Feathered Friends: Trick or Treat

Happy Halloween!

Feathered Friends: In Costume

The male Wood Ducks at North Pond recently got their adult feathers. They have amazing colors and patterns. They look like they are in their Halloween Costumes.

More pictures of the Wood Duck are at my bird watching blog, here.

Spider House Rules

Lucky for the people in this house, their neighbors are equally enthusiastic about Halloween. Well, the rest of the people in the house; one resident clearly got VERY into their gardening.

Market Reflections

Most of the farmers' markets are ending this week. A few - Green City and Logan Square - move indoors for the winter. This is the Tuesday Federal Plaza Market, as reflected in the nearby Post Office.

Bubblegum Pink

The Wrigley Building is just one of several Chicago buildings that have special pink lighting to raise awareness that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Arachnophobia

Arachnophobics beware! It's Halloween Season and creepy, crawly ghoulish things abound.

Big Money

There is a coin dealer over on Clark Street. The outside of the building is adorned with large sculpted coins - a penny, a buffalo nickel, and others. They apparently have a large research library in the dealership to allow their customers to do research on their collections, potential purchases, and auctions.

Street Level

The "el" in Chicago isn't always elevated. Along this stretch of the Brown Line (previously known as the Ravenswood), it is at street level.

Two Views of ... Buckingham Fountain

It has been a while since I did a "Two Views" post.

This "Two Views" is of Buckingham Fountain. The first view is of Buckingham Fountain in 1 inch to 50 feet scale. It's part of the Chicago Model City exhibit at the Chicago Architecture Foundation. (I had posted a photo of the whole Model City for the September Theme Day - Big.) I hadn't even noticed the water flowing in the fountain model until I zoomed in close for the photo. The second view of Buckingham Fountain is yesterday, after the water has been shut-off. It seems to take quite a few pipes to pump over 14,000 gallons of recirculating water for the displays.

stikman Was Here

I've been seeing these little figures in crosswalks around downtown Chicago for a few months. At first I thought that there was just one - not having paid close attention to which crosswalk I was in when I noticed it. Then I realized that there were multiple ones in different colors. There was even a three dimensional one (the bottom photo) on the light pole by the Art Institute.

I asked around. A friend said he suspected they were outer space aliens who, sadly, didn't understand how to cross streets in Chicago. I saw a woman take a picture of one so immediately asked her if she knew what they were (she didn't).

With some help, I finally stumbled on the right combination of search words in Google to get a reasonable explanation. It's stikman! stikman is a New York based street artist who leaves this signature figure as a calling card. A Washington Post reporter interviewed stikman after noticing his work all over Washington, DC.

Clouds

Had some interesting looking clouds floating over Chicago all day. But there was blue sky and a bit of sun, which is a welcome relief from the gloomy skies and rain we've had for the last two days.

What's Left?

Not much is left on this bike. The water bottle holder is still there, but about everything else that can be taken off already has been removed.

It Looked Better on Paper?

Presumably for Halloween, the water in the fountain in Daley Plaza has been dyed orange. It is - well - different.


But it makes for some interesting photos. Especially when there are leaves from nearby trees floating in the water.

Under the El

Cool shadows under the Ravenswood (Brown Line) El at Franklin and Erie.

Carlson Cottage

Carlson Cottage is a 1888 Comfort Station that was restored in 2008 by the Lincoln Park Zoo and a Save America's Treasures grant. It is located near the entrance of Lincoln Park Zoo on Stockton Drive.

Feathered Friends: Splish Splash

Birds aren't too picky. They don't need an official bird bath to freshen up during their long migration trips.

Sweater Weather

Somebody seems to have taken pity on this poor signpost and knitted it a little sweater to keep it warm during this chilly stretch.

Looking Down

Sometimes it is interesting to look down.

Clockwise from top left

"No Dumping! Only Rain in the Drain" on Randolph Street
Triangulation Station (not Conjunction Junction) on Lakefront Path
Stay Thirsty on Burton Street
Bike on Ravenswood Avenue

Sunrise ... Moonrise

After several cloudy mornings and evening, it was finally clear for some sky photos.

Tuesday's Sunrise

Monday's Moonrise over Navy Pier

Autumn Morning Fishermen

Fishermen trying their luck at the Montrose Harbor entrance.

Scary Tree Gnome

Jeepers it's a Creepy Peeper!

Did you ever walk down the street, glance over and see something very unexpected? That's what happened to me. I was not expecting to see a ghostly ghoulish mask somehow embedded into a tree hollow.

But there it was. So, of course, I took a picture!

Congratulations, Rio

This was the scene at Daley Plaza today. Before, of course, the news that Chicago didn't get the 2016 Olympics.

Dearborn was packed with news trucks.

And lots of people were showing their support for the city's Olympic bid

Oh well. Maybe they shouldn't have recycled the "W" signs from the last Cubs playoff series.

Congratulations and Good Luck to Rio de Janeiro!

Theme Day: Contrast

Today is October 1st so it is THEME DAY on City Daily Photo. October's theme is Contrast.

It took me a while to find inspiration for this theme. I had a few back-up plans but really wanted to do something that was still Chicago-specific. I suddenly got inspired as I was going to the library yesterday. I walked by the Art Institute and it suddenly hit me that I could do a contrast of one of the bronze lions that regally guard the entrance to the Art Institute and a real lion that prowls their habitat of Lincoln Park Zoo. (Further on down toward the library I took a completely different contrast picture just in case the LP Zoo lions wouldn't cooperate. But, since I found a cooperative lion, I now have a future Daily Chicago Photo regular post ;) )

So here is my Contrast Theme photo. A bronze lion, on the prowl in front of the Art Institute and a real lion, on the prowl, at the Lincoln Park Zoo. Yeah, I know and very much appreciate that the photography gods smiled down on me and "encouraged" the real lion to strike a very similar pose just when the lighting was right.

Here is a link to all the Contrast Theme participants: Click here to view thumbnails for all participants.