Wild Ducks on the Chicago River

Wild Ducks on the Chicago River by Sterling North, captures perfectly an impulse that I have felt many times myself when photographing Lake Michigan and the surrounding landscape.

There is something about seeing wildlife, from the expected animals like ducks and geese to the more surprising and yet not uncommon sightings of coyotes, kestrels and even rare piping plover, a migratory federally protected endangered species.

Wild Ducks on the Chicago River

I said:

“Birds of glossy plumage,

Wings that have cut the upper

Darkness in amazing flight,

Arise into the night.

Be gone, wild beauty from the northern marshes.
From this bare land all
Loveliness has fled.
There was no pause.
Out of the snowy arroyo between tall buildings,
Over the bridge
The traffic purred and thundered.
Under a stormy sky men reeled and
Blundered into the wind.
There was no pause.

This photograph is from the Lake Series, April 10th, 2024 (1).

See all of the photographs from the last nine years of the Lake Series here or follow along as I explore this and other projects on my instagram account.