Note from Jennie: Many thanks again to Cheryl for filling in as report writer during my absence.
Greetings Everyone,
The changing seasons are definitely upon us, but thankfully, we were able to get a full walk in before the winds shifted and the temperatures dropped. Even so, many of the birders were already in full winter gear. The threat of bad weather did not stop the birders from coming out and we had 35 people on the walk!
We had a surprising number of species for the second week of November, and were happy to welcome 4 Hooded Mergansers back to Jackson Park. We observed 2 males and 2 females swimming together. The males looked extremely handsome with full hoods up and were definitely trying to impress the females.
The raptors and woodpeckers were out in full force and we had very high numbers of Canada Geese, Starlings and Robins. The highlight of the walk happened when we saw a Red-shouldered Hawk, a Cooper’s Hawk and 2 Kestrels all in the area of the soccer fields. The Crows were having a field day! We veered off of our usual route chasing the unusually small Cooper’s to verify that it was not a Sharp-shinned but it turned out not to be. Pictures don’t lie.
BIRDERS: Mike, Cheryl, Luther, Mark W., Leslie, Val, Lucy, Daniela, Gary, Caterina, Eric, Mark C., Elise, Freddy, Mark M., Sarah, Madhu, Jeff, Katie, Traci, Patrick, Jan, Pat, Andy, Sarah W., Amir, Marisa, Renate, and welcome to David, Ran, Celia, Eugenio, Denise, Jennifer and Kaveri.
TIME: 8:00am to 11:35am
WEATHER: Low-mid 40s, overcast and gray with gentle NE wind
Compiler: Cheryl
Canada Goose Number observed: 285
Wood Duck Number observed: 7
Mallard Number observed: 3
Hooded Merganser Number observed: 4
Ring-billed Gull Number observed: 5
American Herring Gull Number observed: 2
Great Blue Heron Number observed: 3
Cooper's Hawk Number observed: 1
Red-shouldered Hawk Number observed: 1
Belted Kingfisher Number observed: 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker Number observed: 3
Downy Woodpecker Number observed: 6
Hairy Woodpecker Number observed: 1
Northern Flicker Number observed: 6
American Kestrel Number observed: 2
American Crow Number observed: 9
Black-capped Chickadee Number observed: 5
Golden-crowned Kinglet Number observed: 1
White-breasted Nuthatch Number observed: 1
Winter Wren Number observed: 1
European Starling Number observed: 110
Hermit Thrush Number observed: 1
American Robin Number observed: 45
House Sparrow Number observed: 1
American Goldfinch Number observed: 5
American Tree Sparrow Number observed: 1
Dark-eyed Junco Number observed: 7
White-throated Sparrow Number observed: 3
Song Sparrow 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.
Best of Birding to all,
Cheryl and Jennie
Photo: American goldfinch by Will Stuart