Around Riverside

Posted on November 10, 2022 by Lisa Rest

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.

End of September: Grackles! Osprey…

Posted on February 7, 2022 by Lisa Rest

After a summer of hardly seeing any Common Grackles, on September 29th of last year I probably saw at least 100. The other Bird of the Day was Osprey. I am looking forward to seeing Osprey on the Des Plaines River this year, along with all the other regular big birds – Great Egrets, Great Blue Herons, Double-Crested Cormorants…

A frequent visitor to the Des Plaines River was an Osprey or two. I tried to capture the juvenile bird below going after something.

The Common Grackles were perched in the trees along the river, but later on my way back through Indian Gardens they were all over the lawn with Red-winged Blackbirds. It’s likely they were gathering for migration southward. I never really get over those shiny blue heads.

Here’s an adult Osprey I managed to capture flying over the river.

I will always see Rock Pigeons at this location, which attests to its urbanity.

I think this is a juvenile Song Sparrow trying very hard to look like a female House Sparrow…

There was still one Double-crested Cormorant around on that day.

A Mallard hen in the bright sunshine…

I look forward to the Great Blue Herons that will adorn the river this coming spring and summer. I suspect the Great Egrets had just left by this date, but I expect there will likely be quite a number of them too this summer.

Never to be turned down, no matter how bad the light – a cooperative Blue Jay.

I frequently heard Killdeer and sometimes saw them, got lucky with this one flying overhead.

Also never ignored by me, an American Crow flying. There is nothing like a Crow. Period.

Thanks for stopping by and helping me clean up some space on my hard drive. Larger posts are likely ahead with spring migration just around the…corner. As I start to post more often the hard drive glut will be less of an issue, or so I tell myself.

As the weather improves and I go out more, there will be fewer of these retrospective posts. In the meantime it’s nice to dream of the excitement seeing these birds again.

Return to Riverside

Posted on October 7, 2021 by Lisa Rest

I parked in Lyons on September 27th and got out of the car, assembled my gear, and started walking barely a few steps when I looked up and saw this juvenile Osprey perched in a dead tree right above me. That was an auspicious beginning to a nice walk.

I crossed the bridge after not seeing any other birds on that side of the river. A fellow blogger, Tootlepedal, has suggested my last mention of the bridge was illegal without a photograph of it, so I did my best to frame it, but between my big lens and no way to get far enough away to capture it at a distance, this was the best I could do. I will keep trying, but I haven’t found this bridge’s aesthetic value yet…

Right off the bridge there has been a Great Egret, this time on the rocks that have been exposed due to the lack of water in the Des Plaines River.

The Great Blue Heron close to it was in a much wetter-looking spot. Actually this is right around the spot where there once was the Hofmann Dam, which has been removed.

The Red-winged Blackbird below could barely keep his perch.

Magnolia Warblers were still visible and this one was posing.

A handsome Turkey Vulture flew over, enhanced by a clear sky.

Two different species with the same color palette: they were both in the pokeweed.

It’s somewhat comforting to know the water is still deep enough in a few places for Double-Crested Cormorants.

I was very happy to see a Golden-crowned Kinglet well. They usually don’t sit still for too long.

A couple more of the juvenile Osprey. There were actually two of them flying around but I didn’t get photos of the action.

I went back two days later and got more pictures that I still have to process. Migration is slowing down a little bit, but I’ve also had a lot of work to do. I will be back with another report soon.

I am happy to note that we are finally getting some rain. It’s not going to make much of a difference in the water levels of the river, but it’s appreciated nonetheless.

Two Visits to an Old New Place

Posted on September 18, 2021 by Lisa Rest

Thanks to a dog walker I met twice last week… I visited a new-for-me place which has been in my backyard, so to speak, all along. I had been meaning to check out the Riverwalk on the Lyons side of the Des Plaines but never realized the other side had a park along the river called Indian Gardens. Many thanks to Ken the architect from Riverside who told me about it. It’s actually closer to home than the Portage, even, by about a couple minutes.

These pictures are from two days’ visits. I parked on the Lyons side and then walked across the bridge and through the Indian Gardens park. I didn’t venture past the tennis courts the first day, but on the second day I walked through them and found where there is an “unmanaged” trail along the river where I will be going more often.

The Lyons side has a fantastic Hoffman Tower which provides a place to hang out for a sizable number of feral pigeons. It occurred to me that I hadn’t seen a flock of pigeons in flight for quite some time.

Blue Jays seem to be everywhere lately. They’re carrying on noisily and are even sometimes visible.

Time to get your fill of Magnolia Warbler photographs because I just barely saw one the last couple days – I think they have moved on, after dominating the warbler migration scene for two weeks. You can click on any of these pictures to get a better view.

Monarch Butterflies are still migrating here and there.

There are a lot of Northern Cardinals at this location, but they are more often heard than seen. I did manage to capture a few females, though. I’ve never seen one capture an insect – it looks like a grasshopper. And then the one perched in a tree with its leaves already turning – she nearly blends in.

It’s absolutely wonderful to see the Great Egrets – even if it’s mainly due to the fact that we haven’t had any substantive rain for at least a couple weeks and it’s been hot, so the middle of the Des Plaines River is very low – perfect for waders.

There were 4 Great Egrets on my last visit – only 3 visible in this photograph

Gray Catbirds have evaded my lens nearly all summer and now they are getting bolder as they prepare to fly south. The young bird amongst all the dead leaves was right at my feet on the Lyons side.

Canada Geese are moving around and I always love to see them in flight.

Not as many Great Blue Herons as Great Egrets but they are also taking advantage of the shallow river.

On occasion, a Double-Crested Cormorant. Since they are divers, I can’t imagine this bird was too happy with the shallow water situation.

European Starlings are not in huge flocks like they were several years ago. Here’s a few staked out on a dead tree.

I was delighted to see a Belted Kingfisher fly by noisily on my second visit, as I crossed the bridge.

A sneaky closer view of this Great Egret.

Below is a busy Blackpoll Warbler, blending in with the leaves.

An American Robin – I liked its perch choice

I saw the Osprey on both visits. On my second visit, just as I discovered the access point to the trail closer to the river, I inadvertently disturbed the Osprey – it was perched in a large tree right past the trail head, until I approached – so I will be more careful to look for it before I venture forth next time. The bird flew across the river to perch on the tree below. It was quite something to have a bird with a 63″ wingspan take off right over my head.

I was happy to find a Canada Warbler and took advantage of its willingness to stick around for several shots, albeit at a distance. This looks like a first year bird, with a faint necklace.

I was trying to capture the Gray-Cheeked Thrush below and was photo-bombed by a Magnolia Warbler.

I thought it would be easy to combine all these photos into one post but it seems I have overshot my limit again.

Many more photos to come – if I can keep up with it. I have to get used to my new routine, while it lasts anyway. I have a feeling I will be delving into the archives over the winter months playing catch-up. This morning started off cool and cloudy at Columbus Park where we had a scheduled walk. We didn’t see very many birds and those that we did were not easy to capture in low light. I feel like I’ve been given the rest of the morning off to finish this post.

Hot and Dry at the Portage

Posted on June 7, 2021 by Lisa Rest

If my memory serves me correctly, last year we were complaining of too much rain. I remember the tall plants in my backyard towering over everything and wondering if perhaps I should have discouraged them earlier. As it turns out, the tall plants seem to be growing up just as much without rain, but I am in no mood to discourage anything.

Anyway, Saturday I went to the Portage early and encountered John as I pulled into the parking lot. He leads discussions and walks on Saturdays at 10:00 AM regarding the history of the place. He had arrived early, said he was getting into birding but had forgotten his binoculars and wanted to know if he could tag along with me. We had a good time talking and walking along the trail, and he told me the history of the early explorers and how the Des Plaines River was diverted to feed the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal. So initially the little bit of water now left to the Portage is part of the original Des Plaines River bed, but nothing feeds it except rain. With that knowledge I am amazed that when I first started coming here, there was enough water to support herons feeding and even a pair of Green Herons nesting. I haven’t seen the Green Herons here for several years now.

This year there doesn’t seem to be water to make it buggy enough to support Eastern Phoebes or Eastern Kingbirds like last year. We do have Eastern Wood-Pewees and Great Crested Flycatchers.

When John and I started up the trail we encountered that large painted turtle featured at the head of this post, on the gravel path. I wonder if it was a female looking for a place to lay her eggs. There haven’t been many turtles visible this year. The drought is affecting them as well.

But then we saw an Eastern Wood-Pewee, who even sang for us. I love these little guys – I often hear them clear across the woods but don’t always see them.

While we paused on the back trail on the other side of the fence, an Osprey flew over.

I was able to show John my most reliable Indigo Bunting whose territory is on the East side of the North bridge. The bunting was happy to pose and sing for us. A recording of his song is below the photos.

John had to leave to get ready for his tour/talk so we parted ways. I will have to attend one of his presentations. I confess I used avoid the Portage on Saturday mornings because of all the extra people, but now I’ve gotten used to it after the pandemic brought in a lot of new visitors.

I continued along the trail in the direction I usually take. The rest of these photos are not in order but they are the only birds I was able to capture. Below is a Red-Belled Woodpecker on the dark side of an oak tree.