Photo: Yellow-billed Cuckoo by Mary Miguez/Audubon Photography Awards
Hello everyone,
It was a lovely morning with a couple great highlights.
Snowy Blue is back! S/he was on the retaining wall just west of the Music Bridge, fishing in the company of a Great Egret. We didn’t see it on August 7th and I don’t believe that a sighting was reported on eBird for a week, so we’re glad s/he’s back!
Another unusual sighting was a flyover Osprey. No one in our group got a very good look at the bird and we were discussing the possible ID (kudos to Karin for suggesting an Osprey) when Tracy came along with a photo that confirmed that it was indeed an Osprey.
BIRDERS: Paul, Ginger, Mike, Marian, Cheryl, Karin, Jennie, Leslie, Lillian, Jim, Becky, Rob, Kaumudi, Sebastian, Albert, Marisa, Clara
TIME: 8:00am to 11:30am
WEATHER: Sunny, 70s, beautiful!
Compiler: Cheryl
Canada Goose Number observed: 25
Wood Duck Number observed: 6
Mallard Number observed: 9
Chimney Swift Number observed: 31
Ruby-throated Hummingbird Number observed: 4
Ring-billed Gull Number observed: 2
Caspian Tern Number observed: 1
Great Blue Heron Number observed: 13
Great Egret Number observed: 1
Snowy Egret x Little Blue Heron (hybrid) Number observed: 1
Green Heron Number observed: 5
Black-crowned Night-Heron Number observed: 2
Osprey Number observed: 1
Belted Kingfisher Number observed: 2
Downy Woodpecker Number observed: 1
Hairy Woodpecker Number observed: 2
Empidonax sp. Number observed: 1
Eastern Kingbird Number observed: 5
American Crow Number observed: 2
Black-capped Chickadee Number observed: 2
Purple Martin Number observed: 11
Barn Swallow Number observed: 29
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Number observed: 2
House Wren Number observed: 5
European Starling Number observed: 11
Gray Catbird Number observed: 5
American Robin Number observed: 7
Cedar Waxwing Number observed: 11
House Sparrow Number observed: 23
American Goldfinch Number observed: 9
Song Sparrow Number observed: 2
Baltimore Oriole Number observed: 2
Red-winged Blackbird Number observed: 3
Northern Cardinal Number observed: 1
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.
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