The Chicago Parks Foundation featured one of my Sherman Park photos in their Instagram series, “Seeing the Parks Through the Eyes of the Community.” I am flattered.
Tag Archives: wildlife
Rock Run Rookery
January 24, 2021
I kept seeing so many references to several bald eagles at Rock Run Rookery that J. and I decided to return.
Alas, except for a possible eagle flying in the distance that J missed, we saw only the usual suspects, which are worth the visit — Canada geese, several species of ducks, gulls, and great blue herons that in this cold snap may be regretting their decision not to migrate. Plus tundra geese! I’ve always wanted to see tundra geese. I didn’t realize what they were until I looked at the photos.
I managed to navigate the slick black ice on the path without falling. Accomplishments.
If the birds weren’t enough there were the views of the setting sun and rising moon to end the foray into the great outdoors. Plus a towboat pushing cargo down the Des Plaines River. I wonder if it made it to Starved Rock Lock and Dam, even if I can’t?
![Untitled](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50923827503_c461cccc6e_c.jpg)
![Untitled](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50900329426_064ff1a701_c.jpg)
![Untitled](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50924527981_ea0bf1bc6a_c.jpg)
![Untitled](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50900316586_81f3e5d944_c.jpg)
![Untitled](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50923830138_ee471e4712_c.jpg)
![Untitled](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50923831218_afaa9dd1af_c.jpg)
![Untitled](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50924523216_3623a85011_c.jpg)
![Untitled](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50872495032_094e9a7a18_c.jpg)
![Untitled](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50923834658_16fe0905b5_c.jpg)
![Untitled](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50900311936_a82ec8e59b_c.jpg)
![Untitled](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50924640667_694f361709_c.jpg)
Google Maps, part 2: Sherman Park
Earlier, I had posted my Google Maps photos that had been viewed 10,000 or more times. In many cases, that milestone took awhile, months or even years. For this photo, however, reaching 10,000 views took about a week. This is Sherman Park in Chicago, designed by John Charles Olmsted, Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr., and Daniel Burnham — any of those names sound familiar? History of Sherman Park here. Canada geese love the lagoon, which was open in places and icy in others.
![Untitled](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50780019473_633c08c941_c.jpg)
Ruby-throated hummingbird at Sagawau Canyon
“Butterflies and Blooms” at Chicago Botanic Garden, 2020
Pollinator Week (2020)
I almost missed Pollinator Week. I think I’m going to make last year’s posts evergreen. Enjoy.
![Untitled](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50040849207_6c0ac57f64_c.jpg)
Hungry monarch caterpillar on milkweed
Birding at Washington Park, the sequel
May 25, 2020
This late afternoon, we didn’t see as many different birds as on the previous visit. I suspect the migrants had moved on, many to the great boreal forests of Canada.
![Wood duck drake](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49939550336_2339458efb_c.jpg)
![Female wood duck with colorful accents](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49940407807_3345850680_c.jpg)
A great blue heron was fishing, catching and swallowing a meal as I watched.
![Great blue heron fishing](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49939590413_edbb8f72c7_c.jpg)
![Great blue heron on the attack](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49940105586_60a7c7ea40_c.jpg)
![Great blue heron for the win](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49940407882_23e434bd35_c.jpg)
![Great blue heron with dinner](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49940407957_e5d4b19fd3_c.jpg)
![Great blue heron with neck bulge from dinner](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49940105996_5ac12e0643_c.jpg)
As on the previous visit, I saw Canada geese with neck bands. One led her family into the lagoon and swam back and forth. I joked that she was trying to lose her entourage, which stuck to her no matter which way she went.
![79P = female Canada goose with six goslings](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49939914856_91fde634ac_c.jpg)
![92P heading north with six goslings](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49940105366_6662df353d_c.jpg)
![92P turning south with six goslings](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49939590203_66f254b085_c.jpg)
![92P heading south with six goslings](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49940105496_7f12bce2b7_c.jpg)
Another goose rested on one leg, then limped off. I assumed she was injured (and was calculating what I could do to help) when I realized she’s missing her left foot. There’s no way to know how it happened, but I would not be surprised if her leg had been entangled in fishing line at some point. The careless non-disposal of fishing line is a common problem in some forest preserves and could be one in the parks too.
![58K = female with missing left foot](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49939911956_1e8124a6f9_c.jpg)
![58K = female with missing left foot](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49940212412_6591b38118_c.jpg)
I missed getting a decent shot of a great white egret that flew off in front of me, but I’m also fond of robins. With his dark head, this looks like a male.
![American robin](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49940121221_33e9f31461_c.jpg)
Finally, here are the certificates for the geese I reported.
![No photo — 68N spotted at 59th and Stony Island](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49939797853_8242eab368_c.jpg)
![78P = female](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49940614917_b833697bd2_c.jpg)
![79P = female with six goslings](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49939798053_30a8830541_c.jpg)
![C_of_A_1168-19999_2348567](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49944918551_6717a32383_c.jpg)
Robin Redbreast, American style, at Washington Park
May 15, 2020
When European starlings and American robins would descend on the field next to us to feast on the stirred-up insects and invertebrates after a rain, my dad would say, “There aren’t as many robins as there used to be when I was growing up.”
On this day in Washington Park, I saw more warblers than robins, but I did spot this handsome fellow. More bird photos to follow.
![Untitled](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49902941623_0da73a219b_c.jpg)
![Untitled](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49903457796_61cdf6d378_c.jpg)
![Untitled](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49903457821_fb187ffc16_c.jpg)
Birding at Washington Park
May 15, 2020
When I go to Washington Park, I may find a few guys fishing and a few walkers or cyclists, but usually there aren’t many people around. It’s a shame because the Fountain of Time is a masterpiece, and the lagoons are gorgeous.
In this time of plague, though, Washington Park, which has remained open, is suddenly popular. When J. and I went in the late afternoon, people were barbecuing (couples and single families only), cycling, walking, dog walking, and, in some cases, peering at the trees with binoculars or cameras. No guys fishing that I recall.
Sometimes we see a great blue heron or a white egret, but this time I got my first good look at a different heron — the black-crowned night heron with its chunky build, stooped posture, and distinctive red eyes. They’re found in several places in Chicago — someone took a photo of one atop a bus shelter! — but they’re endangered in Illinois.
![Black-crowned night heron](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49986086263_8b55971ba9_c.jpg)
All by myself I managed to spot a few warblers, including several male yellowthroats, a palm warbler pretending to be a dandelion, and the back side of a magnolia warbler (plus the front side, but the photo is blurry). When I posed an ID question on the Chicago Audubon Society group page on Facebook, someone commented, “We have a warbler book that has, what I call, the underwear section. They call it the undertail patterns : ).” My warbler was sporting magnolia “underwear.”
![Common yellowthroat male](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49920562983_6f53d7cd66_c.jpg)
![Palm warbler](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49921089226_9b2c1017dd_c.jpg)
![Magnolia warbler butt](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49921383312_4b0e4df1d4_c.jpg)
![Magnolia warbler](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49986112323_c1a37444a4_c.jpg)
A couple tried to tell me about a warbler they’d spotted that must have been rare or unusual, but I missed it and don’t even remember the name.
None of my wood duck platoon photos turned out, unfortunately, but here’s a striking pair.
![Wood duck couple](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49921078111_0c26e83e19_c.jpg)
Canada geese are ubiquitous in Hyde Park, especially near the lagoons. In this group, a few sported easily read neck bands. I reported the bands and got a few details back from the U.S. Geological Survey, of all organizations. Like teenagers, geese apparently stick with their friends.
![92P = male; 88K = female; both hatched 2015 or earlier](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49921084306_7e51998b8c_c.jpg)
![66K = female hatched 2015 or earlier](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49921084401_e3f436ff91_c.jpg)
![C_of_A_1168-19974_2347758](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49940314476_1a11be9764_c.jpg)
![C_Of_A_EReprint_English](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49939798323_e7265e7cfa_c.jpg)
![C_of_A_1168-20007_2347757](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49940615227_0b9ba1f3fa_c.jpg)
Washington Park may not be the Magic Hedge or beach at Montrose Harbor, but it wasn’t a bad day after all.