Submitted by Jennie Strable on Tue, 12/15/2015 - 8:21pm

Event date:

Saturday, December 12, 2015 - 8:00am 

Location:

-

Hello to All,

It was a chilly, foggy morning, but we managed to find some pretty good birds all things considered!  Of course, we found them at the end of our walk, right near the parking lot.

BIRDERS: 4; Eric, Edith, Karin C, Jennie        

TIME:   8:00am to 9:30am     

PLACES:  Bobolink Meadow and the Outer Harbor

WEATHER: 40s, foggy, drizzly           

Below is Eric’s e-bird report for Bobolink Meadow:

Jackson Park, Chicago--Wooded Island/Bobolink Meadow area
Dec 12, 2015
8:00 AM
Traveling
1.00 miles
75 Minutes
All birds reported? Yes
Comments: Foggy
Submitted from eBird for iOS, version 1.1.3 Build 30

X Canada Goose -- 150?
1 Mallard
1 Common Goldeneye
2 Red-breasted Merganser
16 Ring-billed Gull
5 Downy Woodpecker -- Heard
6 American Crow -- Heard 
8 Black-capped Chickadee -- Heard and seen
1 White-breasted Nuthatch
1 Brown Creeper
1 European Starling -- Heard
1 American Tree Sparrow
2 Northern Cardinal
2 American Goldfinch

Number of Taxa: 14

Here’s what we saw at the Outer Harbor:

Red-breasted Merganser (about 20)

Bufflehead (1 male and 1 female)

Goldeneye

Mallards

Gulls – many Ring-billed with a couple Herring mixed in

This is a group report, with many birders contributing to the list. Most of the birds were seen by a least several or all the birders.

Corrections, additions and comments are welcome.

Recordings are not used to attract birds.

This report will be recorded on eBird as a group report for the Wooded Island Bird Walks.

The Walks are free and open to one and all. They are held year round.Newcomers are warmly welcomed. 

Note on Darrow Bridge: Darrow Bridge has been barricaded by the Department of Transportation. No one can cross. A high black metal iron fence has been erected on all four sides. It appears that the fence will remain in place until Darrow Bridge is completely rebuilt, and the work is not expected to begin until 2017 at the earliest. The Bridge has been deemed unsafe.

The Walks start at 8:00 a.m. on Saturday.

Birders meet in the southwest corner of the East Parking Lot, where metered parking is available. Wooded Island is closed off by a fence while work in being done. Birders walk through Bobolink Meadow and view the eastside of Wooded Island and the East Lagoon.

Directions:  Exit Lake Shore Drive at Science Drive, which is the stoplight just south of the major 57th Drive intersection by the Museum of Science and Industry.  Turn Left (south) at the at the stop sign at the intersection of Science Drive and Columbia Drive. Go through the parking lot to the southwest end.

Note on Parking and Lots: While restoration is ongoing, heavy equipment has taken over half of the east parking lot, off of South Lake Shore Drive, and half of the southwest parking lot which has an entrance off of Hayes Drive (63rd St.) and just east of Cornell Drive. Birders will be able to find metered parking in both lots. The East Parking Lot is preferred. There is also unmetered parking along Stony Island Avenue from 59th to 56thStreet.

Good birding everyone,Jennie Strable