Chicago Long-Eared Owls

We took a mini wildlife tour of Chicago today.

Recently, a number of news outlets reported a rare sighting of long-eared owls roosting in a park near downtown Chicago. So we headed over there today. There were three left (according to the Chicago Tribune they numbered eleven several weeks ago) and one was hiding behind branches.

Here are a few photos . . .





While there, a lady told us about a hawk in a tree a block away. That was a nice little bonus . . .

The Chicago Spire

Ok, winter is starting to drag.

So . . . it's time to start thinking about Chicago as another port on the Great Lakes to enjoy. After all, we don't expect to be here much in the summer, so any posts about Chicago will have to be while we are "weathered in" over the winter.

So, that's what we' ll do . . . start posting about the great port of Chicago and some of the things you can do or see here - even in the winter.

First up: the Chicago Spire. Since it's being built just across the river from us, we have a great view of it from our living room window. Phil - who may just have a little too much time on his hands during winter - started a web site devoted to watching the Spire being built. If you're interested in seeing construction photos of the Chicago Spire, you can see them at Building the Spire.

January in Chicago

Well, it's the middle of winter here in Chicago. We look out over Lake Michigan and here's what we see . . . the lake is frozen and colors are all gray and muted even on a brightly sunny day.



One more photo . . . this is one of the water intake stations out on the lake.


On days like this, last summer's cruise seems to be far in the past. But we aren't letting the weather get to us (well, at least not too much). We're beginning preparations for next summer's cruise by, finally, organizing all the photos, blog entries, memories, etc. from last summer's cruise. How does that prepare us for next summer? By motivating us, of course!

But it also serves a more utilitarian function. In order to better organize everything, we're setting up a web site to store info about places we've been and experiences we've had. The site will be a great source from which to view our archived blog posts as well as other info we plan to post.

The url is:

http://greatlakescruising.googlepages.com/


Enjoy . . . and it's only sixty days (or so) until spring arrives!