going on with this Downy Woodpecker.

And then I caught him briefly in flight.

All the other birds were at a considerable distance and with the lack of light, focusing was problematic. Below, a Song Sparrow, an American Tree Sparrow and a Dark-eyed Junco leaving the bridge.

I did follow a White-throated Sparrow as it foraged for seeds to eat.

A group of American Goldfinches was happy to sit still, probably because they knew they were barely noticeable. This is more goldfinches than I have seen all winter at my feeders. They have been staying in the wild, so to speak, I suspect because it hasn’t been all that cold and bleak and they are still able to find plenty of food.

It’s hard for a male Northern Cardinal to disappear in any season.

I am recovering from a little right-knee setback – thankfully it hasn’t lasted long at all and I am already back to about 97%. It was also a busy weekend with the 21st annual Gull Frolic on Saturday and singing two of my favorite songs with the choir on Sunday morning.

This morning in Riverside, in addition to Northern Cardinals singing, I heard and saw three Red-winged Blackbirds, a Black-capped Chickadee trying out his “hey, sweetie” tune, and Red-bellied Woodpeckers have started singing their quirky song as well. I heard a House Finch vocalizing a couple days ago. An American Robin has been here and there, albeit not singing quite yet. Spring is coming. Any minute now. I hope to be back soon.

Settling into Snow – Before and After

Posted on February 7, 2021 by Lisa Rest

I went to the Portage last Saturday before the big snow, thinking it might be my last chance for a while. I could have gone back yesterday morning, but I decided to give in to the single-digit cold and get my grocery shopping done before it became prohibitive to go anywhere. I think I made the right decision.

It was a cloudy, gloomy morning and hardly anyone else was there, except for the volunteer crew below. They came to take out invasive species. Some time later I could smell and then see the fire they started to burn what they cut down.

I saw virtually no birds, and didn’t hear very many of them either. There were a few ducks in the Des Plaines River. One Common Merganser, four Goldeneye and a couple Mallards – none of them really identifiable below – are the only ones I saw, at a distance. While I was down by the river, four train engines came down the middle track.

Whatever the landscape had to offer I attempted to commemorate…

The iconic stump…

A snowman in the middle of the frozen stream…

Snowy scenes, gray skies…and a distant coyote.

And then came the snow. I took a picture of the accumulation on the feeder baffles through the porch window the next morning, just to document how much snow we got. A bit harder to find the female cardinal in the snowy branches.

I have had two pairs of Northern Cardinals in the yard this winter. They tend to all show up together at dusk and individually in between times. Staying home more has afforded familiarity and they seem to be a bit less wary of my presence. I was peering down at the male on the ground through the porch windows. The feeder shots were taken outside.

If I stand at the back of the lot I can watch the birds at the feeders a bit, albeit through the dogwood branches that offer the birds cover. But I don’t know how much of that I will be doing in single-digit weather…

The forecast is grim with more cold and snow for the coming week, but after that it seems we will start to warm up and maybe with some melting, we can dig ourselves out of all this snow. I should try to remember years ago when I was playing in a band, on the road at a Holiday Inn in Ogallala, Nebraska, on Thanksgiving…and going out the next day to find the snow plowed and piled up 10-12 feet high in the middle of the street. I should not feel inconvenienced by a few feet of piled-up snow! For the moment I’m going to go out and do a little snow removal so I can still open my back gate to access the trash containers. The yard birds could probably use a refill and some clean water in the heated birdbaths too. I hope you are having a lovely, warm-enough week somewhere.

Southwest Texas: Building the List

Posted on June 21, 2019 by Lisa Rest

It was challenging for many reasons to get photographs on this day. The birds were far away. They were backlit. They were hiding behind branches of trees or leaves of cactus. It was somewhat cloudy. And yet I was surprised to finally go through all the pictures more thoroughly and find some images I didn’t know I had. Most of all, it is great to get a feel for the landscape where the birds and other creatures were.

Saving the big hike for the following day, we explored the low-lying areas along the Rio Grande.

Most of these birds we continued to see throughout the trip, like the Say’s Phoebe below. I like the cactus cover this bird was using.

Mexican Jays are stunning. I don’t think we ever saw more than two at one time. They were somewhat elusive.

We saw Roadrunners on occasion but not close enough or long enough to get really good pictures. Maybe we were too distracted by our search for less common species.

It must be West Texas – there’s a Greater Roadrunner!

This coyote was practicing skills with a fallen branch as its prey.

Hearing and barely seeing a Bell’s Vireo is a big event where I come from, so witnessing their incessant chatter and then getting such great views was heaven for me.

Bell’s Vireo

I adore Ravens and tried to get photographs whenever I could.

We spent some time locating and then looking at this Tropical Parula. It was so far away I wasn’t at all sure I got a photograph so I was surprised to find a few that were in focus. So I guess it was good I was carrying around my monster lens most of the time, although by the end of the trip it was starting to fall apart…

Tropical Parula

This Turkey Vulture is actually kind of cute. Snazzy pink legs and face to match.

Vermillion Flycatchers were almost everywhere. I like the female’s subdued plumage.

Vermilion Flycatcher (female)

I think Western Wood Pewee was a new bird for me.

I got only one distant fuzzy shot of the male Varied Bunting, bottom right.

Varied Buntings

We were privileged to have good, long looks at a perched Zone-Tailed Hawk. You can just barely see the trademark tail band tucked underneath the tips of its folded wings.

Swainson’s Hawks are beautiful. Without the monster lens I would not have captured this detail.

The Gray Hawk is…well…very gray.

Gray Hawk

There were more Scott’s Orioles to be seen, but even though this one was quite far away, I love the vegetation it has decided to perch on.

Summer Tanager

The Cordilleran Flycatcher was a new bird for me. I wish I’d gotten a better photograph, but this at least gives me an idea in case I am lucky enough to see one again.

Cactus Wren

Canyon Towhee

The gray day didn’t do this Acorn Woodpecker justice, but I still think of The Joker.

Some of the dramatic landscape surrounding the Zone-Tailed Hawk’s perch.

It will take me some time to process the rest of this trip’s pictures, but I get to savor my memories a little bit longer. In the meantime, we keep wondering when summer will arrive in the Chicago area. While I am glad it’s not hot, it’s been colder and wetter than I ever remember for mid-June. I hope your summer solstice is going well.

Montrose and My CF Card Snafu

Posted on April 19, 2017 by Lisa Rest

Yellow-Rumped Warbler

I hadn’t been to Montrose Point – the Magic Hedge – for years, so I thought it was a good idea when my friend Susan suggested we meet there on my one free Sunday morning this month, which turned out to be Palm Sunday on the calendar, for those of you who relate to that. It was a fine day, and not overly crowded with friendly birders or photographers, which can happen later in the season with warbler migration.

Winter Wren

I was pleased to discover that the paths are now more clearly marked and the natural areas roped off, which likely makes the birds feel more secure.

Tree Swallow

Unfortunately I only have maybe half the pictures I took, because I neglected to make sure they had all transferred off the camera that takes compact flash (“CF”) cards as well as SD cards.

Eastern Phoebe

While I was in Panama I discovered that I could no longer transfer pictures off a CF card reader to the laptop, so I had to wait until I got home to find the patch cord that came with the Mark III 5D and transfer them directly from the camera. Something has apparently changed in the software and I wonder if the plan is to render CF cards obsolete.

Swamp Sparrow

All that said, while I was transferring my Montrose pictures, the laptop appeared to be finished ingesting them and I disconnected the camera and wiped the card clean. Only when I went to process did I realize I was missing the last hour or so of photos that I took.

Common Grackle

I was mourning this loss for days because I had some great shots and they were gone forever. But I also knew the loss would be minimized the sooner I took more pictures, and told myself it was a learning experience. (“What’s your favorite song?” “Uh, I guess the one I just wrote.”)

Brown-Headed Cowbirds and one female Red-Winged Blackbird

I will never reformat a CF card, or an SD card, for that matter, again before I check to make sure I have transferred everything off of it. (Repeat after me…)

American Robin

After some deliberation it appears all the thrushes we saw were Hermit Thrushes, below.

One generous individual pointed out to us the female Coyote below, who otherwise faded into her surroundings.

Coyote 4-9-17-0568 I won’t elaborate on what is missing from these pictures after we saw the coyote… I’ll be back soon with more from Panama, just needed to put this to rest.

P.S. Three more days until the March For Science!

Christmas Bird Count Tidings from Fermilab

Posted on December 24, 2015 by Lisa Rest

American Tree Sparrow

It wasn’t raining. It wasn’t snowing. It was predictably very cold and I had harbored second thoughts about taking the camera with me. But after all, the Christmas Bird Count happens only once a year. And even if I am ever-so-slightly wondering if I’m still doing things the old-fashioned way when there is probably new cutting-edge equipment that is easier to use in inclement weather, I persevered. Resigned to the fact that if there was anything worthwhile to shoot I’d probably have to remove the gloves and deal with the frostbite later.

Fermilab 12-19-2015 -8171

So here are a few photos from my morning with one of the three teams assigned to various areas for the count.

There are always more Canada Geese and Mallards than one can count individually so you wind up doing estimates. And scanning through the crowd to see if there are any different species. Somewhere in this group were three Greater White-Fronted Geese, a couple Common Mergansers and I forget what else at this point. Not allowed to count the geese when they’re in the air.

Geese Fermilab 12-19-2015 -8193

It took awhile before we found the inevitable American Tree Sparrow flocks. This flock had an American Goldfinch with it.

And at one point we had a coyote who was easy to see if hard to get a decent picture.

Coyote Fermilab 12-19-2015 -8260

There is a wood lot not far from the Red Barn where we always go traipsing through quietly looking for owls. There is a lot of undergrowth between the pines that presents a challenge just to find a way to walk through it. I never find anything. I was looking down at a lot of frozen mushrooms underfoot that unfortunately were not captured by my ginormous lens. Then I stopped and looked up. And there it was. A Long-Eared Owl, staring at me.

Although the owl was very cooperative, it was backlit, it was dark in there, and a lot of twigs blocked my view (the owl knew all this, of course). After I took enough pictures that would at least prove what I saw, I tried to find someone in my group to tell about it. By the time I did, I had no idea exactly where I saw it. The guys went in to find it and flushed it. I felt as if I had betrayed the owl, but the owls we saw in other spots, mainly Great Horned, were also flushed, so I guess we get one day a year to disturb them for science.

Tree Sp Fermilab 12-19-2015 -8201

Not much else to report at the moment. Singing tonight with the Unity Temple Choir for a Christmas Eve service. Looking forward to a nice, quiet Christmas Day at home with the birds. Thanks for visiting, and have a very merry holiday!

Fermilab Shorebirds

Posted on August 25, 2013 by Lisa Rest

Coyote, Dusaf Pond, Fermilab

I met my friend Leslie at Fermilab’s Dusaf Pond Saturday morning on another shorebird quest. A variety of birds had been seen in the last week or so and we were hopeful. The moment I got out of my car I saw a coyote, who seemed to be virtually ignored by the herons. As soon as I started taking his picture, though, he moved on.

Pectoral Sandpipers

I hadn’t been to Fermilab since the Christmas Count and felt like I owed it at least one visit this year. Click on the pictures for larger images, but for the most part, the birds were too far away to get much detail. And again, we did not see anything unusual. The only thing predictable was the lack of rain would likely produce good shorebird habitat. The rest was up to the birds. Other than the species depicted here, we saw Semipalmated Sandpiper, Semipalmated Plover, Solitary Sandpiper, Spotted Sandpiper and Greater Yellowlegs, and one Black-Bellied Plover.

Lesser Yellowlegs and Least Sandpiper

The lack of water has done something else, too. There has been a large fish kill. We drove down to one end to walk through plowed stubble where the smell of rotting fish was not welcoming.

Fish Skeleton

Here’s a Great Egret with a fish and a Lesser Yellowlegs maybe waiting for the egret to drop a piece of it. This picture was taken on the other side of the A&E Sea, another Fermilab body of water.

Invariably there were Killdeer and maybe since we don’t pay inordinate attention to them they don’t seem to mind the occasional photograph.

Killdeer

Great Egret

Summer is winding down. It’s hard to believe all these birds will be gone soon.

And the butterflies too…

Orange Suplhur Butterfly

Goldbird Variations

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

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