Photo: Blue-gray gnatcatcher by Devin Grady
Hello everyone,
It was a fairly slow summer birding day but the weather was so beautiful that we were all happy just to be outside. We had lots of Green Herons, some of which we assumed to be the recently fledged residents of the tree behind the museum. For the first time in a long time we did not have a heron trifecta, with the surprising absence of a Black-crowned Night Heron. If one was there it was hiding from us. We did have a lovely Great Egret though.
The Cedar Waxwing was still sitting on the nest along the main path. The eggs should have hatched by now so we are hoping that he/she was keeping nestlings warm. It will be interesting to see what we find this Saturday.
The highlight of the morning was a flyover Osprey, a fairly uncommon sight in Jackson Park.
BIRDERS: Mike, Marian, Jennie, Cheryl, Leslie, Kristin, Paul, Lucy, Eric, Chris, Rob, Tracy, Kate, Sarah, Marisa, Mark and welcome to Asha, Lee, Beth and Jay.
TIME: 8:00am to 11:30am
WEATHER: partly cloudy, high 60s to low 70s, light breeze
Compiler: Cheryl
Photographers: Eric (osprey) and Leslie (all others)
Canada Goose Number observed: 63
Wood Duck Number observed: 2
Mallard Number observed: 9
Mourning Dove Number observed: 1
Chimney Swift Number observed: 5
Ruby-throated Hummingbird Number observed: 5
Spotted Sandpiper Number observed: 2
Ring-billed Gull Number observed: 1
Caspian Tern Number observed: 1
Double-crested Cormorant Number observed: 2
Great Blue Heron Number observed: 5
Great Egret Number observed: 1
Green Heron Number observed: 5
Osprey Number observed: 1
Accipiter sp. Number observed: 1, Coopers or Sharp Shinned
Downy Woodpecker Number observed: 1
Northern Flicker Number observed: 2
Eastern Phoebe Number observed: 2
Eastern Kingbird Number observed: 9
American Crow Number observed: 2
Black-capped Chickadee Number observed: 2
Purple Martin Number observed: 5
Barn Swallow Number observed: 39
Cliff Swallow Number observed: 7
White-breasted Nuthatch Number observed: 1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Number observed: 5
House Wren Number observed: 1
Gray Catbird Number observed: 2
American Robin Number observed: 4
Cedar Waxwing Number observed: 1
House Finch Number observed: 4
American Goldfinch Number observed: 9
Song Sparrow Number observed: 2
Baltimore Oriole Number observed: 2
Brown-headed Cowbird Number observed: 1
Yellow Warbler Number observed: 2
Northern Cardinal Number observed: 2
Indigo Bunting Number observed: 1- heard only
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