Field Trip Report: North Park Village Nature Center

Photo by Vinod Babu.

words by Vinod Babu

May 12, 2024

Fifteen participants met at the entrance to North Park Village Nature Center on a lovely Mothers' Day morning on May 12 to look for migrant and nesting birds. We started off with a quick introduction to North Park Village, a former sanatorium, now a senior living community with extensive natural areas. We arrived before the nature center opened and spent some time birding the front of the preserve, where we enjoyed exploring the extensively landscaped waterfall/water feature. 

Indigo Bunting. Photo by Nathan Kuhlman.

As we entered and started birding the preserve, we found that we were hearing the birds much more than we were seeing them. This continued to be a feature of this walk, till we came face-to-face with a Baltimore Oriole singing his heart out, counter-singing against another more distant bird. The oriole continued to serenade us as we got glimpses of a few other birds, like an American Redstart, a Veery and a few woodpecker species. Because we were hearing the birds more often than seeing them allowed us to pick up a little birding-by-ear. In particular, we got to learn a few of what I consider the sounds of a Chicago summer: the cheerful songs of Warbling Vireo, Red-eyed Vireo and Indigo Bunting.

Towards the end of the walk, we got great looks at a few birds that are normally hard to observe. A Blue-headed Vireo foraged at eye level for more than 5 minutes, and a Chestnut-sided Warbler perched 15 feet directly overhead of us.  

Blue-headed Vireo. Dan Ryan Woods, May 7, 2022. Photo by Jake Vinsel.

On this walk, we were also treated to some lovely native plants, such as a very large patch of may apples in bloom. In all, we saw and (more often) heard 52 species of birds, my personal highlight being the Blue-headed Vireo.