Photo: American redstart by Patrice Bouchard
Hello everyone,
Important Note: we will not have a bird walk on Saturday July 2. The Chosen Few Music Festival is back this year and as many of you know, the east parking lot, meadow and soccer field are closed off for it. Traffic and parking is quite challenging too, so we will skip our walk this Saturday. I encourage everyone to go birding anyway, and suggest that you visit someplace where you’ve never been before.
It was another day of family time. The Cliff Swallows were collecting mud for their nests. We saw a House Finch parent feeding one of their kids. And we saw a male Yellow Warbler feeding a juvenile. Interestingly, the Yellow Warbler juveniles are grey.
The Orchard Oriole nest in the Japanese Garden was quiet which means the kids have flown the coop. Happily, the Green Herons behind the museum have started another nest in the tree next to the one that was cut down, destroying their first nest, and killing the chicks. Miyoko was there the day after the tree was cut down and saw one dead chick. Eight cherry trees have been planted where the old trees were standing, and although cherry blossoms are pretty, it sure would have been nice if the museum had waited until after nesting season to cut down the old trees to make space for them.
BIRDERS: Mark, Adam, Mike, Hal, Jennie, Jane, Cheryl, Leslie, Gary, Rob, Eric, Miyoko, Eileen, Monica, Tracy, Karin, Steve, Peter and welcome to Mitch and Emilia.
TIME: 8:00am to 10:45am
WEATHER: 75 degrees, cloudy, light rain began at about 9:30am
Compiler: Cheryl
Photographers: Steve (birds) and Eric (insect-a Transverse banded Flower Fly)
Canada Goose Number observed: 71
Wood Duck Number observed: 1
Mallard Number observed: 8
Chimney Swift Number observed: 1
Ruby-throated Hummingbird Number observed: 3
Ring-billed Gull Number observed: 3
Caspian Tern Number observed: 2
Double-crested Cormorant Number observed: 2
Great Blue Heron Number observed: 1
Green Heron Number observed: 3
Black-crowned Night-Heron Number observed: 5
Cooper's Hawk Number observed: 1
Downy Woodpecker Number observed: 1
Willow Flycatcher Number observed: 2
Empidonax sp. Number observed: 1
Eastern Phoebe Number observed: 1
Eastern Kingbird Number observed: 3
Warbling Vireo Number observed: 2
Black-capped Chickadee Number observed: 1
Purple Martin Number observed: 12
Barn Swallow Number observed: 10
Cliff Swallow Number observed: 8
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Number observed: 1
House Wren Number observed: 2
European Starling Number observed: 27
Gray Catbird Number observed: 5
American Robin Number observed: 5
Cedar Waxwing Number observed: 3
House Sparrow Number observed: 1
House Finch Number observed: 3
American Goldfinch Number observed: 1
Song Sparrow Number observed: 1
Orchard Oriole Number observed: 1
Baltimore Oriole Number observed: 8
Red-winged Blackbird Number observed: 10
Brown-headed Cowbird Number observed: 1
Common Grackle Number observed: 2
Yellow Warbler Number observed: 9
Northern Cardinal Number observed: 2
Indigo Bunting Number observed: 1
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