Hello everyone,
Mark your calendars: The annual Spring Bird Count for the Illinois Natural History Survey will take place on Saturday May 10, 2025, and once again our group will perform the count for the Wooded Island/Bobolink Meadow area. We’ll meet at our usual time and follow our usual route but we’ll carefully find and count every bird we see. We need all the birders we can get to make sure we don’t miss any birds so I hope you can join us. For more information about the Spring Bird Count and the Illinois Natural Survey, click here.
My apologies that this report is going out so late, but I’ve been distracted by birds this week! Spring migration is in full swing and I hope everyone has a chance to get out and see all our wonderful spring visitors, as I have done the last few days.
We had some very nice sightings even though it was a bit chilly, and we ended up with a very respectable 61 species on the list. White-throated sparrows were plentiful and the count of 43 is probably an undercount since they can be very hard to find as they dig in the leaf litter. We had a lovely look at a Baltimore Oriole in the same tree as an Orchard Oriole.
We were surprised and happy to find a pair of Gadwall and a pair of Bufflehead paddling around, and three Green-winged Teal were hanging around with them. These are three ducks that we don’t see very often in the park.
Oddly, we didn’t have any Great Blue Herons on this walk. It almost seems like the decoys that are supposed to attract them are scaring them away. We had plenty of Green Herons though, and they are always nice to see.
BIRDERS: Gary, Luther, Darby, Katie, Traci, Mark W., Caterina, Marian, Jennie, Cheryl, Daniela, Kristin, Lucy, Simone, Robert, Mark C., Howard, Val, Marisa, Tyler, Tracy, Jeff, Renate, Pam and welcome to Julie, Joan, Laura, and Mark L.
TIME: 8:00am to 11:40am
WEATHER: 44 degrees, cloudy, breezy, becoming sunny
Compiler: Cheryl
Canada Goose Number observed: 15
Wood Duck Number observed: 4
Blue-winged Teal Number observed: 3
Gadwall Number observed: 2
Mallard Number observed: 18
Green-winged Teal Number observed: 3
Bufflehead Number observed: 2
Red-breasted Merganser Number observed: 1
Mourning Dove Number observed: 2
Chimney Swift Number observed: 9
American Coot Number observed: 2
Ring-billed Gull Number observed: 12
American Herring Gull Number observed: 1
Caspian Tern Number observed: 1
Pied-billed Grebe Number observed: 1
Double-crested Cormorant Number observed: 2
Green Heron Number observed: 3
Cooper's Hawk Number observed: 2
Belted Kingfisher Number observed: 1
Downy Woodpecker Number observed: 3
Northern Flicker Number observed: 1
American Kestrel Number observed: 1
American Crow Number observed: 2
Black-capped Chickadee Number observed: 3
Tree Swallow Number observed: 12
Purple Martin Number observed: 8
Northern Rough-winged Swallow Number observed: 16
Barn Swallow Number observed: 17
Cliff Swallow Number observed: 10
Ruby-crowned Kinglet Number observed: 9
Brown Creeper Number observed: 1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Number observed: 3
Northern House Wren Number observed: 1
Marsh Wren Number observed: 1
European Starling Number observed: 5
Gray Catbird Number observed: 1
Hermit Thrush Number observed: 1
American Robin Number observed: 15
House Sparrow Number observed: 3
House Finch Number observed: 2
American Goldfinch Number observed: 6
Field Sparrow Number observed: 1
American Tree Sparrow Number observed: 1
Dark-eyed Junco Number observed: 1
White-crowned Sparrow Number observed: 1
White-throated Sparrow Number observed: 43
Song Sparrow Number observed: 4
Swamp Sparrow Number observed: 3
Eastern Towhee Number observed: 1
Orchard Oriole Number observed: 3
Baltimore Oriole Number observed: 1
Red-winged Blackbird Number observed: 20
Brown-headed Cowbird Number observed: 5
Common Grackle Number observed: 5
Black-and-white Warbler Number observed: 1
Orange-crowned Warbler Number observed: 2
Yellow Warbler Number observed: 2
Palm Warbler Number observed: 9
Yellow-rumped Warbler Number observed: 2
Black-throated Green Warbler Number observed: 1
Northern Cardinal Number observed: 3
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: Trumpeter swans by Rachel Hogancamp