Hello everyone,

Although it was a lovely fall morning, the birding was pretty slow, with the exception of a nice pocket of birds at the south end of the island. A majestic Red-tailed Hawk flew right over our heads, clearly showing us its belly band to help us with our ID. There were a lot of Juncos scattered about. The Great Blue Herons are still here and we had one Great Egret. Wood Ducks and White-throated Sparrows were plentiful and a few Kinglets are still here.

Marian informed us that the Giant Puffball, Kristin and Cheryl’s favorite local mushroom, was named the Illinois State Fungus. Who knew there was an Illinois state fungus? It turns out that there are many state symbols. Check them out: https://dnr.illinois.gov/education/ilstatesymbols.html#:~:text=The%20giant%20puffball%20(Calvatia%20gigantea,the%20State%20Fungus%20in%202024.

BIRDERS: Leslie, Mike, Marian, Jennie, Luther, Satya, Caterina, Mark, Roger, Gary, Jane, Robert, Simone, Rob, Bruce, Pam, Renate and welcome to Brie and Justin

TIME: 8:00am to 11:00am                 

WEATHER: Sunny, high 40s, light winds

Compiler: Mike

Photographers: Leslie and Gary

Canada Goose Number observed: 56

Wood Duck  Number observed: 21

Mallard  Number observed: 5

Ring-billed Gull  Number observed: 11

Double-crested Cormorant  Number observed: 5

Great Egret  Number observed: 1

Great Blue Heron  Number observed: 5

Cooper's Hawk  Number observed: 1

Red-tailed Hawk  Number observed: 1

Belted Kingfisher  Number observed: 1

Red-bellied Woodpecker  Number observed: 3

Downy Woodpecker  Number observed: 5

Northern Flicker  Number observed: 1

American Crow  Number observed: 6

Black-capped Chickadee  Number observed: 8

Ruby-crowned Kinglet  Number observed: 1

Golden-crowned Kinglet  Number observed: 5

White-breasted Nuthatch  Number observed: 1

Brown Creeper  Number observed: 1

Winter Wren  Number observed: 1

European Starling  Number observed: 13

Hermit Thrush  Number observed: 5

American Robin  Number observed: 6

House Sparrow  Number observed: 1

House Finch  Number observed: 1

American Goldfinch  Number observed: 5

Dark-eyed Junco  Number observed: 12

White-crowned Sparrow  Number observed: 1

White-throated Sparrow  Number observed: 14

Song Sparrow  Number observed: 2

Northern Cardinal  Number observed: 8

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.

Good birding everyone,

Jennie

Photo: Blue-winged Teal by Jodi Taylor