I went birding with three friends Monday morning to the far reaches of the southeast side of the city of Chicago known as the Calumet region. It’s a former industrial area with large tracts of undeveloped land near the Little Calumet River that provide habitat for a lot of birds, in particular, waders and shorebirds. Among other species, we hoped to see a Stilt Sandpiper.
We started out walking along the road at Indian Ridge where we saw several Caspian Terns, Great Egrets, Great Blue Herons and a couple Mute Swans.
Mourning Doves had gathered in the tops of some dead trees. Here’s a small group.
I noticed a Killdeer flying by.
Then we spotted a Coyote in the distance.
Great Egrets were everywhere.
Some Great Egrets were in unusual places.
There was a pair of Mute Swans…
And a Black-crowned Night Heron in a less-than-lovely spot.
Great Blue Herons were here and there, fading in with their surroundings.
We spotted a couple Green Herons with some Great Egrets.
Below, a little negotiation for space between a Great Egret and a Great Blue Heron.
I took note of a Northern Rough-winged Swallow.
A fetching female House Finch paid us a personal visit.
Onward to Deadstick Pond where we searched for shorebirds. The photo below illustrates how this site got its name. After peering through chainlink fence, we climbed through a decent-sized hole in the fence for better views.
There were some Lesser Yellowlegs.
Then we saw a Lesser Yellowlegs with two Stilt Sandpipers.
We had three Stilt Sandpipers at one time. I was glad to get good photos as I was not familiar with this species.
A Peregrine Falcon swooped in briefly and disturbed all the birds,
I caught a couple Barn Swallows in flight over the course of the outing.
Here’s one more Stilt Sandpiper.
For a grand finale, we visited the Monk Parakeet hangout in a nearby neighborhood.
The heat later this week has been exhausting. But I have managed to go out a few times and it’s generally been better than I thought, which just goes to show you never know what you might see.
Well that was almost like taking a trip to Florida. All those herons, shorebirds and the Monk Parakeets bring back some fond memories of trips down south.
Luckily Monday morning wasn’t so hot yet or it might have been even more like a trip to Florida. If nothing else, it was good to see some shorebirds for a change, I have been neglecting them for too long.
I am constantly amazed by how many birds you see on your outings. If I see three, I have had a good day!
Actually I was thinking about the number of individual birds being so large because of the size of the contiguous habitat and the fact that it’s rather separate from civilization even though it’s not so far away. So it’s like a refuge for all those birds.