Photo: Yellow Warbler by Jesse Gordon/Audubon Photography Awards
Hello everyone,
By far the highlight of this bird walk was our very special visitor, the hybrid Snowy Egret X Little Blue Heron, dubbed Snowy Blue by Karin. What a beautiful and unusual bird! Snowy Blue and his/her friends put on quite a show for us in the Osaka Garden. Great Egrets, Great Blue Herons, Green Herons and Black-crowned Night Herons were all flying in and out and around and about the garden, jockeying for position at the base of the waterfall where the fishing was the best. Snowy Blue held his/her ground and was able to snag a hearty breakfast among all the activity. We stayed in the garden for around half an hour and it was hard to tear ourselves away from the fascinating spectacle.
BIRDERS: Kristen, Cheryl, Marian, Jennie, Karin, Becca, Chad, Richard, Margo, Jenny, Melissa, Leslie, Julia, Clara, Maria, Jane, Marisa
TIME: 8:00am to 11:30am
WEATHER: hot, hazy sun, humid
Compiler: Cheryl
Canada Goose Number observed: 31
Wood Duck Number observed: 11
Mallard Number observed: 5
Mourning Dove Number observed: 1
Chimney Swift Number observed: 3
Ruby-throated Hummingbird Number observed: 2
Ring-billed Gull Number observed: 1
Caspian Tern Number observed: 3
Great Blue Heron Number observed: 15
Great Egret Number observed: 5
Snowy Egret x Little Blue Heron (hybrid) Number observed: 1
Green Heron Number observed: 5
Black-crowned Night-Heron Number observed: 4
Eastern Phoebe Number observed: 1
Eastern Kingbird Number observed: 2
Warbling Vireo Number observed: 4
Black-capped Chickadee Number observed: 1
Northern Rough-winged Swallow Number observed: 5
Barn Swallow Number observed: 25
Cliff Swallow Number observed: 12
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Number observed: 1
House Wren Number observed: 2
European Starling Number observed: 7
Gray Catbird Number observed: 7
American Robin Number observed: 1
Cedar Waxwing Number observed: 3
House Sparrow Number observed: 3
American Goldfinch Number observed: 4
Song Sparrow Number observed: 2
Baltimore Oriole Number observed: 1
Red-winged Blackbird Number observed: 8
Common Grackle Number observed: 1
Common Yellowthroat Number observed: 2
Yellow Warbler Number observed: 3
Northern Cardinal Number observed: 5
Indigo Bunting Number observed: 2
If you’d like more information about a bird, check out the All About Birds ID guide:
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/
Corrections, additions and comments are welcome.
Recordings are not used to attract birds.
The Walks are free and open to one and all. They are held year-round. Newcomers are warmly welcomed.
Saturday morning walks: Start at 8:00 a.m. and cover a distance of two miles. Birders walk from the meeting spot counterclockwise 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. After crossing the Music Bridge birders walk through the parking lot and around the Columbia Basin (North Lagoon) and return to our meeting spot. In late fall, winter and early spring, the birders check for birds on the lakefront at the Outer Harbor near LaRabida Hospital and the Inner Harbor after the Wooded Island walk.
Meeting Spot: Birders meet on the west shore of the Columbia Basin (North Lagoon). Park on Stony Island Avenue near 59th Street, walk east across the parkland area, then cross Cornell Drive to reach the spot.
Good birding everyone,
Jennie