Tag Archives: Eastern Bluebird

Riverside Lately

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As fall migration has waned and winter’s grip descends, searching for birds takes on a different cadence. Maybe in the cold you could use to walk a little faster, but then you might miss that brief view of the only bird you will have seen for the last five minutes.

These photos are from three walks along the Des Plaines River on November 9, 11 and 14. The 14th was the only morning with a little sunshine, so those gray skies are quite real. The 9th was the last time I saw the Great Blue Heron and not all that well.

Mallards predominate, predictably. The drakes’ deep green heads gleam in sunshine. Or even in cloud cover.

There were two Red-bellied Woodpeckers interacting on the 9th and one showed off its red belly.

This is the Des Plaines River looking north from the Joliet Avenue bridge, with a low water level, framed in the filigree of tree branches that have lost their leaves.

I guess the Golden-crowned Kinglets were easier to see without leaves in the way.

It’s also deer season again.

Dark-eyed Juncos are abundant but not always easy to photograph, especially being gray birds on gray days.

Of course there are plenty of Canada Geese too. This group must have attracted my attention as they stood in the river looking as if they were trying to figure out where to go next. I also liked the lone goose taking a one-footed nap with one eye open on me.

Here’s a sunnier look to the south from the Joliet Avenue bridge.

After crossing the foot bridge on Monday the 14th, I caught a brief look at a Carolina Wren.

I also had a Song Sparrow perched for a moment.

American Goldfinches are still busy eating all they can before they start relying on my backyard feeders. I look forward to them giving the House Sparrows a little competition.

I was surprised to see an Eastern Bluebird on the Riverside Lawn side. I don’t know why I can’t decide on just one photo. Probably because I took too many of them.

Here’s what the trail looked like on Monday. Not quite barren yet. And I have passed by that fallen log a million times without looking at it very closely. I suppose with less distraction the landmarks will become more evident.

I have chosen to stay in this morning. There may be a light freezing drizzle. The previously predicted snow is not exactly happening, now described as a “wintry mix.” I’ll go for a swim midday when I perceive the pool to be less crowded. Then I need to practice the line dance before tonight’s choir rehearsal. It’s just one of those days. I’ll get back to wandering around with the camera tomorrow.

Around Riverside

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I heard the Osprey first on Monday morning, as I was halfway across the footbridge. It was squealing with delight, I suspect, as it tore apart its fish catch. I looked up and found the juvenile Osprey perched in a tree overlooking the river. I took several photographs until two women crossing the bridge flushed the Osprey. I missed its take-off because I was looking at the women, one of whom said, “Sorry.”

But I did manage to capture the Osprey flying with its catch in search of a place to continue breakfast. It landed in a different tree on the other side of the bridge where it was farther away and backlit.

It’s late for these birds to still be around so the sighting was rare. I just wonder how this one managed to find a fish with the river so low.

Here’s how the Des Plaines River looked on Monday facing north from the Joliet Avenue bridge.

And here’s what the river looked like looking south from the Hofmann Tower. That’s a Great Blue Heron standing on the exposed tree trunk.

When I walked the paved path along the river in Riverside, I saw two Eastern Bluebirds.

I didn’t see a lot of species but it was a lovely day. A few Ruby-crowned Kinglets were still around.

This Northern Cardinal was trying to hide but with the leaves gone it’s a bit harder.

Seeing more Mallards like this one, lately, standing up in the middle of the river.

Here’s what happened to one of those carved pumpkins from a couple weeks ago.

Here’s one more of the Osprey with its right foot securing its catch.

The Rock Pigeons are back roosting on the Hofmann Tower

Later that evening I was playing piano and noticed the moon shining through the living room windows. I grabbed my camera to take a photo or two. I found out last night at choir rehearsal from one of my sister altos that much later there had been a lunar eclipse. I was sorry I was unaware of it and missed it – maybe blame it on the midterm elections dominating the news cycle – but I don’t think I would have been inclined to get up at 2:00 in the morning to see it anyway. I will now have to wait until March 13, 2025.

We had a shorter rehearsal after our efforts on Choir Sunday, and then several of us stayed to practice a line dance we will perform on November 20 when we join the children’s choir known as the Chalice Singers. I took a video of the moves so I can practice, but I don’t know where in the house I will do so as I don’t have that much floor space. Not to mention it would drive the birds a little nuts if i practiced in their domain. Maybe the basement…

I have lots more to catch up on now that things have slowed down a bit outside. Today marks the last of our flirtation with summer temperatures as we will plunge into a comparative deep freeze by Saturday. I’ll be back.

Feeling Warmer in the Sun

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I went to the Chicago Portage on Monday morning, the last time we had full sunshine, and I met a lot of birds and some people too. It was cold, but the sunshine gave a little bit more than the illusion of warmth. In all it was good to go slowly and watch the birds, but I took way too many photographs. I wonder how I will manage to get through warbler migration at this rate.

After stopping and talking to some people on the trail and mentioning that Golden-crowned Kinglets had started showing up when they asked me if there was anything new, I encountered about half a dozen of the birds and managed to capture one who volunteered for a lot of clicks.

It was almost worth it to memorialize the blue sky background.

Somewhere next to the trail by some spindly young hackberry trees I saw this very thorny plant that had the only green leaves in the entire preserve. I am not familiar with this at all. I welcome identification from any botanists out there.

I kept waiting for this Northern Flicker to fly so I might capture its golden shafts but it was definitely not going anywhere.

I never know when I will see a pair of Northern Cardinals. In this case I think she was waiting for him.

I spent the longest time behind this bird photographing it without identifying it. Backlit and alone on the path in front of me, it seemed unfamiliar. I have now decided it’s a Brown-headed Cowbird. I think I have never seen one in the cold before – in other words, it was so fluffed up I couldn’t recognize it.

There are a few American Goldfinches at the Portage. Here’s one, early on in my walk, looking rather cold.

If you stood in the right spot on the trail where I suspect asphalt will be going in, it was possible to see American Tree Sparrows everywhere. At some point one sat and started singing, and I tried to record him over a lot of noise. I did manage to get a couple recordings, as faint as they are, and they are below this photograph. I heard one singing earlier this year and compared it to the recording on my Sibley cell phone app which was made in Alaska, where they breed.

I did manage to take too many pictures of American Tree Sparrows fading into their surroundings.

I almost forgot, a Killdeer landed in the marsh and this was the best I could do through the vegetation.

I was delighted to find a Fox Sparrow in my photographs. I don’t remember taking these pictures. My camera remembered well, though.

I couldn’t help but notice the duckweed staging a comeback.

Messing around in the marshy area were a few female Red-winged Blackbirds.

And I was taken with this pretty little Song Sparrow.

On the way out, I saw the pair of Eastern Bluebirds again, only this time there was better light. They were quite far away for the most part but I tried to at least capture some of that blue.

The closer photos were of the female who is drabber in plumage but I think she is lovely nonetheless.

Perhaps the birds of the day were the American Tree Sparrows. I suspect that with the warmer winds we are now experiencing, they will be moving up north and this could have been the last time to see them.

I was going to add some photographs from March 15 – but other than the fact that it was not a sunny day, which clashes with the theme, this seems like quite enough for now. It’s rainy today and we have one more rainy day tomorrow, so I am going to try to finish taking care of some things that I keep putting off and I will be back as soon as I can get it together.

One more of the Golden-Crowned Kinglet

Sunshine Returns

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It’s very cold today and it looks like tomorrow will be the same – below freezing in the morning – but the sun is shining and it’s not too windy, so that makes up for almost everything. I haven’t put my long underwear away quite yet. And it was good to be wearing more substantial boots this morning as they are warmer than the hikers.

The view from the bridge
The shallow water is a bit frozen

Things started out pretty slow with a couple Song Sparrows on the trail. There were a few Northern Cardinals behind too many branches to bother with.

When I approached the marshy area on the other side of the second bridge, which is the path that has been marked by the surveyor, I saw a lot of American Tree Sparrows – at least 20 – and that also seemed to be where the Red-winged Blackbirds were hanging out too. I concentrated on the sparrows.

On my way back heading out, I saw a pair of Eastern Bluebirds.

They were nearly too far away to photograph but I kept trying and took too many photos.

That was about it for this morning, save a pair of Canada Geese in the icy water.

By contrast, ten days earlier there was less light. Here are some leftovers from March 17. It was the last time I saw the Lesser Scaup.

I had a Brown Creeper that morning. I’m surprised the camera picked it up at all, it blended in so well.

I also had a very cooperative Black-capped Chickadee.

I got lucky with this Dark-eyed Junco who almost seems to be smiling.

No Mallards today, but I had a shiny drake on the 17th.

I will likely go back to the Portage again tomorrow to see if there are any changes. I had the place all to myself save one man who was walking and talking on his cell phone. I would like to think that no matter how many improvements they make, the Chicago Portage will still be an escape-to place and I won’t have to travel too far from my backyard.

Two Visits to Riverside

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My mother always used to call March the Adolescent Month. She must have been referring to the weather. It’s as if it is on the cusp of indecision – stay in winter or grow up into spring.

I went to Riverside on March 2 which was on the beginning of a brief warm front, and then back again on March 9. On the first visit it wasn’t particularly warm in the morning, but the winds were blowing from the south. I saw the Eastern Bluebird briefly.

There’s nearly always a Black-capped Chickadee somewhere. This one was close enough to photograph.

The sky wasn’t too encouraging.

This Blue Jay tolerated me long enough to focus on those few parts of him that weren’t obscured.

The Des Plaines River is flowing again.

Waterfowl are here and there now, the large groups of Canada Geese and Mallards have dispersed. Below is a female Common Merganser.

With the strong shift in winds from the south, Sandhill Cranes were taking advantage of a free ride. I saw the larger flock when I came back to my car in the health club parking lot after swimming the same day.

When I went back on March 9, the skies were clearer but the temperature was colder.

This Red-bellied Woodpecker was showing off against the blue sky background.

I took note of a River Birch tree. There are several on the Riverside side by the paved trail. The bark fascinates me. They are logical trees for a flood plain.

The foot bridge was clear and clean-looking that day.

Here’s another Red-bellied Woodpecker on the Riverside Lawn side of the river.

My biggest treat this past Wednesday was the Song Sparrow singing, below. It took me a little while to locate him but he was facing me, singing away, when I did. After taking his picture and recording his song, he starting singing a different song, which I also recorded. You can hear both songs below the photographs. I have never witnessed this before. I know Song Sparrows have a reputation for singing a lot of songs but I don’t believe I have never heard the same bird sing two distinct songs. It’s as if he knew he had a good audience. It also reminds me of the Shanahan New Yorker cartoon below, which is my favorite cartoon as it seems to sum up my life.

Song Sparrow – First Song
Song Sparrow – Second Song

Mr. and Ms. Mallard were elegant on the water.

The clear blue sky provided a perfect backdrop for an adult Bald Eagle as well.

When I got back to my parking spot I was greeted by a Canada Goose standing on one foot.

But before I could get into my car, two Red-tailed Hawks started flying over, showing off. I didn’t manage to get them both in the same frame but a small sampling of the many photographs I took is below.