Submitted by Jennie Strable on Tue, 04/04/2017 - 6:38pm
Event date:
Saturday, April 1, 2017 - 8:00am
Location:
-
Hello to All,
BIRDERS: 13 (1) Mark W., (2) Eric G., (3) Tobias G., (4) Randy S., (5) Bruce McC., (6) Gary M., (7) Jordan V., (8) Mary Nell M., (9) Eddie N., (10) Jennie S. (11) Karin C., (12) Karin D., (13) Pat D.
TIME: 8:00 a.m. to 11:15 a.m.
PLACES: Wooded Island, Bobolink Meadow, Inner and Outer Harbors.
DISTANCE: 2.25 miles
WEATHER: Partly cloudy. Temperature 36– 47 F., Winds NNE 5 - 10 mph
Once again, Randy did the recording and storytelling of our full morning of birding.
Randy’s Report:
I birded Jackson Park with Pat Durkin and the Audubon bird walk. We covered Wooded Island/Bobolink Meadow and the inner and outer harbors. It was a beautiful morning with lots of birds including a few year birds.
Someone had found a COMMON LOON in the east lagoon before we arrived. Later we got great looks at it from Wooded Island. There were even more HOODED MERGANSERS (18) than Tuesday (16) in both lagoons. I got my first GREAT BLUE HERONS of the year and a FOY BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON, which was in a tree overhanging the lagoon on the south side of the island. There was one or more TREE SWALLOWS (FOY) flying over the lagoons (I counted a conservative 2). 3 WOOD DUCKS flew over the island and there was a male BLUE-WINGED TEAL in the east lagoon. A YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER and 2 WINTER WRENS were found on the island. I heard an EASTERN BLUEBIRD (FOY) calling east of the woods by the meadow but before I could get to where it was I heard it calling as it moved north.
Having my scope along made it easier picking out GREATER SCAUP from the LESSER SCAUP and REDHEADS in the inner harbor. At the south end of the harbor I picked out a few RING-NECKED DUCKS, then I noticed a couple male CANVASBACKS, then a female. There was another female in the outer harbor. There were still a couple COMMON GOLDENEYES in the inner harbor. Out on Lake Michigan a male GADWALL flew in and landed near a big raft of RED-BREASTED MERGANSERS and there were a few more REDHEADS near the pier. My full list is below.
Abbreviations: WI/BM=Wooded Island/Bobolink Meadow, IH=inner harbor, OH=outer harbor, LM=Lake Michigan east of OH.
Canada Goose: WI/BM (28), OH (8)
Wood Duck: WI/BM (3)
Mallard: WI/BM (13), IH (6), OH (2)
Gadwall: LM (1)
Blue-winged Teal: WI/BM (1)
Canvasback: IH (3), OH (1)
Redhead: IH (19), LM (9)
Ring-necked Duck: IH (4)
Greater Scaup: IH (6), OH (2)
Lesser Scaup: IH (40)
Common Goldeneye: IH (2)
Bufflehead: OH (8)
Hooded Merganser: WI/BM (18), IH (1)
Red-breasted Merganser: WI/BM (89), IH (306), OH (10), LM (102)
Common Loon: WI/BM (1)
Horned Grebe: WI/BM (1), IH (1), OH (2), LM (1)
Pied-billed Grebe: WI/BM (4), IH (2)
Double-crested Cormorant: WI/BM (1)
Great Blue Heron: WI/BM (4)
Black-crowned Night-Heron: WI/BM (1)
Cooper's Hawk: WI/BM (2), OH (1)
Accipiter sp: WI/BM (1)
Red-tailed Hawk: WI/BM (1)
A. Coot: IH (11), OH (18)
Killdeer: WI/BM (2)
Ring-billed Gull: WI/BM (14), IH (1), OH (309)
Herring Gull: WI/BM (1), IH (1), OH (2)
Belted Kingfisher: WI/BM (2), IH (1)
Red-bellied Woodpecker: WI/BM (2)
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker: WI/BM (1)
Downy Woodpecker: WI/BM (5)
Hairy Woodpecker: WI/BM (1)
N. Flicker: WI/BM (3)
E. Phoebe: WI/BM (5), IH (1)
A. Crow: WI/BM (4), OH (1)
Tree Swallow: WI/BM (2)
Black-capped Chickadee: WI/BM (4)
Brown Creeper: WI/BM (3)
Winter Wren: WI/BM (2)
Golden-crowned Kinglet: WI/BM (5)
E. Bluebird: WI/BM (1)
A. Robin: WI/BM (21)
Euro. Starling: WI/BM (22)
Song Sparrow: WI/BM (21), IH (1)
Swamp Sparrow: WI/BM (3)
Dark-eyed Junco: WI/BM (7), OH (2)
sparrow sp: WI/BM (2)
N. Cardinal: WI/BM (7), IH (1)
Common Grackle: WI/BM (2)
Red-winged Blackbird: WI/BM (17)
Brown-headed Cowbird: WI/BM (7)
blackbird sp: WI/BM (5)
House Finch: WI/BM (2)
House Sparrow: WI/BM (6)
Randy Shonkwiler
Hyde Park/Chicago
This is a group report, with many birders contributing to the list. Most of the birds were seen by at least several or all of 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.
Darrow Bridge: Darrow Bridge has been barricaded by the Department of Transportation. A high black metal iron fence has been erected on all four sides. The fence will remain in place until Darrow Bridge is completely rebuilt in 2019. The Bridge has been deemed unsafe.
Saturday morning walks: Start at 8:00 a.m. covers a distance of two miles. Birders walk counterclockwise around the Columbia Basin (North Lagoon) onto Wooded Island. Exiting Wooded Island at the south end, the birders walk along the soccer field and enter the south end of Bobolink Meadow. The Meadow’s path leads to the Music Bridge and back to the East Parking Lot. In late fall, winter and early spring, the birders check for birds on the lakefront and Outer Harbor near LaRabida Hospital, and the Inner Harbor.
Birders meet in the southwest corner of the East Parking Lot.
Metered parking is available in the East Parking Lot that is accessible from South Lake Shore Drive.There is a Stop Light at 57th Street Science Drive. Make a turn at the Stop Light towards the Museum. Turn Left (south) at the intersection of Science Drive and Columbia Drive. Go through the parking lot to the west end.Birders meet in the southwest corner of the East Parking Lot.
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 56th to 59th Street.
Best of Birding to All,
Patricia Durkin