Feathered Friends: Watching the Watcher

This Cooper's Hawk, at the Magic Hedge, caught us bird-watching last Sunday. He must have been out people-watching.

Another photo of this hawk is at my Chicago birdwatching blog, which is here.

Ugh!

This is not a current photo at all. It was taken last August. It's just that it was gray and cloudy on Tuesday. And it was gray and cloudy and murky on Wednesday. And it's gray and cloudy and murky and snowy today.

So to combat all this gray, it's a blue water sunny day here at Daily Chicago Photo.

52 DAYS UNTIL SPRING!!!!

Warm Lights, Cold Snow

One of the paths in the Lurie Garden, dusted with snow, at dusk.

Along the River

I like how the trees along the river, which are lit from the bottom with spotlights, look a little ghostly in black and white.

Sports

You can't avoid sports in Chicago now either. The Bears are going up against their long-time rivals The Green Bay Packers this Sunday at home (don't worry, the weather forecast says it will warm up to 19 degrees by then).

How do you show support for your home team? You light up your building in the team colors! Which is so much more pleasant to look at than the whole face painting thing ;)

Politics

It's kind of hard to avoid politics in Chicago nowadays. As this is the first non-Daley mayoral race in years, the campaigns for mayor of Chicago are heating up as election day draws nearer. There are six official candidates left (down from eleven), four of which get regular news coverage.

Rahm Emanuel got a laugh out of whatever former President Clinton had just said (which I think might have been a comment about Rahm's famously colorful expressions).

Zero Zero

Stumbled upon this window display on State Street in the Sullivan Center (which was previously the Carson Pirie Scott Store). The display is called Zero Zero and is named after the address coordinates of its location at State and Madison (which is 0 North/South and 0 East/West and the starting point for the city's address system). According to the website it is a "re-centering" project, co-sponsored by the Chicago Loop Alliance and the IIT Institute of Design.

Definitely Not A Hot Seat

Although I did not initially plan it this way, this photo is the third in the series, from the last few days, called "You Can't Sit There ... After a Snow Storm in Chicago". These are the seats at the Pritzker Pavilion covered in a pretty, albeit cold, layer of fresh snow.

Winter Swing

I'm not surprised that no one has been playing on the swings in the park. It was a bit snowy yesterday.

It's Starting to Accumulate

The snow is starting to pile up around here (not as bad as the East Coast, though). I hope this rider has a snow scraper.

Blue Light Road

Pioneer Court on Michigan Avenue's blue sidewalk lights

An Urban View

A very urban view ... with a little glimpse of green from the Pritzker Pavilion in the background.

Another Year ... Another Cupcake Shop ... Another Line

Hmmm...

A long line.

What could people be waiting in line for?

What else? Yet another cupcake shop.

The cupcake obsession continues in Chicago.

Pittsfield Building

Never noticed that the Pittsfield Building has its name on the top of the building, too.

Bridge Wreath

The bell isn't part of the wreath on the DuSable Bridge (which is the recently renamed Michigan Avenue Bridge) but it seems to fit together well.

Reuse Reduce Recycle ...

... and stay warm doing so. Somebody put a very colorful hat on Recycle Guy at the Peggy Notebaert Center's recycling bin.