Eric Gyllenhaal
@chiwestsideparks.bsky.social
I monitor birds in parks on Chicago's westside, including Douglass, Columbus, and Riis Parks, plus in my south Oak Park neighborhood. I also do programs that help children connect with and learn about the natural world by making home nature museums.
The Chipping Sparrows are back singing in Taylor Park and other parks in Oak Park, Illinois. I find Chipping Sparrows singing and nesting more often in smaller, more developed parks like Taylor Park and less often in larger Chicago parks like Columbus and Douglass Parks.
April 17, 2025 at 9:21 AM
The Chipping Sparrows are back singing in Taylor Park and other parks in Oak Park, Illinois. I find Chipping Sparrows singing and nesting more often in smaller, more developed parks like Taylor Park and less often in larger Chicago parks like Columbus and Douglass Parks.
There were lots of reports of Broad-winged Hawks flying over Chicagoland yesterday. This morning an adult Broad-winged Hawk landed on our back fence, then flew to an alley wire. The hawk was not a first for our backyard, but it was a first for a #ProjectFeederWatch day at our count site.
April 15, 2025 at 1:11 PM
There were lots of reports of Broad-winged Hawks flying over Chicagoland yesterday. This morning an adult Broad-winged Hawk landed on our back fence, then flew to an alley wire. The hawk was not a first for our backyard, but it was a first for a #ProjectFeederWatch day at our count site.
On Sunday morning it was still sparrow season in Douglass Park. In addition to this handsome Swamp Sparrow, there were singing Song and Field Sparrows, a Fox Sparrow, and a flock of at least 50 Dark-eyed Juncos foraging on the golf course.
My eBird checklist is here: ebird.org/checklist/S2...
My eBird checklist is here: ebird.org/checklist/S2...
April 14, 2025 at 5:28 PM
On Sunday morning it was still sparrow season in Douglass Park. In addition to this handsome Swamp Sparrow, there were singing Song and Field Sparrows, a Fox Sparrow, and a flock of at least 50 Dark-eyed Juncos foraging on the golf course.
My eBird checklist is here: ebird.org/checklist/S2...
My eBird checklist is here: ebird.org/checklist/S2...
Spring migration brought new birds to the Douglass Branch Library Reading Garden in Chicago's North Lawndale neighborhood. This male Yellow-bellied Sapsucker checked out the garden's pine trees before continuing north. Common Grackles were in the spruce trees, where they will nest again this year.
April 14, 2025 at 12:32 PM
Spring migration brought new birds to the Douglass Branch Library Reading Garden in Chicago's North Lawndale neighborhood. This male Yellow-bellied Sapsucker checked out the garden's pine trees before continuing north. Common Grackles were in the spruce trees, where they will nest again this year.
Courtship by Brown-headed Cowbirds isn't very pretty, but apparently it works, at least some of the time. But not this time. The female cowbird flew off, leaving the rejected male to soak up some warmth on the chimney.
April 6, 2025 at 2:49 AM
Courtship by Brown-headed Cowbirds isn't very pretty, but apparently it works, at least some of the time. But not this time. The female cowbird flew off, leaving the rejected male to soak up some warmth on the chimney.
I found 31 species of birds at Columbus Park on Tuesday morning, including a preening Tree Swallow, a flycatching Eastern Phoebe, my first-of-year female Red-winged Blackbird for the park, and our Red-shouldered Hawk laying low on its nest. My full eBird checklist list: ebird.org/checklist/S2...
March 25, 2025 at 11:16 PM
I found 31 species of birds at Columbus Park on Tuesday morning, including a preening Tree Swallow, a flycatching Eastern Phoebe, my first-of-year female Red-winged Blackbird for the park, and our Red-shouldered Hawk laying low on its nest. My full eBird checklist list: ebird.org/checklist/S2...
The Common Grackles are back at Riis Park on Chicago's northwest side! I love it when sunlight strikes a grackle's otherwise black feathers at exactly the proper angle, so they glow with iridescent colors.
March 24, 2025 at 2:31 AM
The Common Grackles are back at Riis Park on Chicago's northwest side! I love it when sunlight strikes a grackle's otherwise black feathers at exactly the proper angle, so they glow with iridescent colors.
Despite cold, snow, and strong winds, these Pied-billed Grebes migrated to Douglass Park within the past week. Other recent arrivals at the park: Belted Kingfisher, Northern Flicker, Eastern Phoebe, Golden-crowned Kinglet, and Field Sparrow.
P.S. Photoshop transformed this severely backlit photo.
P.S. Photoshop transformed this severely backlit photo.
March 22, 2025 at 11:06 PM
Despite cold, snow, and strong winds, these Pied-billed Grebes migrated to Douglass Park within the past week. Other recent arrivals at the park: Belted Kingfisher, Northern Flicker, Eastern Phoebe, Golden-crowned Kinglet, and Field Sparrow.
P.S. Photoshop transformed this severely backlit photo.
P.S. Photoshop transformed this severely backlit photo.
Take a bow, Red-shouldered Hawk! You've added sticks to an existing nest and copulated with your mate. But if you want a standing ovation, you'll have to lay some eggs and successfully raise baby hawks!
March 22, 2025 at 9:19 PM
Take a bow, Red-shouldered Hawk! You've added sticks to an existing nest and copulated with your mate. But if you want a standing ovation, you'll have to lay some eggs and successfully raise baby hawks!
Northern Flickers are back digging in lawns at Chicago's westside parks! The mornings are still pretty frosty, and the ground can be a bit frozen, so I hope the flickers can find whatever they are looking for.
March 22, 2025 at 11:26 AM
Northern Flickers are back digging in lawns at Chicago's westside parks! The mornings are still pretty frosty, and the ground can be a bit frozen, so I hope the flickers can find whatever they are looking for.
Happy 1st Day of Spring from Columbus Park on the west edge of Chicago!
March 20, 2025 at 4:53 PM
Happy 1st Day of Spring from Columbus Park on the west edge of Chicago!
Here are my first wildflowers of spring, growing in Columbus Park on the west side of Chicago! It's Hepatica, the Sharp-lobed kind, although the new spring leaves won't appear for awhile.
(Snowdrops blooming in gardens and lawns earlier this spring were nice, but they don't count as wildflowers.)
(Snowdrops blooming in gardens and lawns earlier this spring were nice, but they don't count as wildflowers.)
March 19, 2025 at 2:06 AM
Here are my first wildflowers of spring, growing in Columbus Park on the west side of Chicago! It's Hepatica, the Sharp-lobed kind, although the new spring leaves won't appear for awhile.
(Snowdrops blooming in gardens and lawns earlier this spring were nice, but they don't count as wildflowers.)
(Snowdrops blooming in gardens and lawns earlier this spring were nice, but they don't count as wildflowers.)
Chicago is already approaching peak numbers for some migrant bird species. eBird was skeptical when I told it there were 68 Killdeer on the Columbus Park golf course on Monday morning. But my report of 166 American Robins in the park was accepted without question: ebird.org/checklist/S2...
March 18, 2025 at 12:04 PM
Chicago is already approaching peak numbers for some migrant bird species. eBird was skeptical when I told it there were 68 Killdeer on the Columbus Park golf course on Monday morning. But my report of 166 American Robins in the park was accepted without question: ebird.org/checklist/S2...
Douglass Park's first turtle-in-the-sun of 2025 was still coated with mud from the bottom of the lagoon, where it spent the winter.
The 20 species of birds I found at Douglass Park this morning were much cleaner. You can see my full list, with a few more photos, here: ebird.org/checklist/S2...
The 20 species of birds I found at Douglass Park this morning were much cleaner. You can see my full list, with a few more photos, here: ebird.org/checklist/S2...
March 12, 2025 at 9:25 PM
Douglass Park's first turtle-in-the-sun of 2025 was still coated with mud from the bottom of the lagoon, where it spent the winter.
The 20 species of birds I found at Douglass Park this morning were much cleaner. You can see my full list, with a few more photos, here: ebird.org/checklist/S2...
The 20 species of birds I found at Douglass Park this morning were much cleaner. You can see my full list, with a few more photos, here: ebird.org/checklist/S2...
The Wood Ducks were back on Columbus Park lagoon on Tuesday morning! There were also lots more American Robins, Song Sparrows, and Ring-billed Gulls than I saw during my last visit to the park. Here's the link to my full eBird report, with 25 species and a few more photos; ebird.org/checklist/S2...
March 12, 2025 at 11:19 AM
The Wood Ducks were back on Columbus Park lagoon on Tuesday morning! There were also lots more American Robins, Song Sparrows, and Ring-billed Gulls than I saw during my last visit to the park. Here's the link to my full eBird report, with 25 species and a few more photos; ebird.org/checklist/S2...
Yeah, today was the first day I heard a neighborhood American Robin singing before sunrise! Pretty soon they will be trying to wake us up at 4 a.m., and we'll know it's really spring!
March 11, 2025 at 11:10 AM
Yeah, today was the first day I heard a neighborhood American Robin singing before sunrise! Pretty soon they will be trying to wake us up at 4 a.m., and we'll know it's really spring!
Here's my first submission to the Gulls Eating Stuff project (link in comments). Two American Herring Gulls were on Riis Park lagoon on Chicago's northwest side yesterday, and one caught and ate a goldfish. It didn't share. Herring Gulls often catch and eat goldfish on Chicago park lagoons.
March 10, 2025 at 10:11 PM
Here's my first submission to the Gulls Eating Stuff project (link in comments). Two American Herring Gulls were on Riis Park lagoon on Chicago's northwest side yesterday, and one caught and ate a goldfish. It didn't share. Herring Gulls often catch and eat goldfish on Chicago park lagoons.
The lagoon ice finally melted at Douglass Park on Chicago's west side! Hooded Mergansers were back swimming on the lagoon, and a Black-crowned Night Heron was trying to nap on the island. Also Song Sparrows and a Brown Creeper were singing, and an American Crow was carrying a stick. Spring!
March 8, 2025 at 11:47 PM
The lagoon ice finally melted at Douglass Park on Chicago's west side! Hooded Mergansers were back swimming on the lagoon, and a Black-crowned Night Heron was trying to nap on the island. Also Song Sparrows and a Brown Creeper were singing, and an American Crow was carrying a stick. Spring!
My springiest sighting if the day: An adult Red-shouldered Hawk carrying a stick in Columbus Park on Chicago's far west side. Two adult Red-shouldered Hawks have been hanging out there for a week, and this species has nested at Columbus before. So we're hoping....
March 7, 2025 at 1:47 AM
My springiest sighting if the day: An adult Red-shouldered Hawk carrying a stick in Columbus Park on Chicago's far west side. Two adult Red-shouldered Hawks have been hanging out there for a week, and this species has nested at Columbus before. So we're hoping....
Why would a Red-tailed Hawk perch under colored floodlights at the Douglass Park mini-golf course? To avoid dive-bombs by harassing American Crows! The crows had just flushed the hawk from a tree and chased the hawk over the golf course. Then the hawk found a safer perch.
March 1, 2025 at 1:38 PM
Why would a Red-tailed Hawk perch under colored floodlights at the Douglass Park mini-golf course? To avoid dive-bombs by harassing American Crows! The crows had just flushed the hawk from a tree and chased the hawk over the golf course. Then the hawk found a safer perch.
When I cancelled my Washington Post subscription, the Jeff Bezos takeover of the opinion section was not an option in the list of reasons for cancellation. So I'll have to cite it here.
February 26, 2025 at 11:24 PM
When I cancelled my Washington Post subscription, the Jeff Bezos takeover of the opinion section was not an option in the list of reasons for cancellation. So I'll have to cite it here.
Reposted by Eric Gyllenhaal
February 24: Blue-winged Teal
The smallest and cutest 💜
The smallest and cutest 💜
February 26, 2025 at 4:29 AM
February 24: Blue-winged Teal
The smallest and cutest 💜
The smallest and cutest 💜
The Earth Science Club of Northern Illinois (ESCONI) Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show is March 15 and 16. I'll be running the ESCONI Juniors booth again this year, with lots of ways for kids to add fossils, minerals, shells, and more to their collections. Learn more at www.esconi.org #geology #fossils
February 26, 2025 at 9:59 PM
The Earth Science Club of Northern Illinois (ESCONI) Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show is March 15 and 16. I'll be running the ESCONI Juniors booth again this year, with lots of ways for kids to add fossils, minerals, shells, and more to their collections. Learn more at www.esconi.org #geology #fossils
Now that the snow has melted in Riis Park on Chicago's northwest side, the park's winter-resident White-throated Sparrows can forage for seeds on the lawn. Back when the snow was deep, some combination of snowberries, coralberries, rose hips, and staghorn sumac fruits helped keep them fed.
February 26, 2025 at 2:59 PM
Now that the snow has melted in Riis Park on Chicago's northwest side, the park's winter-resident White-throated Sparrows can forage for seeds on the lawn. Back when the snow was deep, some combination of snowberries, coralberries, rose hips, and staghorn sumac fruits helped keep them fed.
Last week was really cold in Oak Park, so liquid water was hard to come by. But after a weekend warm-up. there are puddles everywhere. So this morning a Cooper's Hawk decided to take a bath -- in an ice-cold alley puddle!
(Oak Park has no surface streams, and its few ponds are still frozen solid.)
(Oak Park has no surface streams, and its few ponds are still frozen solid.)
February 24, 2025 at 11:13 PM
Last week was really cold in Oak Park, so liquid water was hard to come by. But after a weekend warm-up. there are puddles everywhere. So this morning a Cooper's Hawk decided to take a bath -- in an ice-cold alley puddle!
(Oak Park has no surface streams, and its few ponds are still frozen solid.)
(Oak Park has no surface streams, and its few ponds are still frozen solid.)