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Wooded Island Birding Outing

  • Jackson Park Chicago, Illinois (map)

Hello everyone,

The walk started off nicely when we had the heron trifecta + egret all in the first half hour. All the herons were in the Columbia Basin and the Egret was hanging out in the west lagoon. We had two families of ducks; both a Wood Duck and a Mallard family with adorable ducklings in tow.

We heard and saw more Eastern Kingbirds that we have for the past few weeks. They have probably finished nesting and have kicked the kids out of the nest so they’re able to run around again.  A flock of low flying Purple Martins and Chimney Swifts sped around above us. They may have been feeding furiously before the predicted afternoon storms arrived.

At 10:00am, 10 of us joined the Wooded Island Natural Area stewards and their team to do some work on the island. We picked up trash and pulled a few invasive species of plants. We were nicely rewarded with donuts at the end of the job.

BIRDERS: Marian, Mike, Jennie, Hal, Luther, Traci, Katie, Eric, Joy, Caterina, Mark C., Leslie, Howard, Gary, Tracy, Robert, Simone, Katherine, Anna, Jan, Pam, Susie, and welcome to AJ, Cindy, Shannon, Sarah, Wayne, and Christi.

TIME: 8:00am to 11:30am

WEATHER: low 70s, partly cloudy, humid

Compiler: Cheryl

1.     Canada Goose   Number observed: 53

2.     Wood Duck   Number observed: 7

3.     Mallard   Number observed: 15

4.     Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)   Number observed: 1

5.     Chimney Swift   Number observed: 17

6.     Ruby-throated Hummingbird   Number observed: 2

7.     Spotted Sandpiper   Number observed: 1

8.     Ring-billed Gull   Number observed: 3

9.     American Herring Gull   Number observed: 1

10.  Caspian Tern   Number observed: 2

11.  Double-crested Cormorant   Number observed: 3

12.  Black-crowned Night Heron   Number observed: 1

13.  Green Heron   Number observed: 3

14.  Great Egret   Number observed: 2

15.  Great Blue Heron   Number observed: 2

16.  Downy Woodpecker   Number observed: 3

17.  Northern Flicker   Number observed: 1

18.  American Kestrel   Number observed: 1

19.  Willow Flycatcher   Number observed: 1

20.  Eastern Kingbird   Number observed: 3

21.  Warbling Vireo   Number observed: 5

22.  American Crow   Number observed: 2

23.  Black-capped Chickadee   Number observed: 3

24.  Purple Martin   Number observed: 32

25.  Northern Rough-winged Swallow   Number observed: 6

26.  Barn Swallow   Number observed: 18

27.  Cliff Swallow   Number observed: 3

28.  Northern House Wren   Number observed: 3

29.  European Starling   Number observed: 87

30.  Gray Catbird   Number observed: 5

31.  American Robin   Number observed: 27

32.  Cedar Waxwing   Number observed: 2

33.  House Sparrow   Number observed: 4

34.  House Finch   Number observed: 1

35.  American Goldfinch   Number observed: 6

36.  Song Sparrow   Number observed: 5

37.  Orchard Oriole   Number observed: 2

38.  Baltimore Oriole   Number observed: 3

39.  Red-winged Blackbird   Number observed: 65

40.  Brown-headed Cowbird   Number observed: 1

41.  Common Grackle   Number observed: 2

42.  Yellow Warbler   Number observed: 7

43.  Northern Cardinal   Number observed: 5

44.  Indigo Bunting   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

Photo: American goldfinch by Will Stuart