
A busy weekend sort of slid into place. Our delightful choir party/rehearsal late Saturday afternoon precluded my usual Saturday early evening activity of cleaning the living room and swapping out the dirty cages for clean ones. Then there was getting up early Sunday morning to sing. Any thought of being outside on Sunday was drowned out by steady rain. In spite of the flood warnings, my trees and native plants rose to the occasion again and kept the basement dry. It might have been a good day to write, but after a long nap – which indicates it was a good day to sleep – I spent much of the afternoon and evening in motion, cleaning the living room and dining room, swapping out the dirty curtains and huts for clean, turning the fans off and leaving the windows open a couple inches as the temperature dropped, keeping me cool in all my effort.

I woke up to a cool 70 degrees F. inside, closed all the windows and hoped for a little sunshine later to keep us comfortable as the temperatures remain quite low today. I went swimming and the pool temperature, at 80 degrees F., felt warm enough. it will be a good day for baking bread and making soup.
I’m posting pictures today from September 3 which was the first Oak Park fall migration bird walk of 2022 for which I was responsible. We met at Columbus Park, and will be visiting there again this coming Saturday morning. I went on to the Chicago Portage afterward and there are a few photos from there mixed in as well. I will visit the Chicago Portage tomorrow and see what if anything came in with yesterday’s weather.
That lovely Red-eyed Vireo at the top of the post had a lot of company.
More Red-eyed Vireos. Easily the most visible bird of the day.




Except for American Goldfinches. They were in abundance at Columbus Park. I was delighted to see them feeding off the Cupplant which they have also been visiting in my backyard.
We have had a lot of Swainson’s Thrushes this fall and this day was no exception, making it easier to spot this one.
And it’s been a good year for Gray-cheeked Thrushes as well.


Warbling Vireos were still abundant. But I won’t be surprised if I don’t hear one tomorrow. They might have grabbed that southward wind yesterday.
Warbler-wise, not much, but a few haphazard captures.





This was the last Common Whitetail dragonfly I saw, at Columbus Park.

And likely my last Spotted Sandpiper was there too, at the beginning of our walk as we looked out over the water.

That’s it for now. Fall migration continues. Fall-like temperatures for another day or so, too. One more of the Red-eyed Vireo at the top. This bird had a great sense for presentation.
