Geoff Williamson led a nature walk around Montrose Point in Chicago's Lincoln Park in conjunction with the "Beach Sweep" clean-up of Montrose Beach. Temperatures started at 59F, somewhat chilly given the strong 15-20 mph wind from the NNW, but they rose to 67F and by the end of the morning it was quite comfortable to be outside. Skies were mostly cloudy at the start, but by the time we finished up the cloud cover had cleared. All in all we saw 57 species of birds, three mammal species, five kinds of butterflies, and one type of dragonfly. The lists of all these, together with the number observed, are at the bottom of this web page.
During the middle portion of the walk, we had an American Kestrel hunting over the meadow at Montrose Point Bird Sanctuary. Here it is on one of its passes.
photo by Geoff Williamson
We had nice looks at many of the 19 species of warblers on our list. Here is a fine looking male Cape May Warbler.
photo by Geoff Williamson
We saw three Chestnut-sided Warblers, not all of them with chestnut sides. The ones that lack the chestnut sides, like this one, are females that were born this year.
photo by Geoff Williamson
Here is a chestnut-sided Chestnut-sided Warbler. It is either an adult bird or a young male.
photo by Geoff Williamson
We saw just two flycatchers, one of them this Eastern Wood-Pewee.
photo by Geoff Williamson
Here is a Nashville Warbler foraging high in a tree. The white eye ring is an easy to see characteristic of this bird's appearance.
photo by Geoff Williamson
The Northern Flicker is a male. You can tell this by the bold black "whisker mark" visible at the base of the bird's bill.
photo by Geoff Williamson
Northern Parulas are small warblers, but they are handsome.
photo by Geoff Williamson
This immature male Rose-breasted Grosbeak was spotted quite low in the trees.
photo by Geoff Williamson
We were fortunate to see three Yellow-billed Cuckoos, one of them with a struggling cicada in its beak.
photo by Geoff Williamson
Now for the lists....
List of birds species, with number observed.
Canada Goose 7
Mallard 8
Blue-winged Teal 5
Double-crested Cormorant 19
Cooper's Hawk 1
Sanderling 7
Ring-billed Gull 139
Herring Gull (American) 6
Caspian Tern 4
Common Tern 1
Forster's Tern 1
Yellow-billed Cuckoo 3
Chimney Swift 14
Downy Woodpecker 2
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 10
American Kestrel 1
Peregrine Falcon 2
Eastern Wood-Pewee 1
Willow Flycatcher 1
Warbling Vireo 1
Red-eyed Vireo 1
Tree Swallow 1
Barn Swallow 2
Black-capped Chickadee 6
Winter Wren 2
Golden-crowned Kinglet 1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 7
Gray-cheeked Thrush 3
Swainson's Thrush 31
Gray Catbird 6
European Starling 18
Ovenbird 2
Northern Waterthrush 1
Black-and-white Warbler 6
Tennessee Warbler 18
Nashville Warbler 8
Common Yellowthroat 3
American Redstart 14
Cape May Warbler 7
Northern Parula 3
Magnolia Warbler 6
Bay-breasted Warbler 1
Blackburnian Warbler 1
Yellow Warbler 1
Chestnut-sided Warbler 3
Blackpoll Warbler 23
Palm Warbler (Western) 12
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 39
Black-throated Green Warbler 3
Wilson's Warbler 5
warbler sp. (Parulidae sp.) 2
Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored) 3
White-throated Sparrow 10
Savannah Sparrow 6
Northern Cardinal 5
Rose-breasted Grosbeak 9
House Finch 4
House Sparrow 14
List of mammal species, with number observed.
Eastern Chipmunk 8
Eastern Gray Squirrel 5
Eastern Cottontail 2
List of butterfly species, with number observed.
Black Swallowtail 1
Cabbage White 2
Clouded Sulphur 2
Pearl Crescent 2
Monarch 2
List of dragonfly species, with number observed.
Common Green Darner 2
Back
to Geoff Williamson's Web Pages.
This
page was last updated on 27 September 2015.
Contact Geoff Williamson
with any comments, updates or suggestions.