We began the Oak Park Bird Walks on August 24 at Thatcher Woods. The second Saturday walk was on August 31 at Columbus Park. We will continue to alternate between these two locations on Saturday mornings through October 12.

The birds were far away at Thatcher Woods, which made it necessary sometimes to rely on the telephoto lens to identify some of them, like this Northern Flicker perched high on a dead tree.

We saw a Red-headed Woodpecker. Apparently they have been seen here with some regularity, so that’s nice to know. It was too distant for a great photo, but since I haven’t seen one in quite a while it was nice to have some image.

We saw some Red-bellied Woodpeckers.

Eastern Wood-Pewees like this one have been easy to see this summer.

I got a lousy photograph of an Eastern Bluebird.

But my reward later standing in the same field was looking up at a young Ruby-throated Hummingbird perched on a branch.

I stopped by the Chicago Portage before I went home, but there wasn’t an awful lot happening there either.

Then, on August 31, after some serious numbers of migrants were reported by the Birdcast, I expected we would see more birds at Columbus Park. With 12 people spread out over the trail, there were more birds on the list than I saw, but I did manage a few interesting captures. Also of note, Jackson Boulevard, which runs adjacent to the northerly border of Columbus Park from which we enter, was blocked off for what I now see was the 45th Annual Back to School Picnic and Parade that morning which made access challenging, but we all managed to park and start looking for birds.

A male American Goldfinch was feeding his offspring. These birds are strictly seed eaters, so their breeding season starts and extends much later than the other birds.

We spotted a Belted Kingfisher perched across the water. I did not capture its dive, but it returned to its perch with its catch and ate it.

A couple Warbling Vireos turned up in my photos.

We enjoyed looking at a Swainson’s Thrush in the dogwood berries.

I couldn’t resist a Pearl Crescent Butterfly.

A juvenile Cedar Waxwing was perched way above with its back toward us. The yellow band on the tip of its tail gave away its identification.

Tennessee Warblers were on hand.

We had an Eastern Wood-Pewee here too.

Then someone spotted a hawk perched in a tree. We couldn’t see the whole bird, but it turned out to be a juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk very busy with its feathers.

Wood Ducks made a brief appearance.

Instead of seeing a Great Blue Heron by the water near the refectory, we only saw the heron fly in quite late. I suspect the parade had driven it elsewhere.

Finally we began to see some warblers. Tennessee Warblers below.

Cape May Warblers were on hand as well.

Another Tennessee Warbler is below.

Then in the planted prairie area, we found a Cape May Warbler eating pokeberries.

Beyond that, I saw one more Cape May Warbler. And then we had a Pied-billed Grebe, a Gray-cheeked Thrush and a distant Red-shouldered Hawk flying over.

Northerly winds seemed to be making it easier for warbler migration the last few days, and I have taken many more photos to share. The winds have shifted again, however, and will be southerly until, it looks like. Thursday night. Still, anything can appear anywhere this time of year and I will be out looking for more migrants, especially while we have a break from hot weather.