Photo: Savannah sparrow by Margo Burnison

Hello everyone,

It was a gloriously beautiful Chicago morning with blue skies and fluffy clouds. The crowds visiting the newly opened Obama Presidential Center weren’t too large and there was plenty of parking for our birders when everyone arrived at 8:00am.

It was a good day for nests with the Baltimore Oriole nest in view and a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher visiting its nest regularly. We heard Indigo Buntings all around but they were not very good about letting us see them. After much searching, we finally found one in the former rose garden area and it was nice enough to pose and sing for us for quite some time.

An Osprey was a nice surprise and it flew directly above us, looking at us curiously just as we were looking at them. A Yellow-billed Cuckoo was spotted in the area near the tennis courts -congrats to the group that had the good idea to go back there and look for it.

BIRDERS: Howard, Marian, Caterina, Jeffrey, Luther, Leslie, Cheryl, Marian, Val, Mark W., Eric, Jennie, Andrew, Renate, Mark N., Sandra, Katie, Mike, Robert, Simone, Madhu, Gary, Marisa, Sarah, Amir, Jane and welcome to Lea, Liz, Sam, John, and Susan and Jerry who were visiting from the U.K.

TIME: 8:00am to 12:05pm

WEATHER: 65 degrees, sunny, gorgeous

Compiler: Cheryl

1. Canada Goose   Number observed: 69

2. Wood Duck   Number observed: 1

3. Mallard   Number observed: 9

4. Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)   Number observed: 8

5. Yellow-billed Cuckoo   Number observed: 1

6. Chimney Swift   Number observed: 27

7. Killdeer   Number observed: 1

8. Ring-billed Gull   Number observed: 7

9. American Herring Gull   Number observed: 5

10. Caspian Tern   Number observed: 3

11. Double-crested Cormorant   Number observed: 1

12. Black-crowned Night Heron   Number observed: 2

13. Green Heron   Number observed: 3

14. Great Egret   Number observed: 1

15. Great Blue Heron   Number observed: 3

16. Turkey Vulture   Number observed: 4

17. Osprey   Number observed: 1

18. Cooper's Hawk   Number observed: 1

19. Downy Woodpecker   Number observed: 1

20. Northern Flicker   Number observed: 1

21. Eastern Wood-Pewee   Number observed: 3

22. Great Crested Flycatcher   Number observed: 2

23. Eastern Kingbird   Number observed: 4

24. Eastern Warbling Vireo   Number observed: 7

25. Red-eyed Vireo   Number observed: 1

26. Black-capped Chickadee   Number observed: 5

27. Tree Swallow   Number observed: 1

28. Purple Martin   Number observed: 12

29. Northern Rough-winged Swallow   Number observed: 41

30. Barn Swallow   Number observed: 14

31. Cliff Swallow   Number observed: 3

32. White-breasted Nuthatch   Number observed: 1

33. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher   Number observed: 4

34. Northern House Wren   Number observed: 6

35. European Starling   Number observed: 59

36. Gray Catbird   Number observed: 3

37. American Robin   Number observed: 15

38. Cedar Waxwing   Number observed: 5

39. House Sparrow   Number observed: 3

40. House Finch   Number observed: 4

41. American Goldfinch   Number observed: 2

42. Chipping Sparrow   Number observed: 1

43. White-crowned Sparrow   Number observed: 1

44. Song Sparrow   Number observed: 6

45. Orchard Oriole   Number observed: 1

46. Baltimore Oriole   Number observed: 7

47. Red-winged Blackbird   Number observed: 21

48. Brown-headed Cowbird   Number observed: 4

49. Common Grackle   Number observed: 3

50. Common Yellowthroat   Number observed: 1

51. Northern Yellow Warbler   Number observed: 16

52. Northern Cardinal   Number observed: 6

53. Indigo Bunting   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