Twitch: Snowy Egret
Burnham Prairie, IL
Wednesday 6 May 2020
55 °F
Today, I went on another twitch with Isoo O’Brien, this time in search of a Snowy Egret seen in the Calumet area this morning. FYI: have to keep this post concise — I’m getting up early tomorrow because of rather favorable winds for migration tonight.
This morning brought some nice birds to my yard including an orange-eating BALTIMORE ORIOLE:
NASHVILLE WARBLER:
CHIPPING SPARROW:
ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK:
Lovely PINE WARBLER:
This morning’s feeder setup — four species present in this pic!
In the afternoon, it was off to Burnham Prairie with Isoo. BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLER:
PIED-BILLED GREBE:
SOLITARY SANDPIPER:
GREAT BLUE HERON:
Then we found it, my Illinois lifer SNOWY EGRET! Amazing!
Here are its famous “golden slippers:”
Comparison with a nearby GREAT EGRET:
NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOW:
Female EASTERN BLUEBIRD:
Then, we tracked down the Snowy Egret yet again (as it had flown) and I couldn’t resist showing this photo:
Awesome! Mission accomplished — next stop, Hegewisch Marsh. OSPREY:
Male YELLOW WARBLER:
HOUSE WREN:
Male COMMON YELLOWTHROAT:
PALM WARBLER:
YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER:
RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET:
NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH:
Green Frog:
MUTE SWAN:
GREEN HERON:
SPOTTED SANDPIPER:
A few quick stops along the way home brought a smattering of other new species like this BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLER at Dan Ryan Woods:
And this BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON at Marquette Park:
And an extremely cooperative BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER!
An amazing outing! Bird-of-the-day to the Snowy Egret and runner up to a heard-only YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO at Burnham Prairie.
Good birding,
Henry
World Life List: 1114 Species
