24 Mar 2024 8 min read npvnc

North Park Village Birding: Maple Season Updates

North Park Village Nature Center Trailhead

The Maple Tree Fest Bird Walk and a Praire Makeover

It was good to see that a few folks took me up on the opportunity for a Sunday morning walk through the North Park Village Nature Center. As we arrived the staff and vendors were already preparing their stations for the second day of the Maple Tree Fest. A total of 10 birders gathered this Sunday morning, March 17th, 2023.

As Laura prepared to maintain our checklist, Geoff warned us of big changes at the park. I thought he was referring to the new makeover inside the field house but we soon learn he meant the recent restoration efforts along the trails. It was quite a surprise. This preseason bird walk report features photos of these changes and one from our walk:

Four individuals walk along a designated chipwood path between a recently restored woodland area, and a praire hill. In the corner of the image, a set of stairs shows that the camera is being operated from a slightly elevated position. — Looking southwest from midway up the stairs on the park's eastern hill.

Spring Cleaning

Some of you might remember the start of last spring's walks and how different the area around the trailhead looked compared to previous years. This was thanks to new hardware at the Nature Center enabling faster buckthorn removal. We would continue to see beneficial clearing of the invasive shrubs throughout the seasons but we also noted the bird diversity changes in this area.

Previously, this was a reliable spot for catbirds and other thrushes. While we still found a few thrushes here in 2023, it was not quite like before. I don't recall seeing any catbirds here last year. A nice touch on our recent visit was seeing some spare deadwood placed in the area. I recall a discussion among the group that raptors might have better flight paths here. Sure enough, we did see many more raptors in 2023.

Pictures of Things That Aren't There

Looking east at the diverging paths between the Main Loop and Wetland Trail.

This year's clean-up begins as we head east on the Main Loop. Notice anything different?

Looking northeast a few steps into the path marked Wetland Trail.

As we get closer, we see that much of the area has been cleared. So much so that we can see the hill from here!

Looking north, the eastern pond can be seen from here.

Not only has the buckthorn been cleared but we can also see that many dead trees have come down—though a few remain. What do you think this might change in our bird walks?

I think of the many woodpeckers we often see in this area. The park crew shared that only the hazardous hollow trees were cut down. We certainly don't want those falling while patrons walk the trails.

This clearing is probably for the best as we would often only find birds on the tree crowns in this area. We'll have a better view of the remaining dead trees. We can also see the eastern pond from here now! Pretty neat.

As we continue, we can see more of the cleared areas. The left side was good for swamp sparrows and flycatchers. I wonder how this will change moving forward. Notice the area on the right?

The sign on the right reads, "This is not a trail, it's a swale."

This may be one of the most exciting updates this year, as on the right side we would sometimes find goldfinches near the trail but virtually all other birds were only audible past the thicket. Even the swale is now clearly visible. The birds seemed to love the change and I think you will too—as you can now see completely through this prairie area.

A long unseen nestbox in the prairie next to a brush pile and the edge of the swale.

Just to the left of the swale, we saw something many haven't seen for years. Do you see that white object? That's a nest box! It turns out this was a surprise even for the Nature Center staff. I hope we find some nesters here this year.

Back on the trail, here is a closer look at how much has been cleared. Here's our first glimpse of an old treasure trove where the trail meets the bridge. This edge habitat was a premier spot for finding birds, like our Great Crested Flycatchers. On the plus side, we get a better look at the water's edge, and hopefully some more shorebirds.

'Til It's Gone

With all that cleared, the aggressiveness of the cattails becomes apparent. Upon reaching the end of the hill we see that some of the thick shrubs remain. Perhaps some birds may gravitate to this northeastern corner. Let's be sure to check it out throughout the year.

Here we heard cardinals, a flicker, several juncos, and chickadees. Plenty of robins on the ground too.

The buckthorn surrounds the entire area. I'm curious to see it in migration season, but I'm also willing to accept its removal as the invasive species cannot be contained nor should it be allowed to spread aggressively again. Still, it cannot be denied that it harbored some great birds and was proliferated by birds.

European buckthornRead more about buckthorn in Illinois...

Beyond this point, the path remains the same as we've known. On the Maple Tree Fest Bird Walk, we found a very cooperative Golden-crowned Kinglet who remained still for several minutes. This was the same spot where we first saw the kinglets last year.

Deer Free Zone

The recent changes made us wonder what might happen with the deer-free testing grounds, the large fenced area between the Woodland Trail and Savanna Trail. Here, wildflowers can bloom without the dangers of being eaten in droves. I believe this area will remain as it continues as an exemplary model for managed land.

While passing through the savanna, I noticed some buckthorn in the distance to the south. While I mildly enjoyed the Peterson Ave roll of buckthorn, I did not feel the same about this area. I want a better look at the raptors flying through here.

I'm looking forward to the continued restoration efforts at North Park Village Nature Center, now led by Center Director, Matt Renfree. The newly cleared area is sure to change how we observe birds in the area, and it only fosters curiosity for what the rest of the park could look like once the invasive shrub is removed.

Maybe one day we can also find a way to limit the deer population inside the park. The staff shared that the park will soon receive a new dedicated Natural Areas Crew to continue cleaning up the park. Be ready for more change!

Nocturnal Migration Monitoring

I've shared about a project I am working on to study nocturnal migration across Chicago. I'm happy to report that we finally added a node at North Park Village Nature Center.

The white bulbous object you see above is that unit. It contains a specialized microphone I designed to optimize the capture of nocturnal flight calls and an automated audio recorder. The unit is set to capture sound from half an hour after sunset until two hours past sunrise.

After the data is collected, it is processed through a machine learning algorithm, Nighthawk, to analyze how many nocturnal flight calls are detected, and what species of family of birds made the calls. Below is the peak night during a two-week trial atop the Willis Tower.

I can't wait to see what the data from North Park Village uncovers about the night sky above the Nature Center.

Willis Tower on the night of September 28, 2023

Detections: 4,635
Distinct Species Identified: 28
Distinct Nocturnal Flight Call Variety: 45
Most Abundant Detections:
709 Magnolia Warblers, 373 American Redstarts, 161 Cape May Warblers, 130 Ovenbirds, 88 Black-throated Blue Warblers

Bird Photos Too

Eastern Bluebird in the Savanna Trail at NPV:NC, March 22, 2023

Here's a bird we missed on our Sunday morning walk. Thanks to a tip from the NPVNC staffer, Lauren, I watched for bluebirds along the Wooded Trail and Savanna Trail—and found one in the latter.

On exiting, I noticed seven Dark-eyed Juncos under the now-filled bird feeders near the first gathering area after the gate. Also present was a White-breasted Nuthatch right on the feeder.

Migratory Bird Walks at NPV:NC

Checklists

NPV:NC Photowalk - 03/22/23
eBird Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S165706519

Maple Tree Fest - Early Morning Bird Walk - 03/17/23
eBird Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S165180782
Species List:

Canada Goose
Wood Duck
Mallard
Mourning Dove
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Cooper's Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Blue Jay
American Crow
Black-capped Chickadee
Golden-crowned Kinglet
White-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
American Robin
American Goldfinch
Dark-eyed Junco
White-throated Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Common Grackle
Northern Cardinal

Be careful on the way in: