NPV Birding: Bird Walk for The Urban Birding Festival
Rain was off and on the forecast for this weekend's inaugural Urban Birding Festival, and it's looking like no rain for now. It's good to be back at North Park for migration season. The change to the landscape looks less drastic than at the start of our Spring season, but that's perhaps because so much new growth has occurred where the buckthorn once was.
One of the more interesting showcases is that we first found abundant birds on the Northeastern corner—after the hill and avoiding the "cattail-catwalk"—which was often much slower for us before the clearings. That's where we found a Magnolia Warbler, a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, and a Ruby-throated Hummingbird. My camera is out of commission at the moment, so these images are from the archives.
We missed a few warblers who were too quick to be ID'd inside the Wooded Trail. Quick but not un-ID'able, a few birders got looks at an American Redstart. We had 29 species in total, with just over 30 birders.
We'll see how things pick up throughout the rest of the season. I hope you have a good weekend planned. Be sure to stop by the Nature Museum to check out the vendor space—even if you missed out on registering for the rest of the fest. Remember, as ever, our walk will remain free and open to the public
Reset with Sasha-Ann Simons
I was on WBEZ earlier this week to promote the Urban Birding Festival. I was on as an organizing member of Chicago BIPOC Birder, though it should be noted that I am an organizer for the festival as an individual. You can check out the segment here:
Lynnea Domienik
Lastly, check out this Instagram video on software I used to create the festival logo!
eBird Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S194555275
Species List:
- Canada Goose
- Wood Duck
- Mourning Dove
- Chimney Swift
- Ruby-throated Hummingbird
- Green Heron
- Great Blue Heron
- Cooper's Hawk
- Belted Kingfisher
- Red-bellied Woodpecker
- Downy Woodpecker
- Northern Flicker
- Least Flycatcher
- Blue Jay
- Black-capped Chickadee
- White-breasted Nuthatch
- Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
- House Wren
- European Starling
- Gray Catbird
- Brown Thrasher
- Swainson's Thrush
- American Robin
- American Goldfinch
- Common Grackle
- American Redstart
- Magnolia Warbler
- Northern Cardinal
- Indigo Bunting
This is how migration is looking today so far:
- J'orge 🐦