This is a little roundup of two Saturday walks at Columbus Park in which I participated. At the beginning of the walk on April 27th, first we saw Goslings.

But that was nothing compared to this past Saturday, May 11.

On April 27, there were still several Palm Warblers.

We also had a Black-and-White Warbler.

It was really difficult to capture a Nashville Warbler adequately as it was quite far away, but I tried anyway.

Yellow Warblers are everywhere.

And it may have been the last of the Yellow-rumped Warblers.

We had an American Robin on a nest.

And a beautiful Northern Rough-winged Swallow posed for us in the cloud cover. I don’t know how, but at first I mistook it for an Eastern Phoebe. I was off my game that morning, which was also the day of the Spring Music Festival. Or at least that’s my excuse.

I got a good look at a Red-tailed Hawk flying over us that day.

And I was happy to find a Savannah Sparrow later in my photos.

Here’s a Song Sparrow for comparison. The heavy malar stripe on the throat is sometimes the best clue to determine a Song Sparrow quickly.

On May 11, we saw a couple Black-and-White Warblers again.

And a Black-throated Green Warbler

Now that it was two weeks later, the Palm Warblers appeared to be females.

There were Yellow Warblers again, if not necessarily in the best light.

I had close views of a Warbling Vireo.

And not so close views of a Red-eyed Vireo.

When someone said they saw a Great-crested Flycatcher, I thought I did too but it turned out to be an Olive-sided Flycatcher which is a bird I have seen only twice (in my photos) and now I will never mistake it for any other flycatcher ever again. The yellow on the belly and the crested look threw me off, but that dark vest is unmistakable, as is the white throat and a shorter tail (not at all rufous in color) than the Great-crested.

The icing on the cake last Saturday was the appearance of a Black-crowned Night-heron just as we were walking toward our cars.

Other birds stopping long enough for photos were a Gray Catbird and a couple Baltimore Orioles.

It’s been kind of a slow start with warbler migration, as far as it goes on the ground, anyway. A lot of birds have been flying over at night. I also wondered if the solar flares producing northern lights would throw off the birds. I found a reference to a study suggesting that could be a factor, although I haven’t read it yet.

But just as things were terribly slow-going yesterday at the Chicago Portage, this morning in Riverside was promising. I will be back soon. Even without a lot of activity I have catching up to do.