Subject: [Tweeters] Spring birding in Chicago
Date: May 12 21:21:35 2008
From: Eric Kowalczyk - aceros at mindspring.com
For those who are not familiar with this birding hotspot in Chicago:
Every year I go back to Chicago for Mother's Day (and of course some great opportunistic spring birding). Lucky mom lives in a retirement home near the lakefront.
So for anybody traveling to Chgo. in the near future, might want to check out the Magic Hedge (near Montrose Harbor):
http://chicagowildernessmag.org/issues/spring1998/IWmagichedge.html
The great thing about this place is that many of the birds are at eye level in short trees and shrubs. Also the variety increases since the habitat is varied ( lake, beach, grassland, forest).
Here are some of the birds that I saw there this past week: (note list not complete):
Ovenbird, American Redstart, Yellow, Orange crowned, Magnolia, Black & White, Blackburnian, Palm, Northern waterthrush, Chestnut-sided, Common yellowthroat, Yellow-rumped, Cape May, Nashville warblers; Rose-breasted grosbeak, Yellow- and Black-crowned night herons, Baltimore oriole, Brown thrasher, Veery, Gray-cheeked thrush, Blue-gray gnatcatcher, Scarlet tanager, Red-headed woodpecker, Cardinal, Blue jay, Eastern kingbiord, Least flycatcher, Great-crested flycatcher, and 6 species of sparrows..........to name a few.
And with all that, I found a Spotted towhee there early this AM that got everybody "excited"! Go figure!
Other cool species seen in other locations: Northern parula, Black-throated blue, Blue-winged, and Golden winged warblers; Blue-headed vireo, and a rare Harris' sparrow at North Pond in Lincoln Park near the zoo.
Eric Kowalczyk
Seattle