Fall Farewell

Posted on November 3, 2014 by Lisa Rest

Song Sparrow, Springbrook Prairie

I am trying hard to get my head around my imminent departure. There are simply too many things to do, and I seem to have left them all to the last moment. The laundry list gave me an excuse to stay home this weekend, although it would have been a beautiful one to be out birding. But perhaps my one triumph was to rearrange the feeders a bit and stump the gray squirrels. Watching one squirrel slide off a baffle guarding the peanut feeder, which has not been up for months, gave me hope. And I haven’t seen a squirrel sitting on the “squirrel proof” sunflower seed feeder either. Of course I have been gone all day and it’s pitch dark now when I get home, so I won’t know if any of this is working until I get back. The squirrels have always proven to be smarter than I am and I am sure they will come up with a new plan. But I have a sizable investment in birdseed from the Audubon sale and I’d like as much of it as possible to go to the birds.

Canada Geese

Mallards

The pictures are from a couple weeks ago when I paid a visit to Springbrook Prairie in DuPage County. I didn’t see all that many birds and definitely missed the legendary Nelson’s Sharp-Tailed and LeConte’s Sparrows, but it was another chance to wield the Tamron 150-600mm lens around and try getting used to it.

White-Crowned Sparrow

As much as I look forward to my trip, I hate to leave my birds. It’s also frustrating to find myself thinking about what I will do when I get back, when I haven’t even left yet!

Mallards

American Goldfinch

It’s amazing how a difference in light can almost obscure the identity of a bird like the American Goldfinch below.

American Goldfinch

I haven’t seen many Field Sparrows this year so it was nice to catch this one.

Field Sparrow

No matter how big the lens, a bird that is far away remains…far away.

Northern Cardinal

It’s hard to capture the enormity of Springbrook Prairie. I did not walk the entire trail, which can take hours. Nevertheless, several cyclists and runners kept passing me by again and again.

Cedar Waxwing

I will try to come back with one more post before I disappear for a while, as a few last minute contributors to my inner and outer landscape have vied for my attention.

Juveniles

Posted on October 7, 2013 by Lisa Rest

Juvenile Sedge Wren, Springbrook Prairie

I’m entertaining a quick post here while I still have so many pictures to go through from maybe three weeks, wondering how I will ever do anything with them…as I archive months past onto the external hard drive to leave room for photographs to come on my trip next month.

Over the weekend I encountered two juvenile birds that proved interesting. The first was from Saturday morning, on Joe Suchecki’s DuPage Birding Club walk at Springbrook Prairie. Conditions were not ideal for photographs (birds buried in the grasses at a distance), but this very cooperative juvenile Sedge Wren was only a couple feet away from us, making us wonder if it was his first encounter with people. He had a very much “What do I do now?” look about him.

The second bird nearly stumped me when I was going through the pictures until I realized it had to be a juvenile European Starling. I took these at the Chicago Portage yesterday morning. I have seen my share of juvenile Starlings – indeed they used to visit me back in Oak Park on the window ledge, and I always found them fascinating because I could still see their eyes (the adults’ eyes, recessed into black feathers, often seemed to totally disappear). Juvenile Starlings always appeared brown to me, but I have never seen an evenly black and white one – leading me to think that this is a molting bird and/or somewhat melanistic. On the other hand I never saw its back which may have been browner, because I was distracted by something else by the time it left.

Anyway I will try to be back soon with more birds from a very interesting time of year. I love fall, and the weather has just turned abruptly cooler reminding me of it.

European Starling

The Starling pictures are coming up darker from some reason – click on them and the bird appears a bit lighter but I may have to come back and fix this later.

Dueling Goldfinches

Posted on July 6, 2013 by Lisa Rest

American Goldfinch

American Goldfinches, in their bright colors, bubbly songs and whiny little calls, seem so civilized and perhaps even cheerful. They’re exclusively seed-eaters. But I confess to knowing little about the private lives of goldfinches. I have never seen them fight.

Suddenly two male American Goldfinches erupted into the air Thursday at Springbrook Prairie. I turned the camera on them to get this sequence of tumbles and one actual attack.

Battling Goldfinches IMG_4637_1

Battling Goldfinches IMG_4638_1 Battling Goldfinches IMG_4639_1

Battling Goldfinches IMG_4640_1

Battling Goldfinches IMG_4641_1

It didn’t last very long and I don’t think anybody got hurt, but the intruder gave up his challenge to the victor’s territory.

After the Fourth

Posted on July 5, 2013 by Lisa Rest

Red-Winged Blackbird

Enduring last night’s neighborhood illegal fireworks blitzkrieg, which seemed louder than last year or even the last five years combined, I can barely remember, let alone believe, that I got up early yesterday morning to go birding. The lengthy assault of the fireworks noise seems to have split yesterday in two.

Springbrook Prairie

I visited Springbrook Prairie, but I will have to go back because the Fourth of July is not the best time to visit anywhere in the suburban sprawl, no matter how vast the space. People on bikes and runners passed me by constantly. To be sure, this did not daunt the Red-Winged Blackbirds and Song Sparrows, but less abundant species were hard to come by.

Female Red-Winged Blackbird

Song Sparrow – singing

And a sample of his song, with a background chorus of Common Yellowthroat, American Robin, Warbling Vireo, Red-Winged Blackbird and possibly a few others:

Northern Crescent

Black Swallowtail Female

At least there were some new butterflies, not just the Cabbage Whites…

On a hunch that I might get a different perspective, I stopped at Hidden Lake which is now across from a Wal-Mart, so I guess that gives it a peculiar distinction. I used the Wal-Mart entrance to turn around in because I missed the entrance to the preserve. This time of year with everything overgrown you have to know where you’re going and I hadn’t been here in a while.

Great Egret

There was a Great Egret hunting for food when I started out.

Great Blue Heron, a bit too distant

I’ve gotten pictures of Great Blues flying lately, but this was my first on the ground this year.

Kildeer

Likewise the Kildeer flying pictures weren’t too clear, but I tried not to bother this bird too much by taking its picture.

American Robin

And maybe my favorite image of all is this Robin with a worm in his beak.

On that note I have to clean my house, it is Friday. Even if this is my two-year anniversary with WordPress and my 65th birthday. Ah, milestones. But life goes on, and the birds are calling.

Songs of the Prairie

Posted on October 2, 2011 by Lisa Rest

Springbrook Prairie landscape

I went to Springbrook Prairie this morning to join a birdwalk but I must have pulled into the wrong parking lot. Having come a long way I was not discouraged; rather, I assembled all my gear and started my own hunt for fall migrants. It was a beautiful, crisp, clear fall day early, turning warmer later.

There were lots of White-Crowned Sparrows, and I heard several singing.

White-Crowned Sparrows

I heard another bird song I am not familiar with – five even-pitch, even-beat notes and one more note a fourth above the others. It reminded me of the Mozart sonata I am relearning. I don’t think I want to go through all the sonatas again but after hearing myself playing Mozart on old tapes I decided letting a little Mozart back into my life wouldn’t hurt, break up the Bach a little. Anyway, whatever this bird was singing matches the second half of the third movement of Mozart’s first C major sonata. There has been some speculation that Mozart got the idea for his “Musical Joke” from his pet starling, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he got a few more ideas from wild birds.

Eastern Meadowlark

And then a little later I heard Eastern Meadowlarks singing. There were perhaps a dozen, but they kept flying by so quickly I could not catch a picture until one landed in a bush. I started singing back to one of them and he sang back to me – I wasn’t trying to imitate his sound, just the notes. So even though he was “countersinging” with me I don’t think it was out of competition, but sheer fun trading licks with an inexperienced human like me.

Just when I thought I’d heard all the Meadowlark songs I was going to, one bird turned the song upside down and the four notes matched exactly the first four notes ot Debussy’s “Golliwog’s Cakewalk” which is a piece I played when I was a child. Don’t you know I was stuck with that in my head for the next couple hours.

A few birds who weren’t singing posed for me.

Juvenile Goldfinch

Purple Finch

Ironically, the only Song Sparrow I heard singing was a juvenile who really messed up his song. But he’ll get it right by spring, I’m sure.

Song Sparrow

Goldbird Variations

Why Birds Sing in Key with Music, or how I finally put perfect pitch to use.

Tag Archives: Springbrook Prairie

Fall Farewell

Juveniles

Dueling Goldfinches

After the Fourth

Songs of the Prairie