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Thatcher Woods, IL
Friday 10 April 2020
39 °F
After my three days of bad misses, I resigned to my regular monitoring of birdlife at Thatcher Woods closer to home.
RED-BELLIED WOODPECKERS were present as usual:
There was a nice increase in YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER numbers:
Both kinglets were present — RUBY-CROWNED:
And GOLDEN-CROWNED:
NORTHERN FLICKER:
One interesting sighting was a total of six flyover GREAT BLUE HERONS, presumably going to roost for the night since I was out in the early evening.
RED-TAILED HAWK:
To my great pleasure, I was able to pick out this RUSTY BLACKBIRD from a flock of over 120 COMMON GRACKLES and RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS. Thanks Eddie Kasper for the ID confirmation. Nice to get one for the spring at this location! The flock was along the Des Plaines River a bit north of Chicago Ave, though it moves around the preserve quite a bit and picking out a Rusty takes patience.
NORTHERN CARDINAL:
White-tailed Deer:
Another fun log crossing:
Find the BROWN CREEPER! There was a large number of this species present today — I counted at least 20.
Bird-of-the-day to the Rusty Blackbird with runner-up to all the Great Blue Herons. A great afternoon to be out! Stay safe, everyone.
Good birding,
Henry
World Life List: 1111 Species
