Wild Water

Cooler temperatures, a little wind and a possible seiche created some wild water this weekend at Montrose Beach.

The waves created some interesting patterns in the shore.

Typically, we don't put the lifeguard stations and the trash cans in the water at the Chicago Beaches. But the water at Montrose Beach was up significantly on Sunday morning, creating the appearance of misplaced garbage cans. Another beachwalker said there was a seiche, which would have explained the dramatic rise.


And with all the wind and waves, how could the kiteboarders and sea-kayakers NOT take advantage of these conditions for a little lake surfing.

Feathered Friends: Serious and Goofy

The Eastern Kingbird usually strikes a very stately pose. But every so often, he can get a little goofy. More pictures of the Eastern Kingbird are at my birdwatching blog, right here.

Snack Attack

Graffiti along the pier at Montrose Beach.

Flight Patterns

Wandering around Grant Park on Monday (seeing if there was any bird migration activity and checking out the music at the Pritzker Pavilion), I saw waves of bird flocking and flying overhead. I think they are starlings; at least that's what I saw a LOT of in Grant Park. I took a few photos and found the mini patterns within the flocks interesting.


Here's a wide view of one of the waves going over.


Update: Back in July, I posted some pictures from the Outdoor Movies in Grant Park. During the Duck Soup movie showing, Chicago attempted to set the world record for most people wearing Groucho Marx glasses at the same time. Heard last night, at the LAST outdoor movie of the summer, that with 4,436 wearers Chicago does indeed now hold that record. We're so proud! ;)

Two views of ... Ohio Street Beach

The Ohio Street Beach is nicknamed "The Playpen" and, on summer weekend afternoons, attracts a lot of boaters who anchor out and socialize. On a recent weekend there were way more than the usual number of boaters there and the boats were rafting up (tying themselves together) in long chains. Clearly, to draw that many boats (and it wasn't really one of the prime summer weather days) it was an organized event. Had to do a little internet searching to figure out what was going on. Turns out it was the 9th Annual "Boat Party" sponsored by Chicago Scene Magazine. It's quite the wild party, apparently, having been described by the New York Times (no less) as "a ticket to Girls Gone Wild come to life". The local newspaper described it, more sedately, as "a floating Mardi Gras". The Chicago Police Department and Coast Guard boats do patrol the area to make sure things don't get too wild.

But that's the weekend. During the week, it is a much more serene spot, well-suited for overnight anchoring by cruising boaters or even "staycationers".

Ohio Street Beach - Weekend Boat Party
Wide View

Ohio Street Beach - Quiet Weekday Morning

Late Summer Sunrise

I don't need a calendar to tell me that summer has hit its peak and we're moving into meteorological Autumn. This sunrise looks very different than the peak summer sunrises we've had. Not sure why the prism showed up in the picture - help, anybody? - but left it in because I didn't want to crop out the Chicago Harbor Light and the gold tipped clouds

Feathered Friends: Open Wide and Say ...

... skee-dlees chis chis chis*

This is a Dickcissel. I think he's a classy looking bird. I think his coloring gives the impression that he's wearing an ascot and a snazzy yellow shirt with a grey vest. And he sings a lot. This one was at Northerly Island in downtown Chicago. More pictures of this little guy are at my bird watching blog which is here.


*Sibley's provides this as the phonetic spelling of this bird's song