Lakefront Parks and Confusing Warblers

Posted on September 28, 2018 by Lisa Rest

Palm Warbler

Before I left for downtown two Sundays ago, there was a young rabbit outside my front door between me and my car. There was also a very nicely kept spider web attached to one of my front stair railings.

This will be brief, as was my last warbler flock experience.

My first lakefront park stop was the area north of Buckingham Fountain.

I saw more warblers than I was able to photograph. In all, there were maybe 8 species. Above, Cape May Warblers, below, American Redstart.

Also available, a Red-Breasted Nuthatch…

Red-Breasted Nuthatch

Palm Warblers (above) dominated the flock. Across from all the activity was a fenced-in garden area where this transforming Northern Cardinal was feasting on seeds.

Northern Cardinal through a fence

Then there is the warbler below. I struggled over this ID but now I’m thinking it is a Cape May too.

I made my way over to Millennium Park and went up the stairs to Lurie Garden. The only warbler I found is below. Since it resembles nothing else, even though the mask is barely visible, it must be a Kentucky Warbler. It remained low in the foliage and everything else about it said Kentucky Warbler to me.

Below, one more of my best subject – the Palm Warbler enjoying a worm.

There was no noticeable activity elsewhere that morning, and it’s been slow ever since. A strange, fitful migration season. But I am grateful for whatever birds I have seen and hope they are making safe trips to their winter homes.

Millennium Magnolia

Posted on May 20, 2017 by Lisa Rest

Another brief post devoted to one bird, the Magnolia Warbler, which I finally saw well on Thursday morning. I got up at 3:40 AM to catch an early train downtown so I could bird the parks for nearly a couple hours, just to test my perception that there were fewer migrants than previous years.

My perception is correct, I think, based on several factors. The populations of neotropical migrants are already in a downward spiral, and the effects of habitat loss and climate change are tipping the scales. Habitat for stopovers during migration is just as critical as breeding and wintering habitat. Locally, the abrupt changes on the downtown lakefront due to “improvements” have not helped to support migrants. Although I think eventually the pockets of recently planted natural landscaping will offer more respite, it takes years for plants to establish themselves and for the birds to know they can rely on them. Birds tend to return to places that have proven good for them before. When those places disappear, birds have to go somewhere else.

So from the reports I was getting while stuck in the office, the party invitations had already gone out and most of the migrant action was at Montrose Point, also known as the Magic Hedge, which is understandable and predictable, but frustrating when you know you can’t get there to see it.

This bird was among a few other species in the south sculpture garden at Millennium Park, where only a few years ago the planted pines would light up with brightly colored warblers resembling a Christmas tree (I give all credit for that sentiment to my friend David Johnson). For a moment I could almost trick myself into thinking it was happening again.

Magnolia Warblers, affectionately nicknamed “Maggies,” are usually quite conspicuous and I have always found the males happy to engage with the camera. So I was able to get a few halfway decent shots of this backlit but beautiful guy who was otherwise zooming in and out of the pine needles seeking insects.

I got a break today from the migrant search as the weather has dictated moderation. Our temperatures plummeted yesterday about 35 degrees and the forecast for today is intermittent rain with thunderstorms likely. With any luck I’ll be able to work in the yard a bit in between downpours. But it was nice to “sleep in” for a change on a Saturday, – until my indoor crowd woke me up at 6:00, a full half hour or so after sunrise when they began to greet the day vocally. Someday I have to be awake enough to record the indoor dawn chorus…

Unattached

Posted on August 12, 2014 by Lisa Rest

Cooper’s Hawk, Grant Park

If I were better organized I would only upload pictures I was actually going to use in a blog post, but I am too often compiling posts on the fly and consequently I wind up making last-minute decisions of what to use and never going back to delete the unused, or “unattached” photos.

Black Vulture 4-26-14

So this is a photo essay with no particular subject, only some previously unattached, unrelated blasts from the past.

Bewick’s Wren, 4-26-14

Northern Cardinal, Lake Shore East Park, 4-23-14

Lincoln’s Sparrow, Songbird Meadows, 4-26-14

White-Winged Crow, Daley Bicentennial Plaza Tennis Court

Superb Starling

Leopard 11-24-13

I’ll be back in real time soon. 🙂

Grant Park Crows Post

Posted on March 3, 2012 by Lisa Rest

What can I say? The Grant Park juvenile crows are glad to have me back in town.

The Ring-Billed Gulls are beginning to assemble and they are the crows’ biggest competitors.

I used to feed gulls until the crows got curious enough to reason with me. When I switched to crows it involved a lot of hard thinking to keep the gulls at bay. The crows finally suggested I put hot dogs under the trees, because the gulls prefer wide open spaces. You can see why the crows like me; I’m trainable.

But the gulls are savvy city birds as well and can be seen careening through the glass and steel canyons of the Loop. Some of them aren’t cowed by a few stands of trees in a park, and it only takes one gull to start a riot.