Jackson Park
Chicago, IL
Saturday 25 May 2019
79 °F
Today while my sister was at an event, I birded the Wooded Island of Jackson Park in search of migrants. Despite it getting late in the season, I was most certainly not disappointed! The flycatchers, in particular, put on quite a show.
CASPIAN TERN:
Female BLACKPOLL WARBLER:
EASTERN KINGBIRD, my first flycatcher species of the day:
One of my favorite birds today was this OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER which allowed for great photo ops multiple times. A very cool species to see here out east in migration (I see them every year on their breeding grounds out west in Idaho).
Male BALTIMORE ORIOLES:
WILSON’S WARBLERS proved abundant in the park today, which was so nice to see:
Male INDIGO BUNTING:
CHESTNUT-SIDED WARBLERS:
My favorite warbler species of the day was this female MOURNING WARBLER, a bird which can be reasonably common at the right place and time, but is very challenging to observe due to their affinity for skulking in bushes:
Male YELLOW WARBLER, a common breeder in the park:
Traill’s Flycatchers, birds that are either ALDER or WILLOW FLYCATCHERS, but can basically only be identified by song. I heard both of these species in the park today but was unable to track the songs to any of the individual birds:
LEAST FLYCATCHERS:
EASTERN WOOD-PEWEES:
GREAT BLUE HERON with MALLARDS in the background:
Detail of the heron’s face:
Male COMMON YELLOWTHROAT:
Another uncommon flycatcher, a YELLOW-BELLIED FLYCATCHER, was a great treat to see!
SWAINSON’S THRUSH:
GRAY CATBIRD:
Male WOOD DUCK:
MAGNOLIA WARBLER:
‘Twas a great afternoon of birding — so fun! Bird-of-the-day to the Olive-sided Flycatcher with runners-up to the Mourning Warbler & Yellow-bellied Flycatcher. Stay tuned and good birding!
Henry
World Life List: 971 Species
