Hello everyone,
Many thanks to Cheryl and Marian for leading the walk last Saturday. Cheryl’s report is below. And, we’ll have our rescheduled picture day this Saturday so be sure and wear your t-shirts!
It was a busy day for the wading birds and we had a Heron trifecta before 9:00 am. The Great Egrets were also in abundance and every time you turned your head you were seeing a flash of white. Our count was accurate at 5 and there were possibly more. Osaka, our favorite Black-crowned Night Heron was in his usual spot in the Japanese Garden and even hopped into one of the small bushes at one point. Another heron highlight was the presence of a juvenile Green Heron along with 2 adults in the Columbia Basin and a juvenile Black-crowned near the Music Bridge. These birds were very accommodating for pictures today.
Young Eastern Kingbirds were in abundance as previously reported but this week we added young Purple Martins. The trees outside the Japanese Garden were full of them. The young Purple Martins were a little tricky to visually ID but all we had to do was match the bird with the song. When Gary first arrived in the morning, he observed that all of the boxes were full of both adults and juveniles. On a sad note, it seems that we may have said goodbye to most of the Cliff Swallows. Randy S. only heard a couple on Saturday on his walk but observed about 200 of them, Wednesday, July 17th, on the museum facade. It seemed like they were gathering to leave. We have also seen that same behavior in previous years. Maybe they were just doing a trial run and will be back next week.
We were excited to have Henry, a young student from China with us. He was completing a summer program at University of Chicago and hopes to apply there once he finishes high school. Hopefully we will see him back Fall of 2025. He does go birding in China and shared some amazing photos of the birds that he regularly sees. We wish him well in his studies and a safe journey back home.
BIRDERS: Cheryl, Marian, Kristin, Luther, Mark C., Caterina, Simone, Robert, Gary, Marisa, Paul, Lucy, David, Jack, Tyler, Honest, Danielle, Pam, Jan, Gina, Tim and Peter. A warm welcome to Henry, a visiting high school senior from China!
TIME: 8:00am to 12:05pm
WEATHER: 71-77 degrees, Broken clouds, light breeze
Compiler: Cheryl
Photographers: Paul, Marisa, Gary
Canada Goose Number observed: 40
Wood Duck Number observed: 3
Mallard Number observed: 9
Black-billed Cuckoo Number observed: 1
Chimney Swift Number observed: 8
Ruby-throated Hummingbird Number observed: 2
Ring-billed Gull Number observed: 2
Caspian Tern Number observed: 2
Double-crested Cormorant Number observed: 1
Black-crowned Night Heron Number observed: 3
Green Heron Number observed: 3
Great Egret Number observed: 5
Great Blue Heron Number observed: 7
Belted Kingfisher Number observed: 2
Downy Woodpecker Number observed: 2
Northern Flicker Number observed: 2
Willow Flycatcher Number observed: 1
Eastern Phoebe Number observed: 3
Eastern Kingbird Number observed: 17
Warbling Vireo Number observed: 7
Black-capped Chickadee Number observed: 2
Purple Martin Number observed: 78
Northern Rough-winged Swallow Number observed: 3
Barn Swallow Number observed: 12
White-breasted Nuthatch Number observed: 3
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Number observed: 5
House Wren Number observed: 2
European Starling Number observed: 75
Gray Catbird Number observed: 5
American Robin Number observed: 20
House Sparrow Number observed: 1
House Finch Number observed: 1
American Goldfinch Number observed: 9
Chipping Sparrow Number observed: 1
Song Sparrow Number observed: 3
Orchard Oriole Number observed: 1
Baltimore Oriole Number observed: 3
Red-winged Blackbird Number observed: 6
Yellow Warbler Number observed: 7
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.
Good birding everyone,
Cheryl and Jennie
Photo: Yellow-crowned night heron by Andres Leon