In and Around the Yard

Posted on February 10, 2022 by Lisa Rest

The days last week when I shoveled a lot of snow – I think it was when I had gone back to dig out my car from the overnight plowing – I looked up and saw the local Cooper’s Hawk sitting in my neighbor’s tree. The last time I had seen it for any length of time was on January 22nd when it was sitting on my fence and then in my yard. I apologize for the poor quality of the photos below but they were taken through the kitchen window.

And even outside where things were clearer, I missed the hawk’s eventual departure from its perch.

I took advantage of the bright sunshine Tuesday and tucked around the backyard with the camera when I came back home. I was very happy to see the female Red-breasted Nuthatch in good light so I took way too many pictures. Here are a few…

I was also happy to catch a male House Finch at the bird bath. I don’t see them as frequently as I would like.

The American Goldfinches are still quite consistent, but their numbers are falling off a bit – everybody has spring fever.

You can see the feather wear beginning to unleash bright yellow for spring.

The birdbaths have become splash parties lately. Apologies again for the fuzzy photos but if I had been outside with the camera I would not have captured them because the birds would be out of the yard.

One thing the cold weather has been good for – giving me a break from refilling the suet feeders constantly.

I have had as many as seven Northern Cardinals in the yard at a time – but the time is always dusk or dawn. One or two cardinals might visit briefly during the middle of the day but they tend to not stay long enough for me to capture. So I am stuck with a fuzzy through the porch windows picture.

I’ve been out for walks a few times with not a lot happening, but there are moments when winter seems to be slowly losing its grip. The forecast for snow late tonight is to become rain by morning. While I hope the now-dirty snow will be washed away, things could get a bit muddy. But I have already heard some birds singing. And our choir may join them soon. We had our first in-person rehearsal last night since December.

Snow – and a New Yard Bird

Posted on January 29, 2022 by Lisa Rest

Yesterday I devoted practically the entire day to dealing with the snow. It snowed overnight and didn’t stop until around 1:30 yesterday afternoon, although by that time it was pretty much down to flurries. I went out early to do the first shoveling of the walks and went out again a couple hours later, then picked up a camera every now and then to see if I could get any pictures. This is more snow than we got last week but not anything near what has transpired on the East Coast. I hope everyone stays safe and warm through the “Bomb Cyclone” Nor’easter.

Earlier I tried to get photographs with the mirrorless camera but it wouldn’t focus well. I apologize for those few fuzzies I have included here. Later I went out with the Canon and as I was still on the back porch, a nuthatch landed on the peanut feeder. I started taking photos through the screened windows and realized later that this was a Red-breasted Nuthatch and, to my knowledge, a new bird for my yard. I wonder how many other species come to the yard that I have never seen…

Two views of the snow in the yard – earlier, cloudy and through the windows, and later when the sun was shining and I was outside.

A few views of the snow in the front yard, courtesy of my cell phone camera, and a longer view of the back.

I continue to have American Goldfinches consistently in the yard with up to 40 or so of them in the early morning hours while the feeders are still fairly well-stocked. They stop by off and on all day until about an hour and a half before sunset.

Of course I have a lot of House Sparrows too…And there are House Finches and Cardinals but it’s been hard to capture them. I’ll keep trying.

I came in from the yard yesterday and found some of my Zebra Finches hanging out in the kitchen window where they like to sit and soak up the afternoon sun. I have closely cropped out as much of the dirty window as I can, but I will try to clean the window before I take any more pictures of them. My excuse for this is somewhat practical – nobody flies into the windows from either side of them.

I had no idea what I was going to do today until I got up, but it turned out to be a nice morning so I took a drive up to LaBagh Woods to see Common Redpolls. I will be back with a report later today or tomorrow.

August 30

Posted on September 14, 2020 by Lisa Rest

I think I will limit my posts to one-day experiences and work my way backwards in time since I won’t be taking m(any) pictures one-handed for a while…

The Red-Breasted Nuthatch at the top of this post was one of a few fall migrants I saw the last Sunday in August at the Portage. I regret missing seeing any birds the long Labor Day weekend save the ones in my yard, but I have rescheduled my first bird walk that was to have occurred on the 12th for the 19th, and hope to see many birds then, if not be able to chronicle their passage with photographs.

It’s always a pleasure to see somewhat elusive Swainson’s Thrushes.

I had a brief encounter with the Ovenbird above, after hearing his loud, cheery song. A few Downy Woodpecker photos below, and one of a Hairy Woodpecker for comparison…

I happened upon two Warbling Vireos disagreeing about something…

My last Baltimore Orioles of the season…

Below on the left, a bird hadn’t seen all summer, a Brown Thrasher. Also in the gallery, a Cedar Waxwing and a male Northern Cardinal.

My favorite fungus, a butterfly,and pokeweed berries…

A few more of the Red-breasted Nuthatch…

My last glimpse of Indigo Buntings – all juveniles…below.

Northern Flickers were abundant.

A small gaggle of geese flew over, and then surprised me by landing in the duckweed pond – I don’t know what else to call it at this point. I wondered if they were standing in it.

Scenes of the Portage.

And regulars are always welcome… American Goldfinch and Black-capped Chickadee…

My elbow surgery Friday morning went well. Courtesy of the hospital gown, the nurses showed me the immense bruise on my left upper thigh which confirmed the source of my pain upon standing and walking. I’ll be slowed down by my injuries for a while, but as I regain my strength I hope to return to this page more frequently. Thanks for making it this far with me. I treasure you all.

Taking Stock

Posted on March 24, 2020 by Lisa Rest

I started writing this post on Friday, after I took a break from the work email and made a trip to The Feed Store to stock up on birdseed, peanuts and spray millet for those inside and out. Working from home is so strange. In my head I am still working, but home has all its necessary distractions. I keep thinking I will have gotten used to it only when I have to go back to the office. It was still good to get out, and even better to get exercise moving everything into the house and the back porch. It was a chilly, gray day, but it is March, which my mother always used to refer to as the “adolescent” month, so I endure its changeability with her blessing.

Speaking of adolescents, I suppose the bird below could be called an adolescent Purple Finch. I am at a loss as to why I took so many photographs of it, but when in this plumage maybe the last thing I’m thinking is “Purple Finch” so it’s a reminder.

As I may have mentioned previously, I moved a lot of photographs off the laptop recently. Many were of winter scenes never shared, but I was tired of winter and it’s more than enough enduring this winter of the soul, so I have gone back to the remaining pictures from my trip to New Brunswick last August. And in that location at that time of year, there were a lot of in-between looking birds getting ready to make their first trips south for the winter.

I particularly got a kick out of this Yellow-Rumped Warbler. My friend Lesa tells me she has already seen some of these guys locally as they start to go back north. I could fantasize this was one of them.

I’m too lazy to go back and try to reconstruct exactly when we were wherever on August 20 but my notes say we were on the Salt Marsh Trail and Callendar’s Trail with a beach picnic area in Kouchibouguac National Park, which likely accounts for the shorebird images and others with wide open spaces for a background. We also visited the C. Irving Arboretum.

Thanks for stopping by and joining this visual journey. I will be back soon with more images from last summer. Spring is coming, and with it, hope for renewal.

Fall Migration Continues

Posted on October 2, 2018 by Lisa Rest

Red-Breasted Nuthatch

I think fall must be my favorite season at the Chicago Portage. The birds blend in with the autumn colors, the leaves start to fall from the trees and then every once in a while a bird takes a quick leaf-like descent as well. This past Saturday, after my morning commitment to Thatcher Woods where we had scores of Yellow-Rumped and Palm Warblers, I decided to see what was up at the Portage. Below are two of perhaps 100 Robins…

Directly below, two Common Yellowthroats at Thatcher Woods.

I always take a picture of the water, such as it is, at the Portage to document how it changes from season to season…

There is water enough to bathe in as this female Red-Winged Blackbird was finding out.

Red-Winged Blackbird (male)

The Yellow-Rumped Warbler below was at Thatcher Woods…

And the Palm Warbler below was at the Portage.

Tennessee Warblers and Orange-Crowned Warblers often get confused in the spring but these two made it easier for me.

Tennessee Warbler

Orange-Crowneds always looks to me like they have a slight eye-ring.

Orange-Crowned Warbler

I missed seeing a flashy male Black-Throated Blue Warbler this year but I’m glad to have found a female of the species, wearing her muted fall clothes.

Black-Throated Blue Warbler (female)

Blackpoll Warblers in their fall plumage are stamped permanently on my brain after a few years ago when there were many for several days at my old stomping grounds, Lake Shore East Park, so I was delighted to find this lovely individual.

At one point I encountered some workers who were taking down a tree. I spent some time talking to one while another was driving wedges into what was soon to be the stump. It turns out the trees were not birch but white poplar, which is an invasive species and that is why they were removing it. Come to think of it I don’t recall ever seeing a bird in those trees although they had become a landmark and I thought they were rather attractive. After I was given clearance to go beyond the workers, I grabbed two quick clicks in the distance as the tree fell.

For all the Robin activity there were only a few Cedar Waxwings…

My view from the first bridge at the Portage yielded a Mourning Dove and a House Wren.

I almost thought I had missed all the Indigo Buntings but there were still a few youngsters left.

Indigo Bunting

Northern Cardinal (female)

I was delighted to see a Swainson’s Thrush if only for a moment…

Swainson’s Thrush

Eastern Phoebes…

Just starting to see Dark-Eyed Juncos, the harbinger of colder weather coming, I suppose. But after not seeing them all summer I am glad to have them back.

Dark-Eyed Junco

Yellow-Bellied Sapsuckers are coming through as well.

Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker

The Des Plaines was so low, this Great Egret was wading out into it quite a ways from the shoreline.

We had a lot of Northern Flickers at Thatcher Woods. Here’s one of them checking out a future home, perhaps.

Yes I am a Yellow-Rumped Warbler

And Monarch Butterflies are still migrating. I love the way the Poke Weed looks this time of year. I knew the birds were attracted to it but I guess the Monarchs like it too.

After hearing and rarely seeing Eastern Wood-Pewees all summer, it was nice to get good looks at this one.

Eastern Wood-Pewee

This last photograph is of a Downy Woodpecker who was foraging low and obscured by the vegetation but I like the pastel colors.

More to come, I have three more Saturday bird walks, weather permitting. We seem to be entering a rainy spell but from the looks of the Des Plaines last week we can use it.

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.

City Migrants – Fall Migration 2016

Posted on October 3, 2016 by Lisa Rest

Chestnut-Sided Warbler

If I’d been thinking clearly I probably would have postponed the cataract removal until after fall migration, but I ventured anyway into the wilds of downtown Chicago after I convinced myself that with patience and practice I could temporarily look through the view finder on the Canon with my left eye… Anyway, I managed to find quite a few cooperative birds to photograph and have decided to share them now before I invite you back to the Galapagos. A couple more shots of the Chestnut-Sided Warbler below. Responding to my thoughts, as I’m taking pictures of him, of “what a beautiful bird you are.”

First-year male American Redstarts are always welcome.

Things didn’t seem to get really active until last week. There’s probably a whole lot more I could have done if I put my mind to it, but I’ll get my new prescription lens in a few days and with luck, all my kvetching will fade away. (Don’t hold me to it!)

Red-Winged Blackbirds breed in Millennium Park so these birds below likely hatched this year.

Below, a Canada Warbler on the left and a Wilson’s Warbler on the right, both at Lake Shore East Park a couple weeks ago. The Canada was shy.

Juvenile European Starlings in their in-between plumage, which I find fascinating. They look more like “Star”-lings to me. They’re not exactly migrants…unless they’re from another planet?

I wonder if the Common Grackle below could be a molting adult, without its long tail.

Magnolia Warblers have been coming through for weeks.

Not a lot of thrushes this year – sometimes they show up in large groups. A Gray-Cheeked Thrush that was at 155 N. Wacker on the left, and a Hermit Thrush on the right and below.