Photo: Green heron by Lindsay Vacek
Hello everyone,
Well, we almost had as many bird species as birders today, but we missed the mark by one with seventeen species of birds and eighteen birders. It must be winter!
Even though the weather wasn’t bad it was a very quiet day bird-wise. It was nice to see Tree Sparrows and one Snow Bunting was heard flying over. The big surprise of the day was the Gray Catbird that was “meowing” from a bush near the driving range. The latest record of a Catbird in Jackson Park is Paul Clyne’s sighting on November 28, 2014, so our bird came close to the late record.
BIRDERS: Mike, Jennie, Cheryl, Eric, Kristin, Gary, Chelle, Leslie, Roselle, Chris, Bruce, Trillium, Stefan, Ezra, Courtney, Marisa, Renate and welcome back to Mark W.
TIME: 8:00am to 10:00am
WEATHER: Sunny, 37 degrees, light winds
Compiler: Cheryl
Photographers: Gary and Eric
Canada Goose Number observed: 40
Mallard Number observed: 3
Ring-billed Gull Number observed: 2
Great Blue Heron Number observed: 1
Belted Kingfisher Number observed: 1
Downy Woodpecker Number observed: 2
Northern Flicker Number observed: 2
American Crow Number observed: 7
Black-capped Chickadee Number observed: 2
European Starling Number observed: 15
Gray Catbird Number observed: 1
American Robin Number observed: 3
American Goldfinch Number observed: 4
Snow Bunting Number observed: 1, Heard and recorded only
American Tree Sparrow Number observed: 14
Dark-eyed Junco Number observed: 13
Northern Cardinal Number observed: 5
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