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Wooded Island Birding Outing

  • Jackson Park Chicago, Illinois (map)

Hello everyone,

It was a wonderful day of birding. The air was filled with bird song, especially the song of  Warbling Vireos. A large flock of mixed species of swallows was swirling overhead. A Black-crowned Night Heron was in the Japanese garden watching the Koi and seemed to be wondering if it could handle that big a fish. You could see the wheels turning in its mind.

It was fun to see several nests – we had a Yellow Warbler and a Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher on nests, and a mama Robin was feeding adorable babies on her nest. There was a flock of Cedar Waxwings, some of which had orange/coral tail tips, rather than yellow, a known variant but something we had never seen before. Jane and Mark W. spotted an elusive Yellow-breasted Chat, an unusual visitor for us.

The highlight of the day was the presence of not one, but two Ospreys! We are lucky when we have one Osprey fly over but to have two was extra special. They were flying around, fishing successfully, and perching on the big dead tree on the island to have their lunch. It was pretty exciting and I hope they stay around.

BIRDERS: Marian, Jennie, Cheryl, Luther, Kristin, Parag, Roger, Leslie, Katie, Traci, Mark W., Renate, Andy, JC, Larry, Marisa, Jo, Mark C., Paul, Lucy, Daniela, Val, Jane, Eric, Margalit, Fred, Emmy, Zaki, Pat, and welcome to Melissa, Hannah, Tamara, Felicia, Gabe, and Em.

TIME: 8:00am to Noon

WEATHER: 57 degrees and sunny

Compiler: Cheryl

  1. Canada Goose   Number observed: 55

  2. Wood Duck   Number observed: 2

  3. Mallard   Number observed: 11

  4. Mourning Dove   Number observed: 3

  5. Chimney Swift   Number observed: 39

  6. Ruby-throated Hummingbird   Number observed: 1

  7. Killdeer   Number observed: 1

  8. Ring-billed Gull   Number observed: 25

  9. Caspian Tern   Number observed: 1

  10. Double-crested Cormorant   Number observed: 2

  11. Black-crowned Night Heron   Number observed: 5

  12. Green Heron   Number observed: 2

  13. Great Blue Heron   Number observed: 4

  14. Osprey   Number observed: 2

  15. Cooper's Hawk   Number observed: 1

  16. Red-tailed Hawk   Number observed: 1

  17. Downy Woodpecker   Number observed: 1

  18. Northern Flicker   Number observed: 1

  19. American Kestrel   Number observed: 1

  20. Olive-sided Flycatcher   Number observed: 1

  21. Least Flycatcher   Number observed: 3

  22. Eastern Phoebe   Number observed: 2

  23. Eastern Kingbird   Number observed: 3

  24. Warbling Vireo   Number observed: 16

  25. Red-eyed Vireo   Number observed: 1

  26. American Crow   Number observed: 9

  27. Black-capped Chickadee   Number observed: 1

  28. Tree Swallow   Number observed: 4

  29. Purple Martin   Number observed: 8

  30. Northern Rough-winged Swallow   Number observed: 7

  31. Barn Swallow   Number observed: 7

  32. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher   Number observed: 4

  33. Northern House Wren   Number observed: 2

  34. European Starling   Number observed: 6

  35. Gray Catbird   Number observed: 6

  36. American Robin   Number observed: 8

  37. Cedar Waxwing   Number observed: 11

  38. House Sparrow   Number observed: 6

  39. American Goldfinch   Number observed: 7

  40. Song Sparrow   Number observed: 5

  41. Yellow-breasted Chat   Number observed: 1

  42. Orchard Oriole   Number observed: 3

  43. Baltimore Oriole   Number observed: 7

  44. Red-winged Blackbird   Number observed: 15

  45. Brown-headed Cowbird   Number observed: 8

  46. Common Grackle   Number observed: 11

  47. Common Yellowthroat   Number observed: 3

  48. Northern Parula   Number observed: 1

  49. Magnolia Warbler   Number observed: 1

  50. Bay-breasted Warbler   Number observed: 1

  51. Yellow Warbler   Number observed: 17

  52. Wilson's Warbler   Number observed: 1

  53. Northern Cardinal   Number observed: 3

 

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: Indigo bunting by Jessica Nelson