Tag Archives: White-Throated Sparrow

One Day from Last Week in Riverside

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The first week of November was fairly quiet on the Des Plaines River, which as of Friday was still really low. But last Monday, November 3, the sun was shining and the birds were enjoying it. I looked out from the wall by the Hofmann Tower and caught a House Sparrow in flight.

Looking south along the river I had to make note of the fall color, however heavy on the yellows this year.

As I went to cross the street to the other side of the Joliet Avenue bridge, I heard the female Belted Kingfisher who is at the top of this post, as she flew across the river. She landed and perched where I took too many distant photos.

Walking eventually brought me a White-throated Sparrow, who seemed adamant about its identity in the third photo below.

I spotted just enough of a male Northern Cardinal in the leaves.

A pair of Canada Geese swam down the river.

And a Great Blue Heron barely emerged from its perch.

I took another view of the Des Plaines River from around the bend.

American Robins have been foraging and bathing by the river’s edge.

I found an American Goldfinch matching autumn colors.

A beautiful Song Sparrow was singing as if it was spring.

I noticed an interesting fungus.

When I got all the way back to the Hofmann Tower, I looked out across the river to see a few Mallards with a tagged goose, 21N. I don’t know this goose. I guess I can try reporting it when the government is up and running again.

Then I two juvenile Bald Eagles flew overhead. I took photos of both of them, but they appear indistinguishable.

Here are two more photos of the Belted Kingfisher.

We are under a Winter Storm Warning from 9:00 tonight until noon tomorrow. It looks to be a “lake effect” event, with predictions of a lot of snow – perhaps even a foot of it – and terrible road conditions for the morning rush. I’m far enough from the lake to ignore perpetual surf warnings, but lake effect snow could be substantial. If the forecast can be believed, we will return to warmer temperatures starting Wednesday, with rain predicted for Sunday. All I know is, I haven’t been out for a walk all weekend and it doesn’t look like I can walk tomorrow morning. It’s starting to drive me more than a little crazy. Those walks are about a lot more than lugging the camera around. There is, however, a bright side to a foot of snow. I could shovel it, and at least have a reason to be outside.

Last Week in Riverside

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Today is a quiet, cloudy, rainy day and I am trying to stay distracted enough by getting some things done around the house. But while I sit here sipping coffee with an ice pack on my knee, I may as well send off another blog post. Here are some relatively recent photos from three visits to Riverside on October 25, October 28 and November 1.

October 25. I always check first by the Hofmann Tower to see if the Great Blue Heron who hangs out along this part of the river is present. I didn’t see it right away, but after looking from the bridge at Joliet Avenue I found it tucked in one of its favorite locations off the edge of the former dam.

It was a quiet walk through Swan Pond, with a Red-bellied Woodpecker investigating a nearby tree.

Dark-eyed Juncos like this side of the river and I have often seen them foraging not too far from the paved trail.

I managed to find a Golden-crowned Kinglet.

And a male House Finch was somewhat available.

The second Great Blue Heron that was around through the end of last month was over by the bend in the river near the library.

Canada Geese and Mallards were there too.

I decided to take a photo of the Swinging Bridge while it was surrounded in some autumn color. It looks like we got a little rain the day before.

In Riverside Lawn, I was quite happy to find a young-looking Lincoln’s Sparrow.

There were a couple Hermit Thrushes as well but they proved difficult to see.

On October 28, I counted two Great Blue Herons but took photos of only one. I reported only 14 species for that day and most of them were Canada Geese and Mallards that must not have commanded my attention. I suspect I heard more birds than I saw.

A Downy Woodpecker was busy as usual. And that was about It.

Then on November 1, there were three Killdeer by the Hofmann Tower.

This time I saw only the Great Blue Heron by the Hofmann Tower.

The shadow outlining the Dark-eyed Junco’s chin below makes an interesting comment.

I heard, and then saw at quite a distance, a male Belted Kingfisher.

This was a great day for a White-throated Sparrow to sit perfectly lit for a photo session.

Mallards were preening.

In Riverside Lawn, pretty convinced the kingfisher was going to be bird-of-the-day, I was surprised to suddenly see a Carolina Wren investigated a crevice in a tree, not too far off the ground. It disappeared into the thickness of twigs and fallen logs by the river’s edge. I stood still, made a few little pishing noises to see if I could get it to pop back out again. And then, it did, landing on a log right in front of my camera, posing for a few pictures before it took off again. I have been looking for a Carolina Wren all year at this location, so I was quite happy about this encounter.

I barely managed to capture a Golden-crowned Kinglet.

And I had a hungry Black-capped Chickadee.

I hope to get back out tomorrow morning after all the rain. It will be interesting to see how high the river will be after this prolonged drought. I hope it will also be interesting to see the looks on people’s faces as they walk by with their dogs and perambulators. We could all use some more smiles.

More Birds at the Chicago Portage

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In my usual fashion, I have been trying to write this post for a few days. I haven’t even gone out every morning for more observations as I was either cowed by the weather (wind, possible rain) or the complaints of my right knee. The rainy forecasts weren’t panning out so much, but the wind gusts have been awful. My knee is better as I took refuge in the swimming pool and managed my mile, which helped a lot. If by some chance we don’t get drenched by the current forecast, I look forward to walking tomorrow and Tuesday, if for no other reason than to escape screens.

These photos are from October 26th and 27th at the Chicago Portage. Just about a week ago, but it already seems far away now that we’ve set our clocks back.

A glimpse of the statue this fall season

I have been seeing deer lately close to the trail.

For some unknown reason, House Finches appear more often in fall, here and there. This one’s a female.

Song Sparrows are blending in with the browns of fall. A few younger birds try singing.

it’s a challenge to focus on the birds foraging in the dried stalks, but I managed to catch glimpses of one or two Orange-crowned Warblers, which always tend to show up toward the ends of each warbler migration. Don’t be fooled by the common name as it is no clue to what the bird looks like.

Here and there, I saw a Ruby-crowned Kinglet.

I even saw parts of a Nashville Warbler that day.

I think this was my first American Tree Sparrow of the season. If past years are any indication I will see many more of them throughout the fall and winter.

Black-capped Chickadees are around all year and now it’s easier for them to command my attention.

Downy Woodpeckers are easier to see as well.

The Red-shouldered Hawk we had been seeing was farther away, perched in a tree.

I found a female Hairy Woodpecker.

And a Northern Cardinal stopped near the paved trail.

Another Song Sparrow was attempting a song.

The next day, on the 27th, I saw another House Finch, only a male this time.

Mallards were hanging out near the Harlem Avenue bridge.

And after looking for a Muskrat all summer long and into the fall, finally I spotted one.

American Goldfinches are still around, but with a more scattered presence. It will soon be time for me to put out nyjer feeders for them in my backyard.

I was pleased to find a Swamp Sparrow in my photos.

And another Ruby-crowned Kinglet emerged.

There was also another Song Sparrow or two.

More Mallard photos. The two in the background of the first photo are covered in duckweed.

I found a White-throated Sparrow in good light.

And a somewhat distant Northern Cardinal was not too shy.

If the predicted rain pans out for the next two days, I will try to clean up some more photos from recent walks. It’s still possible to see some different species before the winter doldrums settle in. It’s hard to focus on much of anything given our national distraction, but birds are a good place to start.

February Unravels Slowly at the Chicago Portage

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It’s been a long slog of quiet walks at the Chicago Portage. But as the days get longer and in some cases, a little warmer, what little bird activity there is, is starting to shape up looking forward to spring. Here’s a little chronological overview of a week and a half’s worth of sightings.

On February 8, it was mostly Mallards. At least there was sunshine and open water,

On February 10, the only bird of note was a distant American Kestrel. I was otherwise distracted by some moss.

The 13th was a day of beautiful sunshine, but only one photo of a Downy Woodpecker.

The 16th didn’t look too promising with the cloud cover and ice on the water.

Some fungus caught my eye.

A bright red male Northern Cardinal made up for some of the gloom.

Then I heard a White-throated Sparrow talking. I stopped to answer its little wispy contact call, something I have found they often respond to. Eventually one emerged to forage by the trail.

Then as I stood there carrying on the conversation, if you will, one White-throated Sparrow, and then another, came to perch in front of me. We hung out for quite a while.

As I continued along the trail, I saw a female Northern Cardinal.

And then there was a Downy Woodpecker…

After the Downy, I came across twenty or more American Tree Sparrows foraging in the beaten-down vegetation. They blended in and were distant, which made it hard to crop even these few photos closely.

I went back on the morning of February 18, and encountered a large flock of Mourning Doves right off the parking lot. I counted 22. I managed to slowly continue on the trail without flushing them, somehow having arrived early before any other humans.

Not much else showed up that day except a pair of Canada Geese landing to have a look around on the ice. I suspect they sought a nesting spot.

I have a bit more from the Portage from this past week, but this feels like enough for now. We are experiencing a few days of much warmer weather for February, and it’s very seductive if slightly disorienting. Then there’s the familiar absurdity of an extra day this month. Plus, things are heating up in my personal music scene as well with several commitments to honor.

Then I have 345 photos to go through from last Saturday when I attended the 22nd Annual Gull Frolic hosted by the Illinois Ornithological Society. I hope to be back with processed photos soon.

They’re Here

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I saw some birds this week – in between practicing for the Spring Music Festival which will occur tonight. We had a rehearsal/run through last night and I survived. At least people like the song, so I guess that’s a good indication of something.

We canceled our scheduled walk at Columbus Park this morning because the weather was potentially threatening with the possibility of thunderstorms. We will more than likely have that kind of weather later tonight as we warm up to 70 degrees. But the overnight lows are still predicted to be in the 40’s for the coming week, which delays the yard cleanup even further.

These photos are from Monday at the Chicago Portage. I warn you, there are Way Too Many of them. The warm wave from the two days before brought migrants into the area. It was cooler on Monday so a lot of birds were foraging for food on the ground, like this Pine Warbler sampling seeds on the asphalt path.

Believe it or not these photos are of two separate individuals. I couldn’t capture them close enough to each other for a group photo.

The one Pine Warbler in the trees at first was not recognizable to me, but it turned out to be a Pine, albeit a drab one. The photo of the undertail helped me identify it.

A few more of this bird. Either way, it blends right in with the wood.

Palm Warblers have been all over the place in great numbers. it has gotten so that after taking all these pictures I haven’t bothered much with any of them the rest of the week.

I barely managed a few fuzzy photographs of the Black-and-White Warbler below.

it was delightful to see the return of a Yellow Warbler. One or two always stays the summer at the Portage so I expect to see this species again.

Warblers were not the only thing going on. There were lots of Chipping Sparrows, albeit most of them on the ugly asphalt.

There were a few group photo opportunities.

Palm Warbler and Chipping Sparrows
Chipping Sparrow and Field Sparrow

There were one or two Field Sparrows and then quite a number of White-throated Sparrows through the break in the fence.

Field Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow

I saw my first Baltimore Oriole of the year. My feeder will go up tomorrow. As you can see he wasn’t moving much.

Vocally and actively, the Blue-Gray Gnatcatchers are back. The lack of light emphasized the the Gray half of their name.

Here’s what the sky looked like that morning.

I had a cooperative White-breasted Nuthatch doing his thing.

Male Northern Cardinals are a little easier to photograph these days as they advertise their territories.

But the lack of light kept everything pretty cool-looking.

In her elusive stage, I managed half of a Red-bellied Woodpecker.

My volunteer American Robin. They are all over the Portage now.

The Yellow-rumped Warblers were the first to show up, but now their numbers are diminishing.

The return of water this year is making the place attractive to waterfowl again.

Blue-winged Teal and Canada Geese

It would have been nice to see the rest of the bird below, but I think after going back and forth between Hermit Thrush and Swainson’s Thrush, it’s the latter.

Northern Flickers are determined to not be seen and this one wasn’t any different.

The Great Egret stopped by to see if conditions were conducive to fishing. I can only assume the sight of me changed its mind. But it was back the next day, on the bank of the stream.

I can only imagine what these Mourning Doves were up to. If that’s the male on the right, his neck feathers are iridescent…

I think these are flowers of a Box-elder Maple Tree. I found them attractive.

So thanks to the canceled bird walk and my nap, I was able to finish this offering. If you made it all the way to the end of this post you are a rock star! I must go back to my chores and prepare for this evening’s performance. I hope to be back again sooner after all this. Thanks for checking in and Happy Spring!

Snowy Days

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It was snowing when I started writing over an hour ago. Winds from the south pushed us up to 68 degrees Saturday, only to collide with winds from the north Saturday night which produced thunder, lightning, and some rain, and the north winds persisted so forcefully yesterday morning I did not venture out for a walk anywhere. I am watching the snow falling outside presently from the comfort of my futon as my indoor birds conduct their daily pursuits of eating and nest-building, with a few territorial tiffs in between. Somehow revisiting snowy photographs from January is less depressing knowing that the present snowfall is only temporary as the days continue to stretch at both ends. Today’s snow is heavy and wet but not sticking to the sidewalks. I spread some sand around to provide traction in the icy in-between.

All this seems so mundane and it is, in view of everything else, but it’s still part of life too. Perhaps one needs to consider the mundane while hoping that the almost unimaginable, terrifying scenarios don’t become mundane as well.

So here are some select photos from various visits during the month of January 2022 at the Chicago Portage.

I don’t often get a chance to photograph a female Northern Cardinal who isn’t obscured by vegetation, so it was nice to see this one in the snow.

The males hardly ever have the option of blending in, wherever they appear, and they know it.

The deer can blend in easily however.

I love to see this view of the north bridge through the bare trees. It will disappear behind foliage soon.

American Tree Sparrows were not numerous, but present this winter. In late February, which I think was the last time I saw one, I heard someone singing. It was a song I did not recognize, but I confirmed it was an American Tree Sparrow with the recording on my Sibley app and took note of the fact that the recording was made in Alaska, where these birds breed. So I guess I was lucky to hear it at all.

White-throated Sparrows like the one below and at the top of the post will be singing a lot soon as more of them come through. I look forward to hearing them again. Their song is probably the first I was able to recognize of any migrant, it is so distinctive and tuneful. They don’t all migrate quite so far as the American Tree Sparrows, some breeding in the Northern Highland of the U.S.

One day I noticed a Red-bellied Woodpecker on the ground, which is not where I usually see them.

The same woodpecker is in the photographs below. It turned out that a man I have seen this winter, whom I now think of as “Mr. Peanut”, wanders the trails with a plastic bag containing peanuts in the shell. When I saw him later after I took these photographs and mentioned that the Red-bellied Woodpecker enjoyed one of his peanuts, he said he brings the peanuts for the deer, who just love them – I’m sure they do. I did not admonish him, as much as I thought perhaps I should. I am not one to lecture (he’s friendly, but bigger than I am). In any event, this woodpecker was paying attention to him as well and managed to get one of those peanuts, which made a nice photo or two.

On one of those visits in January, I managed to barely capture the Red-tailed Hawk I saw on practically every visit, albeit at a distance.

On January 31st I saw the tree-trimmer below.

Today’s snow has ended. I did not have to shovel my walks. Snow is in the forecast again for Friday, but likely it will be another one-day affair. I just noticed the clocks move ahead this weekend. I don’t know if I’m quite ready for this. My birds won’t mind. They’ll just think I’m getting up that much earlier to feed them.

Footprints in the Snow

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It’s simply too cold to venture outside for a walk today. I had hoped I would be up for a walk anyway – the sun is shining brightly – but with a wind chill of 14 below and a predicted high of no more than 14 above, I think I will simply wait for it to get warmer over the weekend.

I was last at the Chicago Portage on January 4. Even though I was the only human there, it immediately became obvious that several others had preceded me the days before.

I always take a photograph of the statue first just to commemorate the light. And in this case, a little snow on it.

It was a fairly sunny day and not windy, so I could stand and wait for birds to pop up. But there really weren’t many. I struggled to get a halfway clear picture of one very cold-looking White-throated Sparrow.

When I did finally see some Northern Cardinals, they were too far away.

Here are a few snowy scenes. Just enough for a contrast to the shades of brown.

The sky was often undecided about sunshine or clouds.

A view of the Des Plaines River

But there were deer. Several of them.

And more footprints caught my attention.

I barely heard the woodpeckers and did not see them at all. My greeter Black-capped Chickadee was excited to see me but he wouldn’t stay still very long.

I barely captured a Dark-eyed Junco.

Before the snow and cold, Canada Geese were everywhere. On this day, I noted only four flying over.

On the way out, I heard a White-breasted Nuthatch but when I tried to find it, instead I saw a Brown Creeper. Since they don’t sound anything alike, there’s no way I could have mistaken the elusive nuthatch for a creeper or vice versa. But this is a phenomenon I have noticed on several occasions this winter, so they must be foraging in the same trees. Anyway, below are some photos of the creeper.

I have a treasure trove of some slightly older and significantly older photographs to go through and they will come in handy during this cold spell when I just can’t find the courage to brave the elements. The weather hasn’t stopped me from going out at night to swim, it has only made the outing that more surreal. But I am grateful for the opportunity to get some exercise.

Christmas Week at the Portage, Part II

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I will be short on narration with this post – the day after Christmas at the Portage was somewhat more of the same as two days before. There were a couple species of birds I did not see on the previous visit. The Fox Sparrow below, for instance, unfortunately did not give me a better view but it had been weeks since I’d seen one so it was nice to see anyway.

And then months perhaps since I saw my last Kinglet – there was a Golden-crowned Kinglet, not captured very well at all, below.

This was the first time I saw a Red-bellied Woodpecker at the bottom of a tree.

Somewhat obscured but not bothered by my attention to it, a White-throated Sparrow.

More Red-bellied Woodpecker shots through the trees…

I haven’t run into large flocks of House Finches lately but there were a few around.

Always nice to see a Brown Creeper.

American Goldfinches seem to be matching the golden-hued Portage lately.

Some common birds trying to escape attention…

European Starlings in a gnarly oak
An American Robin behind bars

This female Northern Cardinal blends right in.

Often moving quickly in flocks, Dark-eyed Juncos aren’t as easy to capture as they ought to be.

It’s still nice to see Northern Cardinals and Black-capped Chickadees. I see them more often than not.

I will be back with a little New Year’s Eve visit this morning that was short on birds but good to do anyway seeing as how we are under a winter storm watch that starts early tomorrow morning. Predictions are for a lot of snow, and I have no intention of driving anywhere in it. Maybe I can capture some of the birds in the yard in between snow shoveling shifts.

Best wishes and hopes to all for 2022. I will be celebrating by taking down all my 2021 calendars…

Christmas Week at the Portage – Part I

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This series of photos is from December 23. I went back on the 26th and will share those photos in a separate post. The weather has since turned a bit more wintry. I decided not to go out today due to early cloud cover and mostly mud – I am getting a bit tired of cleaning the treads of my boots. But I also have so much to do at home that I kept putting off “until I retire” or “until winter” and since I am in both those places, I need to get going on the 20-years-of-accumulated-stuff project.

The sky was dramatic at first but brightened up ever so slightly. There are new piles of chopped wood here and there along the trails. I can only imagine the volunteers were taking care of fallen or about-to-fall trees.

At first this White-breasted Nuthatch was hard to uncover but he came out and made himself known eventually.

Red-bellied Woodpeckers have been more abundant than I remember, but it could just be that for the sake of getting out more, I have become more attuned to their comings and goings. I was delighted to find the flight sequence in my photos, which I put into the carousel below.

A favorite ground-foraging place these days is the trail, and when I’m lucky and the only person on the trail, I can usually stop and watch the birds for some time.

Song Sparrow and female Northern Cardinal
Another Song Sparrow

I was beginning to think my ears were lying to me because I thought I always heard White-throated Sparrows but I was never seeing them. Then this one posed for a picture.

White-throated Sparrow

Dark-eyed Juncos are also fond of the gravelly trails.

I could barely focus on this somewhat far-away American Goldfinch, but I so love their muted tones this time of year.

It wouldn’t be Christmas week without a male Northern Cardinal.

I’ll be back shortly with the next installment. The days are getting longer…already!

Going Back a Bit

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I have been out locally the past two weeks and there is much to post about, but I thought it might be time to take a historical break. These pictures are all from October 19th at the Portage. Only a little over a month ago, there was still more color among the birds than the leaves. I spent a lot of time with this Nashville Warbler.

Perhaps in the instance below the leaves outshone the bird – a pretty drab-looking American Goldfinch.

The other late fall warblers were on hand. Below is a Yellow-rumped Warbler.

And the one I kept seeing later and later into the season, an Orange-crowned Warbler…

Barely visible but I would know that face anywhere (Orange-crowned Warbler)

Not a lot of sparrows on hand but I managed to capture these two.

White-throated Sparrow
Lincoln’s Sparrow

And the Kinglets – Golden-crowned and Ruby-crowned…

A little Portage scenery

It’s been wonderful to see Brown Creepers on so many occasions.

Always glad to see a Black-capped Chickadee who seems to return the sentiment.

This could have been the only Great Blue Heron I saw here for months since the drought caused the water level to drop so drastically.

Not a wonderful place for a Hermit Thrush to pose but I was glad to see it.

It wasn’t quite woodpecker “season” yet but I managed to see this female Downy Woodpecker.

There are lots more historical visits to make sense of – indeed a flurry of fall warblers that I was so busy taking pictures of I barely have barely had time to go through them, so they may periodically provide a little visual warmup during the cold.

I am mourning the death of my beloved singer/songwriter/implacable musician Zebra Finch male to whom I gave the name of Arturo Toscanini. He died Thursday morning. I found him on his back, on the floor of the dining room by the windows. He was still warm when I picked him up. He had been singing a lot lately, and I think perhaps he had been telling me his time was coming because I found myself thinking about how old he had to be, even though he had no signs of aging or impairment, other than it seemed his little goatee was getting whiter and whiter. The blessing in all of this is that I have one of his offspring who is singing an abbreviated version of his Arpeggio Song and an even shorter memory of his TaTaTaTaTAH Song. Also, other birds have taken up the actual Toscanini Song that he used to sing a long time ago. And there are many more songs among them to catalogue and follow. At some point I hope to go through the years of recordings (I determined I must have gotten Arturo sometime in late 2014) to see if I can put together a timeline of his compositions. In the meantime, I am incredibly thankful for all the avian musicians I still have with me. Singing is their raison d’etre, and music is life.