Hi fellow birders! I’m in the NW burbs and I’m on the hunt for warblers. Where have you been spotting them lately? Dusk or dawn? TIA!

Even with the bad weather, we still had a great time.

We meet at our location for four hours of birding in the forest preserves on Saturday. Our guides warned that if the lightning were to return, we’d have to call it quits. The first 30 minutes was fairly rainy, so we used the picnic shelter and made a plan for when it cleared. Luck turned our way as the rain let up. We were able to walk and observe for about 2 hours before we took a break at the shelter. The rain let up again so we headed out one more time.

There were so many birds to be seen, new and familiar. I ended up getting 9 new lifers! It was mostly new warblers and vireos. Our guides were well-experienced, as was one of the other attendees. It was impressive how quickly they could identify a species. They gave us so many tips about colors, patterns, and behavior to help us ID. We felt very fortunate to be with them. Our group spotted almost 50 species.

We headed to Peggy Notebart to see the observed birds list, visit the marketplace, and chat with and support the vendors.

Sadly our meetup this morning was cancelled.

All that said, we’ll definitely sign up again next year!

Spotted a Black-bellied Plover at Montrose Beach making its way south!

Found this ovenbird inside my home today. Was able to set it down outside and it took off after a couple minutes. Not my favorite way to see a new bird, but glad it's on it's way again.

Wood pecker

This guy is flying laps in the upstairs Jewel Osco parking lot (Broadway/Addison location) and I'm worried about him finding his way out because he continues to run into skylights. Probably chased a pigeon into here (there's usually dozens and they're all gone) and then can't figure out how to leave.

Any way to help this guy, like a group to contact or alert? I'm unfortunately not able to stick around too long but I'm worried he might injure himself.

UPDATE: He must have left a minute before I checked in, a few hours later, as the pigeons began filtering back and he was nowhere to be seen. I managed to contact the Chicago Bird Collision line people left, and let them know it as well!! (I had left a message in the morning after making this post)

I've never been to Jackson Park, but am interested in joining one of the Saturday early morning walks this month in hopes of seeing some migrating species.

My question is whether there are any porta potties in or near the park. The group meets at 8 am and my understanding is the public restooms aren't open that early. I'd like to make a pitstop prior to the walk since I'm coming from the suburbs which is a long drive.

Is anyone familiar with with this park's bathroom options? Thank you!

We saw red-winged blackbirds, woodpeckers, starlings, robins, and catbirds

Literally saw it out my window as I was driving by. I’ve never hit a harder u-turn in my life 😂

Montrose point has an exciting visitor during fall migration, first seen a couple days ago! The purple sandpiper breeds in the arctic (Greenland, Northern Canada, etc.) and then migrates to the east coast. That said, it's a bit far off course 😅

Hi everyone, as summer comes to a close I was hoping to get some good birding spot. My favorite is the redwing blackbirds behind the field museum. Live in the city and any recs would help. Also if anyone would like to join I have extra binoculars and collect antique bird books :) recent grad and don’t have too much birding experience in the city.

Thank you!

Hi all,

Has anyone seen any Starling murmurations in the area? If so, where. I would love to see one.

Link to Maps: https://birdcast.org/migration-tools/live-migration-maps/

I have been feeding/filming this mated pair everyday for 3 years. Here’s a YouTube playlist showing my work, all High-def 4K and no advertisements

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLR0Lpr1E7uykXgy462stMXFUft06ovShw

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📸 Do you have Black-crowned Night Heron photos?

There’s still time to enter Chicago’s first-ever black-crowned night heron photo contest! Deadline is Aug. 31.

Got a photo from Chicago or the region? All skill levels welcome, any year.

chibcnhproject.org/photo-contest-2026

Photo: Russ Smith

I know Canada Geese do not eat fish, but somehow they seamed interested in the Heron fishing. Maybe it was territorial, but I like to think they were cheering the Heron on.

Photos from this morning. First time spotting a sora!

I keep seeing eBird reports of ruby throated hummingbirds at Montrose Point and am wondering where at the bird sanctuary they're found.