Category: Animals

Chicago Trip 9/26

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I’ve been wanting to visit Montrose Point Bird Sanctuary (MPBS) in Chicago for a couple of years now and we finally made the trip! Joe took the day off work so we could avoid the weekend crowd which I hear gets pretty bad during migration.

We got up super early (4:45 am) for the drive into the city.

Joe decided to take Lower Wacker Drive to Lake Shore Drive, the former of which I had never traveled on.

Sure, I spent a lot of time in the city back in my twenties, but I always took public transportation, so it was an interesting experience driving “under” the loop.

Once we made it to MPBS and secured parking (which by the way has to be done via an app these days), we walked over to Lake Michigan to watch the sun rise which was spectacular.

Afterwards, we walked around the back of the sanctuary where a lot of palm warblers were gathering.

Much to my delight, there was also an abundance of black and white warblers throughout the sanctuary. They move so quickly it’s really difficult to lock focus in a timely manner. I was getting quite frustrated with myself, and my camera, which has issues losing focus at critical moments. Between that and my not so quick reflexes, I’ve missed many great shots over the years. But I digress…

Despite the challenges, I did get some cute warbler shots such as this one.

In addition to warblers, we saw a few lifers – a brown thrasher and a yellow-bellied sapsucker, but I didn’t get good photos of either unfortunately.

At one point we came across a hawk hunting a squirrel. It was so focused on chasing it around that it paid no attention to us, just mere feet away while it hopped into small bushes and trees and back to the ground in hot pursuit.

The squirrel got away.

The trails within the sanctuary are all over the place so even though I thought we hit every single one, based on my path tracking app, we missed a few spots.

No matter, we plan to go back in the spring during peak migration to hopefully see even more birds.

When we had about a half hour left on our parking, we headed back to the car to eat some snacks before moving onto our next stop – Bill Jarvis Bird Sanctuary, a short drive south along the lake.

When we first arrived, we were going to park in front near an entrance but they wanted $17 for two hours of parking. Insane! The sanctuary is pretty small, and I was worried it wouldn’t be worth it. We started to leave, but decided to check the parking lot by the nearby tennis courts. I’m glad we did because the parking there was a more reasonable $7 for two hours and a short walk to another entrance into the sanctuary.

We didn’t even spend an hour there because most of the sanctuary is fenced in; you can only walk around the perimeter and up a single overlook.

We also didn’t see anything exciting other than this racoon that didn’t seem too worried about us.

I’m really glad we found the other parking area as I would have been angry spending $17 on parking for that lackluster experience. It’s not a place I’d visit again. There are other birding hotspots I’d rather check on our next trip into the city.

That being said, I like this photo I took where it looks like there’s nothing beyond the trees. You have to walk closer to see the lake.

On the way home we stopped at Smoque BBQ to pick up lunch. Everything was good, although I was bummed they no longer have peach cobbler on the menu.

As I was leaving the restaurant with our takeout, I heard a jingling noise and suddenly a cute cat ran up and plopped down for pets. Of course I had to oblige!

Overall I enjoyed our trip into the city. My only regret was not staying longer. Our hunger and desire to avoid crazy afternoon traffic won out though.

I think it’s been nine years since we last ventured into Chicago (not counting my parents house which is nowhere near the loop or northside) and I missed it. Even Joe changed his attitude about it as we discussed the experience driving home. He had a more negative view of the city after having to work and drive in it for years. Now that he’s on board, we’d really like to go back soon to visit Lincoln Park Zoo, Chinatown, and a few parks south of MSI.

Extended Weekend Recap (09/20-09/22)

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Joe decided to take Friday (09/20) off from work so we could join the DuPage County Forest Preserve’s bird walk at Herrick Lake in Wheaton. We’ve been to this location several times over the years, but the path we took after the lake portion was new to us. Clearly we weren’t big explorers in the past, sticking to the simple trails, but going on all these bird walks have really opened our eyes to so many more possibilities.

Unfortunately I wasn’t able to photograph any warblers, although they were there, but Joe did spot a sleeping racoon which was an unusual sight.

We also saw a dead shrew on the trail. I didn’t know shrews were in Illinois much less how tiny they are.

After our walk we stopped to get some coffee before heading to the arboretum where I came up empty-handed on the warbler front, but did see two coyotes just outside the arboretum as we were leaving.

We stopped at Trader Joe’s on the way home, visited the library, and went to Aldi & Costco which were not overly crowded on a weekday afternoon.

Saturday (09/21) we visited the Trailside Museum of Natural History in River Forest for a bird walk. It was led by a man named John who I later learned used to work at Sandridge Nature Center in South Holland back when my mom took us there fairly regularly. They had a talking crow in a cage outside the entrance that I loved to visit. John told me he used to take care of that crow from 1976 until the early nineties, so he was definitely there at the time we were which is cool. He said he was responsible for bringing the crow out to the viewing cage in the morning and back inside before the nature center closed. I thought that bird actually lived in that small cage 24/7 and I was relieved that was not the case (and felt silly for believing that, even as a kid).

I was able to add a new warbler to my life list during our hike – a chestnut-sided warbler!

Isn’t it cute?

John was full of knowledge, not just about birds themselves, but the best way to spot and identify them. It seems so obvious now, but he taught us that when spotting a bird not to look down at our binoculars when raising them to our eyes, because we’ll lose sight of the bird. I can use this tip for my camera as well because I do look down and then can’t locate the bird again. It’s going to take practice to break that bad habit.

The walk ended up running far over the allotted one hour time frame but we didn’t mind at all. John said he didn’t have anything else going on and invited the group to continue further on the trail if they wanted, but by the end Joe and I had him to ourselves after everyone else in our group had to leave for other commitments.

Once our tour was over, we spent some time outside the museum building watching the birds at the feeders, and then went inside for a short time to look at the exhibits.

The funny thing is we visited this same place 11 years ago and hated it. But I don’t think we explored any of the trails because we weren’t into birding like we are now.

There were no shortage of warblers in those woods; in addition to the Chestnut-sided Warbler we saw a Northern Waterthrush, and there were others that were just too fast for me to capture. We will definitely be visiting that place again this fall and during spring migration next year as well.

On the way home we stopped at Menards for some suet so I can put up the feeder soon. I miss my chickadees! We got a big box of twenty suet cakes, 10 berry & 10 peanut. Also bought purple mums for $5.

All we did on Sunday (09/22) was grocery shopping due to the rain, which makes me extra glad Joe decided to take Friday off so we still had two days of birding together.

Weekend Recap (09/14-09/15)

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It was a double birding walk weekend for us.

Saturday (09/14) morning we headed out to Bowes Creek Woods in Elgin for a bird walk hosted by the Kane County Forest Preserve. I was feeling rather exhausted since the day before so I opted not to bring my camera along which turned out ok because no migrating birds were to be seen, even though we still had a good time.

The walk was led by the same guy as last month, Josh, who is very personable & knowledgeable. We learned that migrating warblers will take cues from chickadees on where to find food. In addition, they are familiar with chickadee warning calls so they know when a predator is nearby. So in other words, if you hear chickadees, there’s a good chance there are warblers nearby (if it’s migration season).

On the walk we met a fellow photographer named Nick who tipped me off to a good website to buy reliable used camera equipment (I’d love to get more lenses). He and I also exchanged Instagram handles. I love meeting locals on these walks and seeing where they are finding interesting birds.

Afterwards we stopped at the library to check out their book & media sale and bought a few things.

Later that afternoon my friend whom I met while volunteering for a cat rescue many years ago, T, stopped by to bring me some Bigelow tea which was so nice of her. We got to hang out and chat for a few hours.

Sunday (09/15) morning we headed over to West DuPage Woods to join the DuPage Birding Club on a field trip. I had emailed the leader on Saturday asking whether they had any available spots left but hadn’t heard back, so we took a chance they’d let us join them anyway. They did even though the group was full and everyone was so welcoming! (Note: We later decided to join the club even though you don’t have to be a member to attend the field trips).

Our leader, Diann, impressed me when she remembered my name and came running over to point out a monarch butterfly I might want to photograph.

The walk itself was very long (scheduled to be 2.5 hours but was actually 3) and we did see a magnolia warbler, although I wasn’t able to get a photo of it. I did get a good photo of a rose-breasted grosbeak though!

I’m glad I decided to bring along my camera this time. There was one other person with a camera too. We learned a lot and explored a part of the forest preserve we had never seen before so that was fun.

That being said, the walk left us exhausted so we quickly grabbed some groceries on the way home and spent the rest of the day hanging out in the house away from the heat.

I love all these bird walks we’ve been going on lately and will miss them when it grows too cold.

March Recap

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03/01 (Fri) – The kids came over for dinner. We got takeout from our favorite Mexican place and played a new version of UNO they gifted us (it was our belated Christmas gift exchange) – UNO No Mercy, which was brutal, but fun. I’m now the proud owner of the Funko Pop 5-pack of The Cure. Joe received a Nightmare Before Christmas vinyl LP and a Jack Skellington Funko Pop.

03/02 (Sat) – I finally got an eye exam, at LensCrafters, which I had been putting off until I was told by my allergist that my daily Flonase use could cause eye issues and to have my retinas examined. They try to upsell this digital retina imaging where you don’t have to get your eyes dilated so it’s quicker (but you have to pay out of pocket for), but after some quick googling I learned they see less of your retinas that way, so I opted for the old school method which insurance covers. Sure, it requires you to spend more time at the exam, and then wait a few hours for your eyes to return to normal, but it’s free. Also, my eyes are perfectly healthy, so that’s good.

03/03 (Sun) – Visited the baby owls and on the way back visited Armstrong Park to see what it’s looking like since they started restoring the creek bed. It’s awful now! All the trees that housed the northern flickers and attracted migrating birds are gone. I understand the need to repair the erosion but it’s really disappointing. It was one of our favorite places to visit, not to mention closest to home, and I don’t think it’s going to attract many birds now. Total bummer.

03/04 (Mon) – Spotted some mourning doves hanging out on the abandoned robin’s nest on my neighbor’s light outside their door and called the association to ask them to remove the nest. I debated asking the neighbor directly, but we’ve never spoken and I didn’t want to chance her refusing, so it was better this way as they sent out a pest control person the next day to remove it. Neighbor has a video doorbell or I would have done it myself, honestly. Neighbor rarely uses their front door but we use ours often to walk Wookie and it was not fun getting dive-bombed by the mother robin last year. Not sure if mourning doves are less aggressive, but I wasn’t taking any chances.

03/09 (Sat) – Joe filed our taxes (refund small, but better than having to pay) and we tried out a new to us Polish deli that’s been around for years. While we didn’t like everything we tried, we like enough (pierogis & stuffed cabbage) that we’ll definitely get food from them again.

03/16 (Sat) – So there we were, driving along the west side of the Morton Arboretum with the windows open, taking in the sights and listening for birds, when we heard what we thought was hooting in the distance. It was too faint for the Merlin app to identify, so we pulled over and decided to investigate on foot because it didn’t sound familiar like a great horned owl. Luckily the hooting continued and we were able to track it to a group of pine trees where this barred owl was perched.

Talk about exciting! Neither of us has ever seen one in the wild before. The funny thing is just minutes before we heard it, I was thinking about how we should look for a barred owl, but I didn’t say anything to Joe because I don’t know why that thought even popped into my head. It’s not as if anyone had mentioned seeing one there recently. So strange.

Also, I’m shocked at how well the photo came out considering just how overcast it was on this day, not to mention windy, and how high up the owl was.

03/19 (Tue) – Finished the black oil sunflower seed and started feeding safflower seeds to the birds. While it has lessened the pesky squirrels trying to climb the feeder, it’s just as messy as the other seed. The bag is only 8 lbs, so I’m sure we’ll be out of it quickly. We also bought a small bag of sunflower hearts, which I suspect the birds will tear through in a matter of a week, maybe two. Which is fine, because by the end of April I plan to remove the seed feeder and put up the hummingbird one. Moving forward, I will be using the suet feeder only in the late fall and winter months. I hate how messy the seeds make the patio. Luckily my favorite birds – chickadees and woodpeckers – are the ones who primarily use the suet feeder.

03/30 (Sat) – I had heard there was a common loon hanging out at West Branch forest preserve recently, but hadn’t had the opportunity to look for it until this day. I texted my birding friend who just so happened to be going there and she was kind enough to text me back when she saw it, so we decided to look for it despite the overcast weather.

Sure enough, it was there, but it was so far across the lake that the best photo I could get of it is not so great. I’ve never seen one before, though, so that was exciting.

On top of that, while walking around the lake to see if we could get a better vantage point (spoiler alert – we couldn’t), we saw two more water birds we’ve never seen before – buffleheads and horned grebes. The buffleheads were in a group of three, and there were 7-8 grebes, although the one I got the best photo of was off by itself not too far from the shoreline.

So that’s three more birds added to the life list. I’m at 78 and hoping to hit 100 this year.

03/31 (Sun) – We had a low-key Easter this year. We didn’t go anywhere or invite anyone over. Heck, I completely forgot to decorate until three days beforehand! We made the last of the ham from Christmas in the crockpot, and had mashed potatoes and green beans with it.

Wookie

Throughout the month we’ve been taking Wookie to her internal medicine specialist & local vet for her chronic kidney disease. She’s not doing well, unfortunately, although after starting her on subcutaneous fluids she did perk up. Her decline in energy was rather slow so we didn’t realize she was acting differently until she started feeling better. It’s been super stressful trying to figure out ways to help her and come to terms with the fact that she might not be around come this time next year if things keep progressing the way they have.

I think I was in denial when she was first diagnosed back in mid 2022, because even with knowing this would shorten her lifespan, I didn’t think about it too much because she was acting perfectly normal. Now that things have changed, it’s becoming too real and I’m already suffering from pre-emptive grief.

To make matters more stressful, she fights us when we try to give fluids at home (we’ve tried multiple times), so I’ve been taking her to our local vet daily (except Sundays since they are closed) to have them administered, and will continue to do so until her next follow-up appointment with her specialist in mid April.

I’ve joined a couple of Facebook groups about her condition but all the information is overwhelming. She’s on a special kidney friendly prescription food that she doesn’t like so I keep having to add stuff to it to encourage her to eat and I worry I’m harming her kidneys further in the process. Logically, I know that ultimately she needs to eat, even if her diet isn’t exactly the best possible thing for her condition, but I feel guilty anyway. I just hope the new medication the internal medicine specialist started her on helps.

February Recap

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02/06 (Tue) – Took Wookie to an internal medicine specialist this morning regarding her kidney disease and got total sticker shock when they presented us with an estimate for all the testing they wanted to run. But how can you say no if one of those tests might put you on a better path to managing her condition? So of course we agreed. They did a thorough ultrasound and lots of blood and urine testing. We have a plan going forward to manage her health as best we can.

We tried drowning our sorrows at the Costco food court later that afternoon and got a strawberry sundae and their new chocolate chip cookie. Both were very disappointing. The cookie was baked far too long and wasn’t good at all. We ate less than half before throwing it out. As for the sundae, I’m not sure if there was something wrong with the soft serve machine, or if they switched to an inferior ice cream, but it wasn’t nearly as good as it usually is. The taste, texture, and color were all off. I hope it was a fluke.

02/14 (Wed) – We don’t exchange gifts on Valentine’s Day anymore which is fine because I don’t see the point in getting stuff just for the sake of it. Plus we just had Christmas and my birthday, so it’s gift overload. We did order our favorite Mexican takeout for dinner, though!

02/17 (Sun) – Went looking at tile and flooring for the master bathroom renovation that we’ve been putting off. Honestly, I get overwhelmed just thinking about it. I am having such a hard time finding wall tile I like! The Tile Shop had the perfect white tile on display when we first walked in and wouldn’t you know it, that tile has been discontinued for three years. Because of course it is! I cannot catch a break, and with other stuff going on with my health, Wookie’s health, and the house, I am feeling stressed out. None of it is the end of the world (except for worrying about Wookie), and will eventually get worked out one way or the other, but that doesn’t stop me from feeling like too much is going on at once. I’m thankful I’m not working because that’s an added stress I just can’t deal with right now.

02/21 (Wed) – Saw baby Great Horned owls! Apparently there are three in the nest, but I was only able to see two at any one time. The parents were in trees nearby as well.

02/23 (Fri) – Woke up with nerve pain in arms that as the days progressed turned into my legs hurting and feet burning. Tried to remain active and not give into the pain, but it freaks me out when this happens. Looking back through my notes, it seems to happen once a year and lasts longer each time. Do I have some weird Fibromyalgia that comes and goes? A lot of the symptoms seem to fit. It also seems to get triggered by periods of high stress, which is really hard to keep at bay being a Type A person.

02/29 (Thu) – Saw my gynecologist to talk about how I’ve been feeling lately. She ran a bunch of bloodwork that came back normal, although I did notice some things were on the low end of normal and could explain some of my issues. I’m going to try taking birth control to even out my hormonal fluctuations. I’m definitely in perimenopause at this point and tired of the unpredictable cycles and moodiness.

Note – as of March 10th, most of the nerve related issues have almost completely gone away. Interestingly, I’ve started taking Emergen-C again after discontinuing it last year. It must contain the right combination of vitamins that makes me feel good. Or it’s just an odd coincidence, but I started taking it shortly before all my issues from 2019-2020 went away, so I’m convinced it does something good for me.

Enjoyed the following movies and series in February:

The Breaker Uppers (Netflix) – For the right price, BFFs Jen and Mel will ruthlessly end any romance. But when one grows a conscience, it threatens to derail their relationship.

The Now (Roku series) – Starring Dave Franco, a man decides to turn his life around after learning that he is the third member of his immediate family to be suicidal.