Photo credit: Tennessee warbler, Ben Svengros
Hello everyone,
By far, the highlight of the morning was the surprise appearance by Tommy, one of the stewards of the Osaka Garden, who said that he heard that our group was disappointed that we couldn’t go into the garden at the start of our walk any longer. So, he took it upon himself to come and meet us and let us in! We were totally surprised by this kind and generous act and enjoyed checking out the garden once again. We found one juvenile and one adult Black-crowned Night Heron – perhaps the adult is our old friend Osaka? A Great Blue Heron was standing guard near the moon bridge and it didn’t seem to mind the group of birders watching it, although we made sure to keep a respectful distance. Tommy is a seasonal employee and will only be working until September 25, but he’s going to try and come out and let us in the garden next Saturday, and both the Saturday and Sunday of the Urban Birding Festival. Many thanks to Tommy for his kindness.
It felt like it was a pretty slow late fall morning but we ended up with 59 species (+ 1 “spuh”) so I guess it wasn’t as slow as it seemed. It was a nice raptor day again and although the swallows have left us for their winter homes, the Chimney Swifts are still here. The fall warblers have arrived in force and kept us busy figuring out who was who. Most of them were in the parkway between Stony Island and Cornell so check them out if you’re over that way this week.
BIRDERS: Andrew, Kara, Robert, Simone, Val, Katie, Cheryl, Caterina, Mike, Jennie, Marian, Leslie, Mark C., Mark W., Luther, Lucy, Madhu, Jan, Amir, Marisa and welcome to Chris, Jane, Kinzee, Haley, and Dakota.
TIME: 8:00am to 12:35pm
WEATHER: 74 degrees, sunny
Compiler: Cheryl
Canada Goose Number observed: 28
Wood Duck Number observed: 9
Gadwall Number observed: 1
Mallard Number observed: 10
Chimney Swift Number observed: 22
Ruby-throated Hummingbird Number observed: 6
Ring-billed Gull Number observed: 4
American Herring Gull Number observed: 2
Double-crested Cormorant Number observed: 3
Black-crowned Night Heron Number observed: 3
Green Heron Number observed: 2
Great Blue Heron Number observed: 5
Turkey Vulture Number observed: 1
Cooper's Hawk Number observed: 1
Broad-winged Hawk Number observed: 1
Red-tailed Hawk Number observed: 2
Belted Kingfisher Number observed: 1
Downy Woodpecker Number observed: 4
Hairy Woodpecker Number observed: 2
Northern Flicker Number observed: 3
American Kestrel Number observed: 1
Eastern Wood-Pewee Number observed: 1
Least Flycatcher Number observed: 1
Empidonax sp. Number observed: 1
Eastern Phoebe Number observed: 1
Eastern Warbling Vireo Number observed: 6
Red-eyed Vireo Number observed: 2
American Crow Number observed: 4
Black-capped Chickadee Number observed: 9
White-breasted Nuthatch Number observed: 1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Number observed: 3
Northern House Wren Number observed: 1
European Starling Number observed: 11
Gray Catbird Number observed: 8
Gray-cheeked Thrush Number observed: 2
Swainson's Thrush Number observed: 5
American Robin Number observed: 7
Cedar Waxwing Number observed: 1
House Sparrow Number observed: 13
House Finch Number observed: 1
American Goldfinch Number observed: 8
Song Sparrow Number observed: 2
Red-winged Blackbird Number observed: 1
Brown-headed Cowbird Number observed: 1
Northern Waterthrush Number observed: 2
Golden-winged Warbler Number observed: 1
Blue-winged Warbler Number observed: 1
Black-and-white Warbler Number observed: 1
Tennessee Warbler Number observed: 7
Mourning Warbler Number observed: 1
American Redstart Number observed: 4
Cape May Warbler Number observed: 5
Magnolia Warbler Number observed: 5
Bay-breasted Warbler Number observed: 3
Blackburnian Warbler Number observed: 5
Chestnut-sided Warbler Number observed: 2
Blackpoll Warbler Number observed: 4
Canada Warbler Number observed: 1
Wilson's Warbler Number observed: 1
Northern Cardinal Number observed: 4
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