Field Sparrow Dreams

Field Sparrow

Field Sparrow

A short work week seems propelled by fitful spells of to-do lists, but cooler weather has made some efforts easier. This will be a short post as I was busy baking blueberry coffee cake scones for work tomorrow. Turning the oven on in July is not something I can normally get away with, but we have been in the sixties all day.

I did see some fireflies out in the yard at the tail end of dusk, all that more reassuring because the butterflies and bees have not been very visible.

On Sunday morning, my friend Lesa and I went to Pate Philip State Park, which was originally called Tri-County because it is right at the corners of Cook, Kane and DuPage Counties. There are still signs inside the park that refer to Tri-County, and ebird calls it Tri-County, so I will too. I have a hard time getting “Pate Philip” to the surface, I feel like my brain is stuttering.

Tri-County is another grassland habitat, which I seem to be gravitating toward lately. Maybe I need wider, opener spaces after being cooped up in the city all week. Anyway, the Field Sparrow pictured here was most cooperative, so much so I had to wonder if perhaps he recognized me from his possible stopover in the Loop.

Field Sparrow Tri-County IMG_4200_1

He was singing, and he seemed to be enjoying it. You can hear him in the clip below. His is the song that begins descending a chromatic scale slowly and then finishes off with an increasingly speedy trill.

Field Sparrow Tri-County IMG_4186_1

City Visitors…Part One

Field Sparrow

Field Sparrow

While wading through weekend photos and recordings, I’m overdue getting caught up with the workday bird visitors who have proved so astonishingly cooperative. Whatever is this Field Sparrow doing hanging out with House Sparrows in the nicotine-stained bushes of the Thompson Center?

Field Sparrow Thompson Center IMG_5823_1

As I recall, he flew away when I first noticed him, and then after I stood there awhile, he came back and started finding excuses to forage close to me. I had to step back a bit to get these pictures.

The Chicago Loop/Lakefront welcome mat isn’t out like it used to be. The former Daley Bicentennial Plaza now looks like this:

Daley destruction

Daley destruction

Millennium Park is under heavy maintenance, particularly in the bird-friendly areas, so that’s not a destination anymore. Northerly Island was designated habitat for a while, but the “temporary” Charter One pavilion is now being expanded to a concert arena for crowds of 22,000 people. Where’s a migrating bird to go, let alone a birder?

This Ring-Billed Gull was faring pretty well the last warm day I walked through Millennium.

RB Gull IMG_6286_1

There are other areas along the lakefront north and south of the city, of course, but they’re no longer part of the stretch that included downtown.

So on the way in to work I still stop by 155 North Wacker Drive. It has not been incredibly birdy lately, but there have been a few migrants, like this eager-to-please Common Yellowthroat (his initial reaction was the same as the Field Sparrow’s, and then he got curious, I guess).

Common Yellowthroat IMG_6198_1

Common Yellowthroat

Common Yellowthroat IMG_6215_1

Common Yellowthroat IMG_6228_1

Directly outside Union Station a few days ago, I saw this Wood Thrush.

Wood Thrush

Wood Thrush

I didn’t get to go out today for lunch, giving in to the threat of thunderstorms which have not occurred, a sudden burst of activity at work, and the need to leave early (thunderstorms be damned) to attend a DuPage Birding Club meeting. So I’ve spent my lunch finishing this post.

More to come from Lake Shore East Park, which has become my lunchtime refuge (and that of a couple crows I know as well).

Crow IMG_5896_1

Goose Lake Prairie

Compass Plant

I finally managed to go through the rest of my photographs from my visit to Goose Lake Prairie last weekend. I’d had no particular target species or agenda in mind. I had hoped to maybe see a Grasshopper Sparrow, but I can’t say I even heard one, that was my only disappointment. A bit ironically, I first heard about Goose Lake Prairie on Cornell’s “More Birding By Ear” CDs, for the recorded songs of birds found there.

The most common species last weekend was probably Eastern Meadowlark.They were no longer singing, but they were chattering everywhere.

This parched version of the prairie is different from the last time I visited maybe three years ago. Rattlesnake Master, one of my favorite native prairie plants, seemed to be the only thing that thrived on the hot, dry weather.

The Wild Bergamot was almost spindly.

Wild Bergamot

Song Sparrows were predictably common. And still singing.

Song Sparrow

I heard a few Field Sparrows before I finally saw one.

Field Sparrow

I walked a long way before I finally started hearing Henslow’s Sparrows and then it seemed like they were everywhere. But they were singing hidden in the tall grass, until finally I managed to see and hear one sitting up. They were more cooperative a few weeks ago at Springbrook Prairie, but I don’t think I have ever heard so many of them as I did at Goose Lake Prairie. I simply adore Henslow’s Sparrows. Once gravely endangered, they have been making a real comeback in Illinois, due in large part to prairie restoration.

Henslow’s Sparrow

There were not too many butterflies or dragonflies, maybe just a few of the more common species.

Monarch Butterfly

Common Whitetail

And of course my photographic nemesis, Indigo Bunting, made a brief appearance.

Indigo Bunting

Sometime after hanging out with the Northern Harrier that dominated a previous post, a Turkey Vulture came to take up the slack…

Turkey Vulture

proving that even vultures can be beautiful.

Spring arrivals

FOY or FOS? I suppose it all depends on the distinction you want to make. FOY is First of Year, FOS is First of Season.

Yesterday in the park there were four new species of birds, first for my season or my year. Sneaking out of the office two afternoons in a row has paid off.

Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker

A Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker. No wait, I saw one a few days ago. Well, this one was new anyway.

Brown Creeper

A Brown Creeper.

Rusty Blackbird

A Rusty Blackbird. I was looking for these guys. There were about six of them yesterday, but today they were gone so I’m glad I got a chance to visit with them. I took so many pictures of this one he finally started singing, to break the monotony of his photo shoot.

Ruby-Crowned Kinglet

A Ruby-Crowned Kinglet. I saw another today who wouldn’t sit still long enough. Sometimes they’re very cooperative. Rarely do I see the Ruby Crown he’s named for.

Field Sparrow

and today, in addition to a better view of a Field Sparrow than that when I saw my first last week,

Chipping Sparrow

there was a beautiful Chipping Sparrow, as an added bonus. This was a FOY.

Red Admiral

The Red Admirals were big on sunshine today.

Song Sparrow

And although Song Sparrows have been around for weeks, you never know when you’re going to find a particularly handsome one.

More to come when I get a little less bogged down at work!