It was another memorable Memorial Day trip. In less than three days, we saw and heard 147 different species.
Read MoreA group of over 60 students from Mark Sheridan Academy went on a field trip to Palmisano Park on the near South Side of Chicago. The weather on this sunny June 5 was perfect for exploring the grasslands and the old stone quarry of the park. We split into two groups and were able to show the students many of the birds in their Openlands field guide.
Read MoreOur COS group had two wonderful days of birding in the Emiquon/Chautauqua area. On Saturday, we concentrated on waterfowl of all kinds and we were certainly not disappointed. Highlights at the South Globe Unit of Emiquon included great views of 5 Dunlin, 25 Black-necked Stilts, 4 Hudsonian Godwits, 51 Long-billed Dowitchers, 16 American Golden Plovers, 2 Wilson’s Phalarope, and 20 Bonaparte’s Gulls.
Read MoreGeoffrey Williamson led the Chicago Ornithological Society field trip along the Chicago lakefront on Sunday, 16 Feb 2014. Our group of 13 birders visited Montrose Point, Belmont Harbor mouth, Diversey Harbor mouth, and then hoofed it to the Whiting Refinery Beach in Whiting, Indiana. Our targets were ducks and gulls, and we did pretty well on both scores.
Read MoreThis COS field trip had 12 participants, including some new birders and visitors from Germany and Sweden. Special thanks to Sam Burckhardt for always teaching us a few things we didn't know about birds.
Read MoreChristine and I led a COS/Sierra Club group in Chicago's Burnham Park yesterday (Saturday, 12 Oct 2013). We started at 39th Street and made our way up to about 31st Street and then head back south. We had 41 species of birds, plus five butterfly species (one Black Swallowtail, Cabbage White, Clouded/Orange Sulphur, Eastern Tailed-Blue, and Common Buckeye) and one dragonfly species (Common Green Darner).
Read MoreA particularly good birding day at the North Pond on Wednesday October 3. Around the North Pond in Chicago's Lincoln Park: I forget to put Swainson's Thrush and Rusty Blackbird on the list, so the species count went up to 59 from the 57 I reported yesterday.
Read MoreThe COS North Pond Bird Walk Wednesday, 28 Aug 2013 at North Pond in Chicago's Lincoln Park recorded 30 species of birds, three species of odes, two butterfly species, and two mammal species. Highlights included four species of warblers (NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH, BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLER, MOURNING WARBLER, and AMERICAN REDSTART), three LEAST FLYCATCHERS, and SWAINSON'S THRUSH. The birding was really quite slow.
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Chris and Geoff Williamson led the nature walk in Chicago"s Burnham Park on 24 August 2013. When all was said an done, we had observed 33 species of birds, two species of mammals (aside from human beings and domestic dogs), 10 butterfly species, and one dragonfly species. Lists of all these creatures along with the number observed are provided at the end of this report.
Read MoreTwenty-two observers attended this joint Chicago Ornithological Society/Evanston North Shore Bird Club sponsored field trip to the Calumet Water Reclamation Plant in southeast Chicago on Sunday morning (18 August 2013). Like last year's trip, it was an absolutely gorgeous day for a field trip. We counted at least 186 individuals of ten shorebird species, compared with 318 individuals of ten shorebird species on the same trip last year. The main difference between this year's trip and last year's was the number of Least Sandpipers (135 last year, 40 this year), and Pectoral Sandpipers (80 last year, 5 this year).
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Chris and Geoff Williamson led a nature walk to Montrose Point in Chicago's Lincoln Park on 27 July 2013. The weather was unseasonably cool, with the temperature at only 61 degrees Fahrenheit and with winds blowing from the northwest at 10 to 15 miles per hour. The skies were mostly cloudy.
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A group of thirteen people joined me to bird the Paul Douglas Forest Preserve. The weather was perfect and despite a few ticks we had a very pleasant outing. We saw many of the targeted prairie birds, such as Savannah, Henslow's, and Grasshopper Sparrows, Bobolinks and Dickcissels. It was of particular interest the see the male Bobolinks in molt. Other birds of interest were a Yellow-breasted Chat we heard at the edge of the prairie, as well as a female Orchard Oriole feeding a Brown-headed Cowbird. We ended with 46 species.
Read MoreKeith McMullen escorted our group of 15 to the many spectacular birding sights in Southern Illinois the last weekend of June. The final tally for this weekend's trip was 115 species! We had great looks at a lot of good birds and the company was excellent.
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