Submitted by Jennie Strable on Sun, 05/27/2018 - 3:20pm
Event date:
Saturday, May 26, 2018 - 8:00am
Location:
-
Hello everyone,
What a difference a week makes. Most of our migratory warblers have moved on, leaving our usual summer residents to greet us. A Snowy Egret was seen at the south end of the Island early in the morning by some other birders and reported on IBET. We didn’t see the posting but we ran into Ben Sanders in the Osaka Garden and he had come to the park to try and find the Egret. He saw it but then it flew west and we couldn’t relocate it.
We were consoled, however, by great looks at a Great Crested Flycatcher. He posed beautifully for us and we were able to see all the defining field marks of this bird. He looked just like the picture in my field guide! J We also had a gorgeous Red-headed Woodpecker in the Osaka Garden which was a special treat.
Eddie took some great photos of the flycatcher, woodpecker and other birds and has kindly shared a link with us: https://photos.app.goo.gl/BJ9DCyAyM8nRnAlq2
BIRDERS: Gary, along with his nephew and his wife, Eric, Marian, Tracy, Al, Ann from Kentucky, with 3 friends, Bruce, Eddie, Betty and Neal from Brooklyn, Karin D., Catherine, Jennie
TIME: 8:00am to 10:30am
WEATHER: Sunny, hot, 70s to 80s
Here is the list compiled by our official list keeper, Eric.
X = commonly seen and/or not counted.
Birds I missed that others saw:
Caspian tern
Common yellowthroat
Red-eyed vireo
Great Crested Flycatcher
Hairy Woodpecker
Blackpoll Warbler
Snowy Egret
My count:
X Canada Goose
5 Wood Duck
X Mallard
4 Great Blue Heron
1 Great Egret
3 Green Heron
5 Black-crowned Night-Heron
1 Spotted Sandpiper
X Ring-billed Gull
1 Herring Gull
1 Chimney Swift
1 Red-headed Woodpecker
3 Eastern Wood-Pewee -- Heard
2 Empidonax sp.
1 Eastern Phoebe
2 Eastern Kingbird
4 Warbling Vireo
1 Blue Jay
1 American Crow
X Purple Martin
1 Tree Swallow
X Barn Swallow
1 Black-capped Chickadee
4 House Wren
3 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
2 Swainson's Thrush
4 American Robin
1 thrush sp.
5 Gray Catbird
2 European Starling
23 Cedar Waxwing
1 American Redstart -- Drab
1 Magnolia Warbler
6 Yellow Warbler
2 Song Sparrow
3 Northern Cardinal
4 Indigo Bunting
1 Orchard Oriole
3 Baltimore Oriole
X Red-winged Blackbird
2 Brown-headed Cowbird
2 Common Grackle
3 American Goldfinch
3 House Sparrow
Number of Taxa: 44
This is a group report, with many birders contributing to the list. Most of the birds were seen by at least several or all of the birders. Corrections, additions and comments are welcome.
Recordings are not used to attract birds.
This report will be recorded on eBird as a group report for the Wooded Island Bird Walks.
The Walks are free and open to one and all. They are held year round. Newcomers are warmly welcomed.
Darrow Bridge: Darrow Bridge has been barricaded by the Department of Transportation. A high black iron fence has been erected on all four sides. The fence will remain in place until Darrow Bridge is completely rebuilt, which could be several years away. The Bridge has been deemed unsafe.
Saturday morning walks: Start at 8:00 a.m. covers a distance of two miles. Birders walk counterclockwise around the Columbia Basin (North Lagoon) onto Wooded Island. Exiting Wooded Island at the south end, the birders walk along the soccer field and enter the south end of Bobolink Meadow. The Meadow’s path leads to the Music Bridge and back to the East Parking Lot. In late fall, winter and early spring, the birders check for birds on the lakefront and Outer Harbor near LaRabida Hospital, and the Inner Harbor.
Directions: Exit Lake Shore Drive at Science Drive, which is the stoplight just south of the major 57th Drive intersection by the Museum of Science and Industry. Turn Left (south) at the stop sign at the intersection of Science Drive and Columbia Drive. Go through the parking lot to the southwest end. Metered parking is available and birders meet in the southwest corner of the east parking lot.
Good birding everyone,
Jennie