Photo credit: Great horned owl by Cleve Nash

Hello everyone,

What a great morning! Not only was the weather gorgeous, we had birds everywhere. Our migrant Kinglets, both types, and White-throated Sparrows were seen and heard throughout the walk. The Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers and Brown Creepers have arrived too. Some of our warblers are still here but with large flocks of Yellow-rumped Warblers arriving in the last week to replace the Bay-breasted and Blackpolls. Special warbler sightings were a Northern Parula, female Black-throated Blue, a Black-throated Green and a Pine Warbler. Another special guest was a Blue-headed Vireo on the center path.

While looking forlornly through the fence into the Osaka Garden, we found a Great Egret, a Great Blue Heron and a juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron. As some of you know, a few of us contacted the Chicago Park District employees who run the Osaka Garden and tried to convince them to open the garden at 8:30am on Saturdays, at least during the months of May and September. After several emails back and forth they refused to consider changing the hours. It’s a shame that Jackson Park now seems to be focused on the tourists and not the residents who pay their taxes to maintain the park, and pay the salaries of the CPD staff.

Jen and Caterina spotted a Yellow-billed Cuckoo near the soccer field, causing a lot of excitement among our members. We had great views of two juvenile Red-headed Woodpeckers from the meadow. The puffball mushrooms have made an appearance, as information for those who like to harvest and eat them. In sad news, the huge old dead tree on the east side overlook has fallen, taking out a couple smaller trees as it fell. It was not cut down by the park district, it clearly fell naturally, but the Starlings, Tree Swallows and Northern Flickers who used it for their nests will miss it next year. I’m just glad that it fell after nesting season was complete.

BIRDERS: Marian, Jennie, Robert, Simone, Mike, Luther, Rebecca, Laurie, Mark C., Leslie, Kavya, Andrew, Madhu, Jan, Renate, Jen, Daniela, Howard, Jeff, Cheryl, Caterina, Traci, Sarah, Amir, and welcome to Christine, Melissa, Zoey, Nemo, Becca, Mel, Alie, and Pamela.

TIME:   8:00am to 1:30pm     

WEATHER: 60 degrees, sunny

Compiler: Cheryl

1. Canada Goose   Number observed: 70

2. Wood Duck   Number observed: 41

3. Mallard   Number observed: 7

4. Mourning Dove   Number observed: 1

5. Yellow-billed Cuckoo   Number observed: 1

6. Chimney Swift   Number observed: 3

7. Ruby-throated Hummingbird   Number observed: 1

8. Ring-billed Gull   Number observed: 2

9. Double-crested Cormorant   Number observed: 4

10. Black-crowned Night Heron   Number observed: 1

11. Great Egret   Number observed: 1

12. Great Blue Heron   Number observed: 6

13. Cooper's Hawk   Number observed: 2

14. Red-shouldered Hawk   Number observed: 1

15. Belted Kingfisher   Number observed: 2

16. Yellow-bellied Sapsucker   Number observed: 12

17. Red-headed Woodpecker   Number observed: 2

18. Red-bellied Woodpecker   Number observed: 1

19. Downy Woodpecker   Number observed: 3

20. Hairy Woodpecker   Number observed: 4

21. Northern Flicker   Number observed: 4

22. Eastern Phoebe   Number observed: 1

23. Blue-headed Vireo   Number observed: 2

24. Red-eyed Vireo   Number observed: 1

25. Blue Jay   Number observed: 2

26. American Crow   Number observed: 20

27. Black-capped Chickadee   Number observed: 8

28. Ruby-crowned Kinglet   Number observed: 3

29. Golden-crowned Kinglet   Number observed: 15

30. White-breasted Nuthatch   Number observed: 3

31. Red-breasted Nuthatch   Number observed: 2

32. Brown Creeper   Number observed: 7

33. Winter Wren   Number observed: 2

34. European Starling   Number observed: 274

35. Gray Catbird   Number observed: 4

36. Gray-cheeked Thrush   Number observed: 1

37. Swainson's Thrush   Number observed: 5

38. Hermit Thrush   Number observed: 3

39. American Robin   Number observed: 9

40. Cedar Waxwing   Number observed: 6

41. House Sparrow   Number observed: 5

42. House Finch   Number observed: 2

43. American Goldfinch   Number observed: 6

44. Chipping Sparrow   Number observed: 2

45. Dark-eyed Junco   Number observed: 9

46. White-crowned Sparrow   Number observed: 3

47. White-throated Sparrow   Number observed: 24

48. Tennessee Warbler   Number observed: 1

49. Orange-crowned Warbler   Number observed: 1

50. Nashville Warbler   Number observed: 3

51. Common Yellowthroat   Number observed: 2

52. American Redstart   Number observed: 1

53. Cape May Warbler   Number observed: 1

54. Northern Parula   Number observed: 1

55. Magnolia Warbler   Number observed: 1

56. Bay-breasted Warbler   Number observed: 3

57. Blackpoll Warbler   Number observed: 5

58. Black-throated Blue Warbler   Number observed: 1

59. Palm Warbler   Number observed: 4

60. Pine Warbler   Number observed: 1

61. Yellow-rumped Warbler   Number observed: 53

62. Black-throated Green Warbler   Number observed: 2

63. Northern Cardinal   Number observed: 4

64. Rose-breasted Grosbeak   Number observed: 2

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