Contrasts at the Chicago Portage

Posted on May 9, 2024 by Lisa Rest

I thought I’d do a little blast from the past this morning while I was sitting here unable to walk or stand up without pain. I had plans to get things done around the house today while the rainy forecast played out. As it turned out, the rain has been intermittent and not a deluge. It resumed this afternoon, but it’s only cloudy and cooler than it was yesterday when we were in the high 70’s.

I have many more recent photos, but these seemed worthy reminders of months past. January 11, for instance. It could have been the most snow we had all winter.

I was intrigued by this Red-bellied Woodpecker investigating a hollowed out tree trunk.

Someone took the time to make a snowman in front of the statue.

Okay, enough of that. More recently, on April 25, I spotted a Cooper’s Hawk perched with what looked like the last of its undetermined prey.

The Blue-gray Gnatcatchers were just beginning to show up. Now they are audible everywhere but you hardly see them. Of course it helped that the trees had only just started to leaf out.

A distant European Starling gleamed in the sunshine

Brown Creepers were still showing up.

I managed to capture a couple White-throated Sparrows.

The female Red-winged Blackbird below was investigating nesting possibilities.

I saw a coyote up ahead off the trail. I didn’t have a clear view so it was hard to capture, but you can get the general idea from these photos.

I didn’t hear or see the Eastern Phoebe yesterday, although earlier he was around for weeks. Here he is taking care of his feathers.

Also, this might have been the last time I saw the pair of Blue-winged Teal.

I have just managed to clean the dining room and I’m taking a break from being on my feet for a half hour or so before the late afternoon routine of playing piano for the indoor crowd and then serving them their evening snack, however slowly. As I started to clean, I found Penelope, my Society Finch for whom I purchased three companions a couple years ago after her sister Priscilla died, dead behind the open kitchen door. Mario was with her, guarding her body. I am so sad to lose her, but she was several years older than her companions and it was likely inevitable she would predecease them. I suspect she’d had bouts of brief illness here and there over the last few months. In any event, she left the others with plenty of instructions and they are quite adjusted to and continuing their Society Finch lives. I mourn our loss. But life goes on.

I hope my knee improves enough so I can walk in Riverside tomorrow morning and then swim. Additionally, there is the last walk at Columbus Park on Saturday. I love to walk when I’m feeling good. I should feel better in the next couple days. I will get there again.

A Riverside Recap

Posted on May 7, 2024 by Lisa Rest

I have been to Riverside several times in the past couple weeks and migrating birds are definitely arriving. These photos are selected from three visits: April 26, April 29 and May 1.

On April 26, not much was happening, but I was pleased to see a Great Egret for the first time on the river by the Hofmann Tower. I suspect the egret was not ready for my attention. For what it’s worth, I reported 23 species that day.

Off of the paved trail I saw young trees covered with nets to protect them from the impending periodical cicadas.

Palm Warblers were just beginning to show up.

Three days later, on April 29 in my backyard that morning, I noticed a Hermit Thrush first perched on a dried-out pokeweed stalk outside my kitchen window. I went out with the older camera and a smaller lens to see if there were any other unexpected visitors. I found a Winter Wren, a Gray Catbird, two Brown-headed Cowbirds and a brief view of a Brown Thrasher. I tried to grab photos. The cowbirds are not represented below, and the Winter Wren was flitting around, barely visible by the back fence near the squirrel-planted tulips. All this activity in my yard promised a busy morning by the river.

When I got to Riverside, there were many more Palm Warblers, and other birds starting to appear. I reported 33 species that day.

Anticipating the arrival of Baltimore Orioles after one or two had been reported here and there, I finally found one, albeit a bit distant from where I was standing.

In Riverside Lawn, I found a Black-and-White Warbler…

and a Northern Waterthrush…

…and a Common Yelloowthroat.

I was also pleased to see a Spotted Sandpiper on the beach.

The Swamp Sparrow below was too far away for me to focus properly. That and I need to get my eyes checked.

It was nice to see a beautiful White-throated Sparrow.

And there were still plenty of Yellow-rumped Warblers on hand.

On May 1, I reported 34 species. The Bay-breasted Warbler at the top of this post was the first bird I photographed. There must have been 100 Palm Warblers…but I reported 70.

There was another Black-and-White Warbler on hand.

This Baltimore Oriole was closer.

And I was very happy to see a male Rose-breasted Grosbeak.

Here’s another Yellow-rumped Warbler in the shadows.

A White-crowned Sparrow posed briefly. These guys have been in my yard too for the past couple weeks, and it’s a delight to hear them sing even if I don’t always see them.

The Tree Swallow below will reappear in a future post or two. He seems to be interested in a tree hole close to the bridge.

I had another Spotted Sandpiper. I took way too many photos of it.

I am starting to see Turkey Vultures regularly now. There seem to often be three circling in the sky.

We had a thunderstorm morning today, so I didn’t go for a walk. Instead I tried doing my grocery shopping early before taking my car in for a scheduled service appointment. It started to rain just as I left Trader Joe’s and I drove home as the precipitation was coming down in sheets, barely able to see in front of me. Luckily I knew where I was going. The wait at the car dealer turned out to be longer than I expected when I was advised to buy new tires.

But the day improved with the second bout of rain ending in sunshine and playing music with Linda, my flutist friend. Since I would have gone to the Chicago Portage today and I haven’t been there since last Thursday, I think I will walk there tomorrow before I swim because more rain is predicted for most of the day on Thursday. With any luck, I will have more time then to get caught up with these spring migration reports.

Suddenly Spring at the Portage

Posted on May 2, 2024 by Lisa Rest

As soon as the winds started coming from the south, birds I’ve been waiting to see since they left last fall started arriving. These photos are from April 30th at the Chicago Portage National Historic Site. I am already in photo-overload mode as more birds keep coming to the area. I’d like to find a better way to keep up with this, but everything else in my life has been springing into action lately. I can’t complain. It does help to have a new laptop with plenty of power and room to spare.

That’s a Chestnut-sided Warbler at the top of the post. I heard him sing clearly and then when I looked for him, he obliged by posing nicely on a branch.

My walk began with some male Brown-headed Cowbirds above, silhouetted against the blue sky.

The last few days, Palm Warblers have been Everywhere. For some reason we weren’t seeing them much in the fall, but they’ve made up for it on their return trip.

Yellow-rumped Warblers are still abundant.

I’ve been seeing a few Nashville Warblers over the last few days, but they have been up really high in the trees and far away, making them harder to capture.

Even the year-round birds look spiffier this time of year.

There were a number of White-throated Sparrows behind the opening in the fence. I managed to capture one.

And White-crowned Sparrows are showing up too.

Red-winged Blackbirds are getting down to business.

Red Admiral butterflies are everywhere too

There was a fetching Northern Rough-winged Swallow.

The Eastern Phoebe was available as well.

Most gratifying was to see my first Indigo Bunting of the season.

There’s a Mallard pair, though the female is harder to find most of the time, and turtles sunning themselves.

A Great Blue Heron flew over.

When the heron came to check things out, a Red-winged Blackbird was not very happy. The Great Blue left after a few minutes.

Here are two more of the Chestnut-sided Warbler.

It took a day or two to come down from the Spring Music Festival. It was a wonderful event. Now I have an early rise on Saturday to look forward to, so I can be in DuPage County at 6:30 in the morning for the Illinois Spring Bird Count. The Oak Park Bird Walkers will be counting in Columbus Park where I led a walk last Saturday. I just remembered I have photos from that day too. I even had a little flurry of migrants in my backyard this week. And now that we are safely at 50 degrees Fahrenheit or more, the yard is begging for maintenance. …I need to eat dinner and get some sleep!

On the Way to Spring

Posted on April 25, 2024 by Lisa Rest

Tuesday it was the Chicago Portage. Wednesday morning, Riverside. We were in a cold, cloudy, windy situation that is soon to change drastically, or so we have been promised. Last night we dipped toward freezing. Today was actually quite nice with the sun shining and the wind subsiding, and it seemed to warm up quickly enough. I hope to be back with today’s photos later, maybe tomorrow.

Alas, I have been preoccupied with system challenges. I will elaborate on those further toward the end of the post. Right now I just want to share a few photos from emergent spring.

The Portage view from the bridge near Harlem

I hung out with a Hermit Thrush for a moment or two.

And then I spotted a Red-tailed Hawk. A walker coming from the other direction flushed it and I followed it somewhat as it flew to the bridge near Harlem.

I met Bob at some point after that and we spotted one of many American Robins on a nest…

Just when it seemed like there were no birds, we experienced a flurry of activity in the trees directly above us. There were Yellow-rumped Warblers…

a White-breasted Nuthatch…

Pine Warblers…

and Chipping Sparrows.

I saw only the male Blue-winged Teal of the pair that has been hanging out the past week or two.

Then, in Riverside yesterday, not much was happening, but from the outset there were a lot of swallows feeding close to the river over by the Hofmann Tower. Although they were at quite a distance I managed to get some photos.

Barn Swallows and one Tree Swallow below.

I saw a few Palm Warblers close to the paved trail in Riverside.

In Riverside Lawn, there was a deer fairly close. But I didn’t see many birds.

For a perfect ending to my chilly walk, a Turkey Vulture flew low overhead.

All these photos were taken with my older Mark III 5D. Although I’ve gotten used to the newer model and it’s easier to focus, the newer camera requires software that only resided on my little MacBook Pro, which suffered some terrible damage as I sat here maybe three weeks ago, falling asleep processing photos, and spilled coffee all over myself, the futon, and, of course, the laptop. I managed to dry out the laptop and it resumed function. The cover for the futon is already coffee-colored so that was not an issue.

Alas, I managed to repeat this terrible scenario again. Although the laptop came back to life the second time, it didn’t last too long. It died a terrible death Monday night. I lost sleep reimagining solutions. Tuesday morning I ordered a new MacBook Pro from Best Buy where I purchased the one I’m using at this moment in 2013. It was my first Mac and it’s still working. Needless to say, I have never spilled coffee on it. It’s too big to be ignored. I stopped updating it, however, so that I could use the original Adobe Lightroom software which I purchased. Remember those days, when you could buy software, use it and update it from time to time without paying a monthly fee? I know, I risk sounding like a relic here… Same thing goes for my copy of Microsoft Word on this machine. It has never asked for more money.

There is more to this saga but it’s getting late and I have a very busy weekend to prepare for. So as much as I hate to leave you in suspense, I promise to be back soon with the rest of the story.

Riverside Monday

Posted on April 20, 2024 by Lisa Rest

Monday morning I went back to Riverside to see how the birds were doing. We were still on the positive side of a warm front. I encountered a few Yellow-rumped Warblers off the paved trail. One in particular came down close to check me out.

It was hard not to take more photographs of other individuals.

There was one Killdeer on the rocks opposite the Hofmann Tower.

Two Canada Geese flew by.

The Des Plaines River was starting to green up.

The light was good for woodpeckers.

Red-winged Blackbirds were scrambling, and I captured one briefly.

And Brown-headed Cowbird…

and a Common Grackle for good measure.

In Riverside Lawn I saw my first-of-the-season Hermit Thrushes – there were two on the trail.

I took note of a moss-covered log.

And noticed some Common Mergansers.

There were Ruby-crowned Kinglets, but I have yet to see a crown.

A White-throated Sparrow peered out at me from a tangle.

There were more Yellow-rumped Warblers on the other side of the river. Soon I will be able to pass over these guys for someone else, but at the moment they are hard to ignore.

The week has slowly but surely revealed more birds returning. I will have a couple visits to the Portage to review, plus it’s getting crowded on my hard drives. The winds have shifted for the last couple days and it was quite chilly this morning for the Oak Park Bird Walkers at Thatcher Woods. I’m looking forward to the warmup next weekend when I can finally start cleaning up the yard, although it looks like it could be a soggy situation. In the meantime, here are a few signs of spring from the yard on Tuesday. The little apple tree in the front yard is now in full bloom.

Blue violets carpet the backyard.

I’m seeing the House Finches more often now and they are singing like crazy.

The Prairie Smoke on the side of the house is starting to bloom.

And my old Redbud which has struggled the past few years still manages to stay alive.

First Spring Bird Walk in Columbus Park

Posted on April 14, 2024 by Lisa Rest

With beautiful weather in our favor, 15 enthusiastic souls gathered yesterday morning for the first spring migration bird walk of the Oak Park Bird Walkers in Columbus Park.

I had somehow missed Golden-crowned Kinglets in the last couple of weeks so I took too many photographs of those that I could get to stay still for a fraction of a second.

We located one Ruby-crowned Kinglet later but I barely captured it.

There were not very many birds on the water, and we were a bit dismayed that we didn’t have a Great Blue Heron yet. But we had a few Wood Ducks and Blue-winged Teal.

It was hard to resist a shiny green Mallard drake.

Canada Geese were overhead and in the water.

On land we had two pairs of Northern Flickers but they were too distant to capture well. Here’s a token photo.

There may have been more than one Yellow-rumped Warbler but the one I captured was not close. I kept the photo for the list.

I think we had two enterprising Brown Creepers, one of which I photographed.

A male Downy Woodpecker made a brief appearance.

A couple Gray Squirrels were enjoying the sunshine.

We had a preening Red-tailed Hawk and a flying Cooper’s Hawk.

We had Red-winged Blackbirds in both sexes.

At one point a Belted Kingfisher flew past us. I barely captured it as it left its next perch.

I think I had the most fun with the Tree Swallows.

Next Saturday we will be at Thatcher Woods and with the warm, southerly winds we have had lately, I hope there will be more species to document.

I am pretty worn out from singing this morning. I think the choir did well. After I fell in deep love with the piece, Sacred Place, while practicing and listening to it over the last few days and finding the second movement evocative of a dawn chorus, I was holding back tears through much of the performance. Driving home, I felt a deep sense of loss that it was over, never to be repeated. I managed to assuage that feeling by tuning in later to watch the video and reassuring myself that we had done justice to the work.

I will be back soon with whatever screams to be expelled from one hard drive or another.

Looks Like Spring

Posted on April 13, 2024 by Lisa Rest

I managed to get to the Chicago Portage on Tuesday. The first signs of spring migration were abundant. As I walked in from the parking lot, I heard a familiar “tick” call high above and soon located a Yellow-rumped Warbler. I saw another individual later.

And I discovered later when I was going through my photos that I had captured a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker in flight with a Yellow-rumped Warbler flying in the opposite direction!

I began to see a few Field Sparrows on or near the gravel trail.

There was a Blue-winged Teal in the water.

And lots of turtles…

At one point I captured a distant Osprey flying with nesting material in its talons.

A Turkey Vulture flew right overhead.

I managed to capture a somewhat distant White-throated Sparrow.

The Portage continues to green up.

Red Admiral butterflies are starting to show.

Then there were birds that have been here all winter waiting for spring…

Right before I left, a Great Egret flew in. My flight photos turned out better than the distant ones after the egret landed.

Oh yes. Don’t forget the deer…

And the napping ducks…

I spent this morning at Columbus Park with the Oak Park Bird Walkers. We had a good time and saw enough birds to keep us busy for a couple hours. I think we’re off to a good start.
Tomorrow morning will be sunny and quite warm, but I will be singing for Choir Sunday. I am mystified and deeply moved by the piece we are performing, Sacred Place by Alex Berko, so it will be okay to be stuck indoors (at least we’ll be singing about the natural environment).

We don’t seem to be quite finished with cooler overnight lows just yet if I can believe the future forecast, but the days keep getting longer and the birds will keep coming. And I will be back as soon as possible.

April Showers

Posted on April 7, 2024 by Lisa Rest

I haven’t been able to get out for a walk for a number of reasons the past two weeks. Much of it has been due to the weather. But now we are finally going to warm up, so I have to get out and start walking earlier.

Yesterday morning was beautiful with plenty of sunshine. I got over to the Chicago Portage at 8:30. I was thrilled to encounter a Muskrat having breakfast right off the little bridge near Harlem. He or she was irresistible.

A look through the break in the fence at the Des Plaines River showed how much the rain affected the bottomlands.

I heard more birds than I saw, and Merlin heard even more. But eventually birds started to appear.

Northern Flickers have been busy – and pretty far away.

I did manage some photos of a male Red-bellied Woodpecker. If you click on the pictures below you will be able to see the red on his belly.

I was surprised to still see an American Tree Sparrow.

I had a nice encounter with a Brown Creeper. I have been seeing these birds in Riverside for a month or so but they’re still special.

I was surprised to see my FOY Tree Swallow. Swallows are hard enough to photograph when they’re in close, so I didn’t do this one justice but I had to try.

There were turtles…

I heard the Eastern Phoebe I have been seeing since March 16. I call him Feebs. He has been hanging around the other bridge that I like to call Tadziu’s bridge after the Indigo Bunting I hope to see return this spring. I will be back later with some of the earlier photos of Feebs.

On my way out I found a Fox Sparrow.

Then there was a White-breasted Nuthatch who wouldn’t stop posing.

And I was almost at the parking lot when a Turkey Vulture flew over the trees.

My last photo was not of a bird, but of a young doe near the parking lot.

I don’t know which bird this was, but I liked the image. It looks like a Dark-eyed Junco to me.

And here’s one more of the Muskrat.

My friend is staying with me until Wednesday when she will fly back to California. It has been good to support her during this trying time. My indoor birds have gotten used to having her around and they aren’t trying to play with her hair as much anymore! I did give her a buff and a baseball cap to protect herself. 🙂

The Oak Park bird walks start this coming Saturday at Columbus Park. I have to practice my alto parts for Choir Sunday on the 14th. It will be a busy week. And the birds are coming back.

Loons, Pelicans and a Funeral

Posted on March 29, 2024 by Lisa Rest

It has been a busy week. Last Saturday, I got up early to participate in Loonapaloonza 2024, led by my birding friend and mentor David J. for the Illinois Ornithological Society. I had been to two or three of these treks around the Chain of Lakes years ago but had not managed to participate again until this year. Although the focus is on finding numbers of Common Loons, there are invariably lots of American White Pelicans and ducks to see. Unfortunately, I had to leave early for an extra choir rehearsal in the afternoon. If I had stuck around to the end with Dave I would have seen a number of Wilson’s Snipe, which would have been awesome, but I am glad I made the rehearsal as it was a good drill for our upcoming choir Sunday on April 14th. No matter how sophisticated our technology, we will never really be able satisfy any desire to be in two places at once.

It was a bright, sunny, chilly day with Thursday’s snowfall still on the ground. The first birds we saw were two Bald Eagles overhead. I could not resist capturing images.

Then we saw a few Common Loons quite distant, but eventually we managed to see some a little closer. They were spread out over Diamond Lake. The distance and backlighting made decent captures difficult. But the lake is huge and we went to several spots to get better views. Next time I do this trip I will have to pay more attention to where we are going. Because I had to leave early, I was unable to carpool.

I persisted and managed to get a few closer.

American White Pelicans were in abundance.

The majority of the pelicans were gathered sitting on an island across the lake. I also managed to capture a group spread out on a sandbar.

Double-crested Cormorant and American White Pelican

There were gulls here and there but nothing out of the ordinary . Still, I was still tempted by a Ring-billed Gull flying overhead.

A huge number of ducks were suddenly in the air. Most of them were Greater and Lesser Scaup. We were looking for a Long-tailed Duck that Dave had seen the day before, but we didn’t see it.

I did manage to find a pair of Bufflehead closer.

And a Common Merganser flew by.

If you click on the photos below you might be able to see they are of Red-breasted Mergansers.

Then there were the Greater and Lesser Scaup. At this distance, they are more easily discernible in flight, the Greater having more white on the wing.

We may have been at Channel Lake when we were briefly visited by a few American Crows. I could not resist.

And now for the ongoing story. My friend Linda (we go back to junior high school) has been in town for five weeks from California, to be with her mother Eleanor who was in hospital. To be close to her, Linda was staying in Eleanor’s apartment at an assisted living facility. After several complications, Eleanor was put in hospice last week. She died on March 20 at the age of 102. Her next birthday would have been in June.

Linda has been staying with me since Monday when we moved her out of her mother’s apartment. The funeral was yesterday. The service was a beautiful tribute to an amazing woman. Mourning continues in the form of shiva which began after the internment and extends this afternoon and on Saturday after sundown.

It will be a while before I am birding in the mornings but things will settle down and I will be back as spring migration unfolds.

Earlier than Spring

Posted on March 19, 2024 by Lisa Rest

This first day of meteorological spring (today) started out chilly and windy. Although the wind was blowing from the south earlier and increased the temperature to 55 degrees, however briefly, the wind gusts were up to 40 miles per hour and now the direction of the wind is changing, and we are dipping down into the 20’s and low 30’s overnight through Sunday, with a little rainy snow in the forecast for Friday.

These photos are from the end of February at the Chicago Portage when we had some unusually warm days – yes, warm enough for the turtles to come out and sun themselves. But here we go in chronological order. On February 20, I first encountered some White-tailed Deer right off the parking lot.

American Robins get short-shrift, taken for granted, but I always welcome their presence and their stalwart tolerance of us humans.

Here’s how the Portage looked on that day.

I always expect American Tree Sparrows to have left and then they show up again.

I can’t always count on a photograph of a Black-capped Chickadee either, even though I see them year ’round.

I saw both Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers that day.

The photos below are the Hairy Woodpecker.

Female Northern Cardinals have been rather easy to capture lately but that will change soon.

Then there are the birds I don’t always see, but usually hear loud and clear. Red-winged Blackbirds have been on site for weeks. And Song Sparrows have been, well, singing of course.

Two days later on the 22nd there was more sunshine, if not more birds.

It must have been warmer, because this was the first time I noticed turtles sunning themselves with the pairs of Mallards and Canada Geese. I couldn’t stop taking pictures… Turtles in February!!

Then on February 27, it was even warmer. The European Starlings that nest in the statue were celebrating.

More Mallards came in.

Blue Jays were here and there.

And it was another fine day for the turtles.

When I got home, as soon as I got out of my car, Sandhill Cranes were flying over. It’s impossible to capture the enormity of the flocks as they merge and swirl around in the sky. One thing is certain: Sandhills like to party.

At the same time they were flying over, the kids in the grammar school down the street were outside in the playground, and my wind chimes were carrying on as well. In spite of all this I am including the tiny video below if you like sound effects.

Sandhill Cranes

Going back on February 29 (which happens only every 4 years), the temperatures had cooled down again and not much was happening. The turtles had gone back to bed.

There was a doe on the ground taking a break from her hectic deer life.

So I guess there is a little consistency to this post, beginning and ending with deer. Now I can finally move on to March before it escapes me entirely. More birds are trickling in. The weather is changeable and dominated by strong winds, but spring is now official.

Goldbird Variations

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