Photo: Great blue heron by Alexia Svejda

Hello everyone,

For a chilly, cloudy day we ended up with 36 species and had some very special birds! We found a Purple Finch on the center path and he gave us some great looks. The Field Sparrows have arrived to spend the winter. The are plenty of Great Blue Herons still around and we had two Great Egrets in residence today.

The big excitement of the day was the Peregrine Falcon that flew over us and perched in a tree above the east lagoon. Our photographers got some great shots and Marisa was able to see and read the band on the bird’s leg. She contacted Mary Hennen, the leader of the Chicago Peregrine Program, and Mary responded right away. The bird’s name is Fred-chick Miller. He fledged from the Miller Brewery in Wisconsin this year and was banded on May 22, 2023. What a handsome young man!

BIRDERS: Lucy, Nathan, Mike, Jennie, Marian, Cheryl, Jane, Gary, Mark C., Eric, Paul, Lisa, Leslie, Mark W., Marisa, Pam and welcome to Andrew and Monica

TIME: 8:00am to 11:00am                 

WEATHER: low 40s, cloudy, light winds

Compiler: Cheryl

Photographers: Marisa and Eric

1. Canada Goose   Number observed: 205

2. Wood Duck   Number observed: 23

3. Mallard   Number observed: 5

4. Double-crested Cormorant   Number observed: 1

5. Great Egret   Number observed: 2

6. Great Blue Heron   Number observed: 5

7. Cooper's Hawk   Number observed: 1

8. Red-tailed Hawk   Number observed: 1

9. Downy Woodpecker   Number observed: 1

10. Northern Flicker   Number observed: 2

11. American Kestrel   Number observed: 1

12. Peregrine Falcon   Number observed: 1

13. American Crow   Number observed: 4

14. Black-capped Chickadee   Number observed: 1

15. Ruby-crowned Kinglet   Number observed: 1

16. Golden-crowned Kinglet   Number observed: 7

17. Brown Creeper   Number observed: 1

18. Winter Wren   Number observed: 2

19. European Starling   Number observed: 1

20. Gray Catbird   Number observed: 1

21. Hermit Thrush   Number observed: 3

22. American Robin   Number observed: 7

23. House Finch   Number observed: 1

24. Purple Finch   Number observed: 1

25. Pine Siskin   Number observed: 2

26. American Goldfinch   Number observed: 5

27. American Tree Sparrow   Number observed: 14

28. Fox Sparrow   Number observed: 2

29. Dark-eyed Junco   Number observed: 5

30. White-throated Sparrow   Number observed: 3

31. Song Sparrow   Number observed: 1

32. Lincoln's Sparrow   Number observed: 1

33. Swamp Sparrow   Number observed: 1

34. Tennessee Warbler   Number observed: 1

35. Orange-crowned Warbler   Number observed: 2

36. Northern Cardinal   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.

Good birding everyone,

Jennie