Photo: White-breasted nuthatch by Joseph Mahoney
Hello everyone,
Winter is here. We only had 17 species today so we didn’t make our winter goal of having more bird species than birders. But that’s ok, there were enough birds to keep us entertained and we still managed to walk for 2 hours.
We finally had our first Red-breasted Merganser in the lagoon – one lonely female. Our winter ducks have arrived in the area, I’ve seen them from Rainbow Beach, but they are not visiting us at the Wooded Island yet. I hope a few find their way over to us.
We spotted a beautiful male American Kestrel having a breakfast of fresh mouse. He flew away with his meal in his talons so that he could be sure that we didn’t try and steal it from him. Unlikely, but you never know…
BIRDERS: Marian, Mike, Jennie, Cheryl, Kristin, JC, Leslie, Nathan, Eric, Monica, Eileen, Alisa, Eric G., Marisa, Tracy, Renate and welcome to Mica, Ryan, Flora, Kate, Sahil and Hernan.
TIME: 8:00am to 10:00am
WEATHER: Sunny, low 30s, light wind
Compiler: Cheryl
Photographers: Marisa and Eric
Canada Goose Number observed: 78
Mallard Number observed: 4
Red-breasted Merganser Number observed: 1
Ring-billed Gull Number observed: 5
Herring Gull Number observed: 4
Great Blue Heron Number observed: 4
Downy Woodpecker Number observed: 2
Hairy Woodpecker Number observed: 1
Northern Flicker Number observed: 4
American Kestrel Number observed: 1
American Crow Number observed: 4
Black-capped Chickadee Number observed: 7
European Starling Number observed: 7
American Robin Number observed: 5
American Goldfinch Number observed: 3
Dark-eyed Junco Number observed: 3
Northern Cardinal Number observed: 6
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
This outing qualifies as a prerequisite for participating in Chicago Audubon's Birding Gear Exchange Program. Please check in with the trip leader the day of the event.