May migration is finally here! I look forward to it every day and it's the most exciting time of the year for me. During the whole month of May, birds are migrating north back to their breeding grounds after summering in the south, and they all come right through Illinois! One of the most exciting birding days of the whole year is Spring Bird Count (often referred to as SBC) in Evanston. Migration is all about the winds and the weather. Winds coming from the north deter birds from migrating, while south winds provide a tailwind for them, pushing them north to their final destinations in the Northern U.S. and Canada. Unfortunately, all of the north winds and rain discouraged most birds from moving up through Illinois this past Saturday, so SBC was incredibly slow with just 66 species in total, much less then last year's 98. Although we saw far fewer species, we did see a few quality birds. Ornithologist Josh Engel, his friend Amanda, and I went to The Lakefill on Northwestern University's campus for a lake watch. Although we did not see much, the sunrise was still beautiful.
Although the lake watch only resulted in 13 species, we did see this nice COMMON LOON:
We decided to call it quits with lake watching and set off to find other migrants. My favorite spot to look for passerines (warblers, vireos, sparrows, etc.) is the vegetable garden, where a nice LINCOLN'S SPARROW was the highlight. Just then, Josh heard the call of the YELLOW THROATED WARBLER. We set off to find it, and although we had already spotted it the previous weekend, it was nice to see again, and the only one ever seen on the Evanston SBC!
More walking led us to this pair of COOPER'S HAWKS, which were nesting here. It will be exciting to see the young ones once they leave the nest!
Northwestern's beach:
Since there wasn't much else on campus, we decided to move on to Perkins Woods. Perkins Woods is a tiny woods about a half a block long located in the middle of one of Evanston's most residential neighborhoods. Despite its small size, it's still be a good place for migrants. As odd as it may seem, we saw this MALLARD here:
AMERICAN ROBIN:
Just then, Josh spotted my FOY (first of the year) LEAST FLYCATCHER, followed by this beautiful male ROSE BREASTED GROSBEAK!
After a morning of slow birding, we decided to make one more stop to Memorial Park Cemetery before wrapping up. The highlight was a calling SORA and this CHIPPING SPARROW.
For the first time ever, the highlight wasn't the birds! We found this coyote's den right where we parked, and there were 9 cubs coming in and out of it. We were able to get photos and videos from just 10 feet away!
Although it wasn't the most productive SBC, it was still great to see a few nice birds and enjoy birding at my local patches! Big thanks to Josh Engel for letting me tag along!
More Birding At Montrose Point
Later in the weekend, I visited my favorite spot again - Montrose Point. This time I was joined by my friends Jake Cvetas, Oliver Burrus and Eddie Kasper. To me, birding is always much more fun with friends. During our visit, this female (and also my first ever) HOODED WARBLER completely stole the show! He was very photogenic, and dozens of photographers lined up to get pictures.
After walking around for awhile, another birder informed me that the same Yellow Breasted Chat I missed last weekend was seen in the southeast corner of the point. I rushed down there immediately. When I arrived, the bird was not being seen, but thanks to Eddie's sharp eyes we were able to locate the elusive bird. Unfortunately, he flew down into the foliage before I was able to get a photo. Not only was the Hooded Warbler photogenic, but so was this tiny BLUE GRAY GNATCATCHER, one of the most common migrants:
Since we still had over an hour to bird, Mrs Kasper drove us to the Lincoln Park Zoo, which may seem like a good spot to see captive birds, but can be great for wild ones, too! We were hoping to find some warblers there. The first bird we came across was this GREEN HERON:
All at the same time, we yelled "NORTHERN PARULA" when the bird gave its buzzy "bzzzzzip" from a nearby tree. It was definitely surprising and also one of the highlights of the weekend for me! We topped the day with more walking around the zoo and delicious donuts courtesy of Mrs Kasper. Although the conditions did not provide for great birding, all that means is that more excitement awaits. Despite the lack of birds, it was great catching up with my friends and seeing my first Hooded Warbler. Stay tuned, by now all the birds have arrived and the greatest weekend of birding of the year for me lies just ahead!
Life List 801 (+1 Hooded Warbler) To see more of my photography, click this link:
www.instagram.com/birder03/
Life List 801 (+1 Hooded Warbler) To see more of my photography, click this link:
www.instagram.com/birder03/
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