Photo: Eastern Bluebird by John Larson

Hello everyone,

It was an overall slow day but we had enough birds to keep us entertained.  The two Fox Sparrows were lovely and the sighting of two Red-tailed Hawks was a nice treat.  We also had a Cooper’s Hawk flying around and perching at various spots in the park. Our photographers got some great shots and Tracy’s are attached. The last time we saw it, s/he was perched in a tree near the old tennis courts, almost eye-level and out in the open, posing for more pictures.

There was a duck swimming in the East Lagoon and from a distance its coloring looked like that of a Long-tailed Duck, which of course quickly caught everyone’s attention.  Fortunately, she swam closer to us and we discovered that she was a female Wood Duck with more white feathers than usual. See Gary’s great photo, attached.  Although we were all a bit disappointed that we didn’t find a Long-tailed, Ms. Wood Duck was very pretty and a pleasure to observe.

BIRDERS: Hannah, Jennie, Xianoni, Kristin, Lucy, Lillian, Eric, Jack, Claire, Chris, Anthony, Leslie, Mike, Caroline, Isaiah, Becky, Tracy, Gary, Jane, Meghan, Karin, Nancy, Yinan, Rob, Renate

TIME:   8:00am to 11:00am   

WEATHER: Sunny, high 30s to low 50s

Compiler: Eric

Photographers: Gary (Wood Duck) and Tracy (Cooper’s Hawk and Red-breasted Nuthatch)         

350 Canada Goose

8 Wood Duck

6 Mallard

14 Ring-billed Gull

5 Great Blue Heron

1 Cooper's Hawk

2 Red-tailed Hawk

1 hawk sp.

1 Belted Kingfisher -- Female

5 Downy Woodpecker

1 Downy/Hairy Woodpecker

5 American Crow

3 Black-capped Chickadee

1 Golden-crowned Kinglet

2 Red-breasted Nuthatch

2 European Starling

2 American Robin

4 American Goldfinch

2 Fox Sparrow

6 Dark-eyed Junco

2 White-throated Sparrow

4 Northern Cardinal

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.

Recordings are not used to attract birds.

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

Saturday morning walks: Start at 8:00 a.m. and cover a distance of two miles.  Birders walk from the meeting spot counterclockwise 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. After crossing the Music Bridge birders walk through the parking lot and around the Columbia Basin (North Lagoon) and return to our meeting spot.  In late fall, winter and early spring, the birders check for birds on the lakefront at the Outer Harbor near LaRabida Hospital and the Inner Harbor after the Wooded Island walk.

Meeting Spot:  Birders meet on the west shore of the Columbia Basin (North Lagoon).  Park on Stony Island Avenue near 59th Street, walk east across the parkland area, then cross Cornell Drive to reach the spot.

Good birding everyone,

Jennie