Field Notes: Breeding Bird Season and More Walks

Perkins Road bird walk led by aerin tedesco. Photo by aerin tedesco

By aerin tedesco, CCAS Field Trip Chair

Breeding bird season is in full swing and we’ve been appreciating our local nesting birds and observing their habits closely. We led a very successful field trip at Perkins Road Marsh on July 19th. This Urbana Park is not open to the public, so it was great to be able to share this great spot for breeding birds. We saw 36 total species, including Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Indigo Bunting, Common Yellowthroat and American Goldfinch. A great treat was seeing a Northern House Wren nesting in a known Hairy Woodpecker nest cavity! A second trip in August got rained out, but will be rescheduled for later in the month.

Sunday morning bird walks will resume at Crystal Lake/Busey woods in September. We will also lead field trips at Weaver Park in mid September and mid October, so watch for those events to be posted soon.