Tag Archives: Red-Breasted Nuthatch

Back to Birds: Crabtree Nature Center

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Feeder Mayhem IMG_1508_1

7 Species in 1 Frame!

Last week, I visited Crabtree Nature Center in the far northwest corner of Cook County, Illinois. I went twice, to try for reported good views of a female White-Winged Crossbill, a species I have barely seen on a few occasions. The bird had been seen visiting the feeders, and others had taken nice pictures, so I wanted a memorable look.

Downies IMG_1715_1

Female and Male Downy Woodpeckers

I never saw the White-Winged Crossbill. Watching the feeders from the comfort of the warm nature center, however, was a mesmerizing experience. Birds came constantly to the feeders. If someone or something scared them off, they were back within seconds.

Am Tree Sparrow IMG_1199_1

American Tree Sparrow

I am looking forward to returning to Crabtree to check out the trails later in the year. But for now I am going to just fill up the rest of this post with a few more pictures taken last week.

Feeder Birds IMG_1229_1

Red-Breasted Nuthatch, Downy Woodpecker, House Finch and Northern Cardinal

 

Pine Siskins IMG_1537_1

Pine Siskins

 

RB Woodpecker IMG_1562_1

Red-Bellied Woodpecke

 

Crabtree Nature Center Dove IMG_1332_1

Mourning Doves and Northern Cardinal

 

WB Nuthatch IMG_1717_1

White-Breasted Nuthatch

 

White-Throated Sparrow IMG_1617_1

White-Throated Sparrow

 

Fox Sparrow IMG_1580_1

Fox Sparrow

 

 

Follow the Sap…suckers

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Juvenile Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker

The last couple weeks of fall migration, warblers and others have been following the sapsuckers as they drilled holes in the rows of homestead elms lining either side of the center “naturally planted” section of Daley Bicentennial Plaza. The birds are drinking sap from the wells drilled by the woodpeckers.

Orange-Crowned Warbler

We are still seeing Orange-Crowned Warblers and Yellow-Rumped Warblers. The Yellow-Rump below was putting on quite a show when I took this picture last week: he kept hovering around his favorite saphole like a hummingbird.

Yellow-Rumped Warbler

The Tennessee Warblers like the one below are sometimes confused with Orange-Crowned, especially this time of year.

Tennessee Warbler

There have been a lot of Red-Breasted Nuthatches this fall, and the one below, drinking sap, is no exception.

Red-Breasted Nuthatch

Some of the first warblers noticed were Black-Throated Blues. Here’s a female, and below her, a male – although I did not get a picture of him drinking, it’s almost a wonder he let me photograph him at all. He behaved like a celebrity tired of paparazzi.

Female Black-Throated Blue Warbler

Male Black-Throated Blue Warbler

Cape Mays aren’t always cooperative either.

Cape May Warbler

I took several pictures of this Ruby-Crowned Kinglet yesterday, but the midday sun was brutal and I discarded most of them.

Ruby-Crowned Kinglet

There could still be a lot of sapsuckers coming through…and following them, their fans of many colors and configurations.

Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker

But as the leaves disappear…so will these migrants.

The Chicago Portage – Mystery Loves Company

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Chicago Portage

The Chicago Portage has so much history it’s almost too much to think about. And yet if it wasn’t a historical landmark it probably would have been developed over by now. It’s adjacent to train tracks, the Chicago Metropolitan Water District, and Interstate 55, not to mention Harlem Avenue also known as good old Illinois Route 43. Instead of counting birds lately I find I’ve been keeping track of how many planes fly over while I’m wandering through; the Portage is also right in the flight path of Midway Airport.

But the planes roar overhead and when they’re gone, the remaining traffic noise seems almost benign by comparison. Whatever the ambience, there is still wildlife. I never thought of the duckweed as attractive, but this Canada Goose seems to be wallowing in it.

The pervasive scum lends a pointillist feel to the image of these Mallards below.

While I’m dabbling in impressionism, what about this Red-Breasted Nuthatch searching for hidden treasure in the dead leaves…?

Red-Breasted Nuthatch

A Red-Eyed Vireo came out for the sunlight that traded off with the cloud cover all morning.

Red-Eyed Vireo

There are little story boards displayed in a few places along the trail at the Portage, and I think one of them has a caption, “if these trees could talk.” Sometimes the trees do talk – they creak, sway and moan. What’s left of this tree has an enormous web attached to it, catching debris.

Finally, this Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker might be my favorite “painting” photograph, for the light on the bark and his back.

Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker

Perhaps the attraction I have to the Portage lies in the stark contrast between its cluttered wildness and the manmade mess that surrounds it.