Field Trip Report: Richard Clark Park

words by Vinod Babu

April 1, 2023

On the first day of April, 9 birders braved the wind and the occasional snowflake to look for early spring migrants at Richard Clark Park, a narrow park along the North Branch Chicago river just south of Addison.

We had a good showing of birds and really good looks at some species. The theme of the day was migrants—those leaving, arriving, and passing through. On the way out was the Red-breasted Merganser, and the new arrivals included Double-crested Cormorant and Eastern Phoebe. Golden-crowned Kinglets, making a stop on their way to more northern climes, delighted as always.

Overall we had 26 species, although we only heard or had a very quick look at some of them, like the phoebe and a Swamp Sparrow. The Golden-crowned Kinglets put on a good show, perching very near us and singing constantly. We got to hear and see a Hairy Woodpecker, and we wrapped up the walk with a trio of Killdeer on the playing fields. I heard them at the beginning of the walk, but put that down to starling mimicry (the starlings were also mimicking Eastern Wood-Pewees).

We had planned to perhaps continue birding at Horner Park, but the temperature had been dropping throughout our walk, and we called it a day. We hope to do another walk here a few weeks from now as new migrants appear and the weather starts to get warmer!