A few days ago, I found photos from late August still on my hard drive and with the dreariness of winter settling in, it felt good to look back for a moment. Here is a brief post from when I was in Riverside on August 16, 23 and 26.

On 8-16, it was not unusual to see a Great Blue Heron.

On 8-23, I took note of a Bay-breasted Warbler.

I was fortunate enough to have an Osprey fly overhead that morning as well.

A chipmunk posed briefly.

And Monarch Butterflies were few in number, making seeing one or two a special event.

I also found a Blackpoll Warbler.

And this time a Great Blue Heron flew overhead, in addition to one on rocky shore that surfaces near the Hofmann Tower when the river is low,

On 8/26, I photographed a warbler that took me some time to figure out. It turned out to be a Cape May Warbler.

Was this also the Cape May? I’m not sure but it was in the same series of photos.

More photos of the Cape May that must have helped me identify it.

I am grateful for Downy Woodpeckers being easily identifiable, no matter what time of year.

I don’t know why I have two photos of these Cedar Waxwings when they are nearly the same pose, but here they are. Looks a little bit like a wallpaper pattern, maybe?

I will be back with more recent photos. It’s been pretty quiet overall. I took today off from my usual visit to the Chicago Portage to prepare for the delivery of a new stove. The one that looked old already when I moved into my house 23 years ago finally defied repair. Perhaps it was the Nordic Rye Bread I made at the end of November. I had cooked up a package of rye berries to try a casserole recipe I hadn’t made since the nineties and I had too many cooked rye berries left, so I found the bread recipe to use up some of them. I am glad I have had it to eat all this time waiting for delivery of a new oven. This could be survival food! It’s particularly good slathered with brie.

The installation today will be just in time to make some loaves of Cinnamon Oatmeal Raisin bread for Christmas gifts.