Thatcher Wrap-up

Yesterday’s last walk at Thatcher Woods began very cool and cloudy. We saw several birds but not all that well. And then by the time we reached the open meadow, the sun had emerged from the clouds and it was easier to see whatever birds came to the edge. The best part of the walk was perhaps the very end when first one very dark Merlin flew right over us and then another flew in and perched atop a dead tree. I kept expecting it to leave, but it didn’t, so I took way, way too many photographs of it as it changed its viewpoint.

This post is a celebration of a few more or less unusual birds that appeared yesterday and on September 1 when I participated in another walk led by Henry Griffin. On that day, the grand finale bird, if you will, was a Black-billed Cuckoo.

That day also started off with a bang when we spotted a distant Red-headed Woodpecker.

And September 1 was also a good day for flycatchers.

Eastern Wood-Pewee

And a Least Flycatcher.

And just now reviewing the photos I think I found an Olive-sided Flycatcher. I’m not sure we reported it. But Merlin – the app, not the bird – seems to agree with my identification.

Olive-sided Flycatcher

One more bird from that day was a Gray-cheeked Thrush.

Gray-cheeked Thrush

And from yesterday, I barely captured this Hermit Thrush, even though it behaved exactly like all Hermit Thrushes I have ever met by sitting for quite a while staring right at me.

Hermit Thrush

Another surprise bird at the end of our walk yesterday turned out to be a juvenile Purple Finch. Perched pretty far away, the photo doesn’t do it justice.

Purple Finch

One more bird from the September walk.

Rose-breasted Grosbeak 9-1-2022

So that leaves me with more images of the Merlin. I so rarely see these birds, I couldn’t help myself.

Today is sunny and crisp, but I was singing in the choir this morning, so I won’t be going out for a walk until tomorrow. However, there is much to do outside in my backyard. I think I will go out and disperse more bucketsful of dirt and wood shavings. We’ve warmed up a bit, but I am already embracing the inevitability of hot cocoa.

December Already?

I find myself taking stock of things and at the same time wondering how I got here.

I’ve been trying to get back to finishing my review of the New Brunswick-Grand Manan photographs, but it’s always a struggle with the travel laptop, so the task inevitably fell to today when I had some extra time, if there is such a thing, or at least I felt like I could afford it. Ironically years ago when film was the medium, I never would have had this problem. I certainly would not have had hundreds of photographs to go through. Okay, enough complaining. It only took half an hour to install a software update before I had to start and restart Lightroom several times. These are photographs from August 18 when we first visited the Sackville Waterfowl Park in the morning, in the rain, and then later we went to Johnson’s Mills.

The inclement weather bonus was this sighting of Virginia Rails crossing the path to feed their young.

By the time we moved on to Johnson’s Mills, there was sunshine. And lots of shorebirds.

To sufficiently stir up things, there was a Merlin.

I am always happy to capture a Raven, anywhere.
I must have known I would be processing these photographs late and would need want to see some flowering plants…
One more of a Semi-Palmated Sandpiper. You never really get very close to a shorebird so I am thankful for this image, however cropped it may be.

I hope to be back very soon with photos from the next day at Koucibouguac National Park – Kelly’s Beach. Don’t you love that name?

But this will be a very busy week, so don’t hold your breath. Our choir has a big dress rehearsal Wednesday night with soloists and musicians for our upcoming two performances of the Bach Magnificat on Sunday. The reassuring thing is knowing that no matter whatever else happens this week, music triumphs over all.

And to feel better after a long, mostly dreary weekend, I just baked this loaf of bread. Another bonus from a Why Not, I Have Time Day.

Chasing Predators: In Search of Snowy Owls and Prairie Falcons

Falcon Sky IMG_9454_1

Unidentified Falcon

Reports came last weekend from Coles County, Illinois–farm country about 3 hours south of Chicago–of sightings for two rare visitors: Snowy Owl and Prairie Falcon.

Even though Illinois is a “prairie” state, a Prairie Falcon sighting is a rarity. I saw one fly by in New Mexico last year but it’s a bird I would definitely like to see again. So I gladly joined three friends (as an aside, when we go out on expeditions together we call ourselves the 4 L’s or the Four Elles, all of our names beginning with “L”) for a day trip Sunday to comb the farm roads searching for these elusive creatures.

Farm Road wih Horned Lark - can you find it?

Farm Road wih Horned Lark – can you find it?

Alas, we did not find our target birds. An hour or two into our drive, in fact, we read a report of two Snowy Owls at Northerly Island back on the Chicago lakefront, the direction we were driving away from. But they were being harassed by…my crows, I’m afraid, and eventually left. I have reason to believe they are my crows evicted from the former Daley Bicentennial Plaza now under current destruction; earlier this winter an increase in the crow population was reported at Northerly Island. Crows would be the first to notice the Snowy Owls. But I’m also thinking if they had not harassed the owls, the owls might have gone unnoticed. There’s nothing like crows to detect the presence of predators and call your attention to them. Come to think of it, we could have used a few crows on Sunday to find the falcon for us…

Kestrel Hunting IMG_9321_1

Our first bird was an American Kestrel, hunting in a field, then perched on the wire,

Kestrel w prey IMG_9382_1

that just would not become a Prairie Falcon. It had a vole and was trying to eat its prey, but we couldn’t get close enough for decent photographs.

Kestrel w prey IMG_9383_1

Kestrel w prey IMG_9384_1

I’m afraid he got tired of us watching him.

After several more Kestrels, which I was still thrilled to see as they have all but disappeared from the Chicago area, we did have another falcon… this solitary creature, which might have been a Merlin. The bird appeared to be a juvenile, whatever it was. No matter how much we tried to make it into the sought-after species, it sat quietly in the middle of the field, no doubt amused by all the people peering at it, by now, with scopes from both sides, knowing we were too far away to get really decent looks.

Falcon IMG_9493_1

Even though these pictures are hardly worth publishing, we Four Elles had a great time, over the course of the day getting great if brief looks at Rough-Legged Hawk and Northern Harriers, lots of American Tree Sparrows and Horned Larks, and it was our last chance for sunshine for quite a while. The days are getting longer, but it seems the winter weather is just beginning.