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Wooded Island Bird Walk

  • Wooded Island, Jackson Park Meet at the west side of the Columbia Basin Chicago, IL, 60637 United States (map)

Hello everyone,

My apologies that this report is so late this week. I’ve been distracted by birds and other responsibilities. If you have not yet had the chance to go to see the Swallow-tailed Kite that’s been in Lockport since August 23, I highly recommend that you take a drive and try and find this beautiful bird. Information about its location is in the Illinois Rare Bird Alert section of the Discord app. Mike and I found it on our second try and it was worth the work!

We had a lovely walk on Saturday with great weather and some great birds. The fall warblers are here and we were graced by the appearance of the extra-special Black-throated Blue and Blackburnian warblers. Warbling Vireos were singing like it was Spring – maybe they were enjoying the nice weather too.

We saw some juvenile American Goldfinches begging for food from their busy father. And we saw a Green Heron that really looked green! Most of the time they appear more gray-green but this one had some nice green highlights.

A big highlight of the day was the Yellow-billed Cuckoos that were spotted early in the walk. Our photographers got some great pictures of this beautiful bird. Our other big highlight of the day was a Red-breasted Nuthatch in the evergreen trees by the Japanese Garden. What a cute little bird and our photographers were also able to get some great shots of this visitor.

BIRDERS: Caterina, Kristin, Cheryl, Mike, Marian, Jennie, Mark C., Luther, Nathan, Ken, Fred, Gary, Eric, Simone, Robert, Leslie, Jane, Stacy, Daniela, Marisa, Jan, Danielle, Honest and welcome to Heather, Ellen, Ellen M., Jamie, Jarrett, Hattie, Simone L., and Synthia.

TIME:   8:00am to 12:30pm   

WEATHER: Sunny, high 60s

Compiler: Cheryl

Photographers: Eric, Marisa, Gary, Leslie

  1. Canada Goose   Number observed: 28

  2. Wood Duck   Number observed: 6

  3. Blue-winged Teal   Number observed: 2

  4. Mallard   Number observed: 20

  5. Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)   Number observed: 2

  6. Yellow-billed Cuckoo   Number observed: 2

  7. Chimney Swift   Number observed: 3

  8. Ruby-throated Hummingbird   Number observed: 5

  9. Spotted Sandpiper   Number observed: 1

  10. Ring-billed Gull   Number observed: 3

  11. Herring Gull   Number observed: 1

  12. Double-crested Cormorant   Number observed: 11

  13. Black-crowned Night Heron   Number observed: 1

  14. Green Heron   Number observed: 4

  15. Great Egret   Number observed: 4

  16. Great Blue Heron   Number observed: 6

  17. Downy Woodpecker   Number observed: 6

  18. Hairy Woodpecker   Number observed: 1

  19. Monk Parakeet   Number observed: 1

  20. Eastern Wood-Pewee   Number observed: 1

  21. Least Flycatcher   Number observed: 2

  22. Yellow-throated Vireo   Number observed: 2

  23. Philadelphia Vireo   Number observed: 1

  24. Warbling Vireo   Number observed: 10

  25. Red-eyed Vireo   Number observed: 2

  26. American Crow   Number observed: 5

  27. Black-capped Chickadee   Number observed: 11

  28. Barn Swallow   Number observed: 1

  29. White-breasted Nuthatch   Number observed: 2

  30. Red-breasted Nuthatch   Number observed: 1

  31. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher   Number observed: 1

  32. House Wren   Number observed: 1

  33. Gray Catbird   Number observed: 3

  34. Gray-cheeked Thrush   Number observed: 1

  35. Swainson's Thrush   Number observed: 9

  36. American Robin   Number observed: 5

  37. Cedar Waxwing   Number observed: 8

  38. House Finch   Number observed: 2

  39. American Goldfinch   Number observed: 12

  40. Song Sparrow   Number observed: 1

  41. Baltimore Oriole   Number observed: 1

  42. Common Grackle   Number observed: 1

  43. Black-and-white Warbler   Number observed: 1

  44. Tennessee Warbler   Number observed: 1

  45. Nashville Warbler   Number observed: 1

  46. Connecticut Warbler   Number observed: 1

  47. American Redstart   Number observed: 5

  48. Cape May Warbler   Number observed: 6

  49. Magnolia Warbler   Number observed: 1

  50. Bay-breasted Warbler   Number observed: 2

  51. Blackburnian Warbler   Number observed: 4

  52. Yellow Warbler   Number observed: 1

  53. Blackpoll Warbler   Number observed: 3

  54. Black-throated Blue Warbler   Number observed: 1

  55. Yellow-rumped Warbler   Number observed: 1

  56. Wilson's Warbler   Number observed: 1

  57. Northern Cardinal   Number observed: 1

 

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

Photo: Blue-gray gnatcatcher by Devin Grady

Earlier Event: August 30
Birds & Coffee at Jarvis Bird Sanctuary
Later Event: September 1
Birding Outing at Graceland Cemetery