New arrivals cook co

[Suzanne Coleman]

A beautiful spring day today and I had a chance to go to the Lakeshore for a little bit before it rained so I went to Gilson Park in Wilmette which always has some nice things. I haven’t been there in a few years I think since Covid and I was happy to see that some of the little migrant trap areas with lots of shrubs were still there and were still busy. I had the first Savannah sparrow of the year along with tree sparrows Juncos first of the year Phoebes a pair of flickers looking awfully suspicious like they were courting, and at the beach I was excited to see one of my favorite species, first of the year Caspian terns and even got to see one of them dive into the water to hunt, which while they do it out where I usually go it doesn’t seem as dramatic as when they’re in the lake. Lots of birds there today. It was nice to hear the waves.

Also first part of the day started with a pair of sapsuckers in my own tree; they like the honeylocust which is a native. I see them there pretty much every migration lately. Still waiting to see the winter wrens come through but it shouldn’t be too long. And I still have a red breasted nuthatch another male or the same one. I’m curious to see how late it stays and I’d really love it if a girl would show up and maybe they stuck around!

Suzanne Coleman
Park Ridge and Wilmette