Tag Archives: Snow Bunting

Park No. 566

Park No. 566
About-
Part of the historic US Steel South Works plant, the land occupied by the present-day park, was cleared in the late 1990’s. The land was acquired in 2004 by McCaffery Interests and, in an agreement with the city, subsequently deeded part of the land as a park. The Chicago Park District currently has a framework plan in place that will greatly alter the current state of the abandoned land but, no timeline has been set. The plan can be found on the CPD website.
Getting there-
Park No. 566 is most easily accessed from Lake Shore Drive, near the entrance to Rainbow Beach Park. You will pull past the intersection of S Farragut Dr & S Lake Shore Dr (for those coming from the north) and parallel park along the side of the road. Coming from the south, you will make a U-turn at that intersection to park on the south side of S Lake Shore Dr, east of Farragut. For those wishing to travel to the park in a low-carbon fashion, there are a variety of bus routes that travel nearby as well as the Cheltenham (79th St.) Metra Electric stop less than a half-mile away. The entrance into the park is off of Farragut. Look for a yellow gate. The path begins there.
How to bird-
The private land adjacent to the park runs along the south edge of the gravel path. As such, you won’t venture much off this path while birding this area. Hiking is an in-and-out endeavor. You’ll simply walk as far as you’d like and turn around. Lake-watchers will walk in until you find a mulch path headed north, there is a berm running along the slag shoreline which creates a good place to set up a scope. Unless you’re planning on lake-watching, avoid days with strong winds as it will keep the birds down in the grass and difficult to find. After rain, the path will likely be very muddy. No bathroom facilities are within walking distance.
park566
Birds found there-
Walking along the path, sparrows and other grassland birds are definitely the prime attraction with individual counts often above 100. In addition to the typical Emberizids, Grasshopper, Clay-colored, Henslow’s, Le Conte’s, and Nelson’s Sparrows have all been found here. Raptors are also common visitors. Northern Harriers and Short-eared Owls can occasionally be found sitting on the side of the path; more so the farther you walk in. The row of trees near the entrance to the park can hold a surprising array of spring and fall warblers and, because of the relatively large tract of land and its position of jutting out into the lake, the numbers of migrants can occasionally be outstanding. During the summer, Killdeer and Spotted Sandpipers are often seen running along the edges of the path. Other shorebirds may occasionally be found but the habitat is suitable only as a temporary stopping place and are definitely not typical. Gulls and waterfowl are regularly seen as at many other lakefront sites. However, when at the “lake-watching spot” be mindful that the Indiana border is a few hundred feet offshore due east. You’re best bet for Illinois viewing is focusing northward, back at the downtown area. Late fall/early winter is an excellent time to walk to the clearing (Slag area) and look for ground foraging birds. Horned Lark, Snow Bunting, and Lapland Longspur can assemble in huge flocks as they scrounge for seed in the open area. Winter residents are limited to White-crowned and American Tree Sparrows along with a few other common sparrow species.
Why this place is special-
There are many great places to bird in Chicago. Even the best feel very urban and surrounded by human activity. When you visit Park No.566, you’ll probably be the only person there. With S Lake Shore Dr not being heavily traveled, there are moments when you forget you’re standing within the boundaries of a large city.

Chicago Botanic Garden

McDonald Woods – The woodland is a good place to view both spring and fall migrants. Anywhere along the wood chipped nature trail will offer opportunities to see many neotropical migrants in the canopy and in the dense herbaceous vegetation in this restored oak woodland. In particular, the long wooden boardwalk across a shrubby wet area along the trail is good for warblers, sparrows and some waterfowl when water collects in this area in spring. In summer, you can find many of the woodland breeding bird here, such as Eastern Wood Pewee, White-breasted Nuthatch, Red-eyed Vireo, Red-bellied, Downy, and Hairy Woodpeckers The woodland edges along the road are also good places to spot Indigo Buntings.

Barbara Brown Nature Reserve – The Reserve is located on the far southeast end of the Garden. It contains six acres of combined prairie and woodland vegetation surrounding a four-acre lake. The gravel path provides access to the south and east end of the Reserve. This area is good for neotropical migrants in spring and fall in the trees along the path. The prairie provides habitat for sparrows and goldfinches when seedheads are dropping seed. The lake is a good placed to spot Black-crowned Night-Herons, Green Herons, Great Blue Herons, Wood Ducks, Double-crested Cormorants, and gulls and Caspian Terns. During the summer, there are a few nesting birds in the Reserve, like Red-bellied and Downy Woodpecker, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, and American Goldfinch.

Mud Flats – At the east end of the Garden, there is an area of silt deposition from the Skokie River in the lake south of the Dixon Prairie. This area provides some of the best opportunities for spotting shorebirds, herons, egrets, Caspian Terns, and waterfowl.

Dixon Prairie – The Dixon prairie on the south end of the Garden is one of the best locations in the Garden to observe many species of sparrows, including; LeConte’s, Nelson’s, Song, Swamp, Savanna, Vesper, and several other sparrow migrants. Careful viewing on the circular boardwalk on Marsh Island in the prairie can result in interesting species such as; Sora, Virginia Rail, and Wilson’s Snipe. During migration, it is not unusual to find Short-eared Owls roosting on Marsh Island or in the fen at the base of the gravel hill prairie. In late fall and winter you may find Lapland Longspurs, American Pipits, and Snow Buntings. The open view of the sky in this location also makes it a good place for observing birds flying over the Garden. The Dixon prairie is a location where you can almost always find nesting Orchard Orioles, either in one of the bur oaks out on the prairie, or in the white poplars bordering the road on the east side of the prairie.

Plant Science Center Woods – The stand of Cottonwood trees on the north side of the Plant Science Center along the east road is a good place to view warblers and other neotropical migrants, especially early in the morning when the sun warms the tops of these tall trees and gets the insects active. It is often possible to spot these birds here first before the sun gets to the trees in the woods and elsewhere at the Garden. During the summer, this is a good location to find nesting Warbling Vireos and Baltimore Orioles.

Waterfall – The Waterfall Garden is a good place for birds both spring and fall. The east-facing slope of the garden gets some of the first sun in the morning making it attractive for insect eating birds. The slope, backed by the Dwarf Conifer Garden, also provides a protected area out of the wind making it attractive to all species.

Lakeside Garden – The abundance of flowering trees along the Lakeside Garden walk is a good place to spot warblers, vireos, thrushes, and many other species during the spring migration.

Sensory Garden – The Sensory Garden is a good location for spring migrants, but is possible better for fall opportunities to see an abundance of hummingbirds attracted to the flowering shrubs on the southeast end of the upper path. It is not unusual to see a dozen hummingbirds in this area. Also, later in fall and winter, the alders and birches in the garden attract numerous winter finches like Pine Siskins and redpolls. Hoary Redpolls have been seen here regularly. This is also another location for searching for nesting Orchard Orioles.

Open Water in Winter – South of the Horticulture building on the extreme south end of the Garden, there is an area in the Skokie River that often remains open in winter that is attractive to winter waterfowl. It is not unusual to spot Common Mergansers, Common Goldeneye, Red-breasted Mergansers, and other duck species. This is one of the few locations at the Garden where scoters have been spotted in the past. Barrow’s Goldeneye has been found in winter in the often open water south of Dundee road, just outside the Garden.

Lakes – Although all of the lakes are connected, they still provide opportunities for viewing different species because of size and depth. The north lake and the lake south of Evening Island are large and open enough that they often attract species like Common Loon. Large rafts of Red-breasted Mergansers are often seen in these same locations as well as north and south of the Japanese Islands. The lake south of Marsh Island often attracts a variety of puddle ducks like; Gadwall, Blue-winged Teal, Northern Shoveler, and American Wigeon. For whatever reason, one of the spots where Eared Grebes have been seen on occasion is north of the Fruit and Vegetable Island.

Miscellaneous – Given the proper weather conditions, the Garden is a good place to view fall hawk migration. Any time in fall after the passage of a strong cold front followed by westerly winds, it is possible to observe a variety of migrating raptors. It is not unusual to see a hundred or more raptors if you spend the day here. In late fall, as lakes in the northern parts of the country freeze over, we have had spectacular Sandhill Crane migrations at the Garden. Many thousands of cranes can often be seen in late November and early December. During these crane flights, it is possible to see hundreds of waterfowl along with dozens of late migrating raptor species. Good locations for viewing these flights are in the Green Roof Garden on the Plant Science Center building or the tall hill on the northeast end of Evening Island.

In general, the Garden’s close proximity to the shore of Lake Michigan, abundance of water, diversity of vegetation and corresponding habitat edges, make the Botanic Garden an attractive stop-over location for a great variety of birds. Checkout our bird list on the Garden website for information on season and abundance.

Lake County Fairgrounds

Though discovered years before, 2012 has seen a rise in interest in the Lake County Fairgrounds as a birding destination.  With close proximity to a dump, it is easy to see what makes this spot stand out in the winter months.

The fairgrounds main parking lot is becoming a good destination for winter gulling in Lake County and one of the only reliable Lake County spots outside of Winthrop Harbor that hosts a wide range of species in the winter.  As per usual, the dominant species in the parking lot are Herring Gull and Ring-billed Gull.  Scattered amongst these species, there have been records of Lesser Black-backed Gull, Thayer’s Gull, Iceland (Kumlien’s) Gull, and California Gull.

Just north of the parking lot is a small ponds that many of the gulls travel to for preening and water.  This pond in April had a beautiful pair of juvenile Bonaparte’s Gulls that spent the better part of a week feeding there.  Besides the gulls, this pond can hold significant amounts of waterfowl.  Recorded so far have been, Canada Goose, Cackling Goose, Mallard, Northern Shoveler, Green-winged Teal, Blue-winged Teal, Northern Pintail, Hooded Merganser, Wood Duck, and American Wigeon.

In summer, the pond dried significantly, revealing decent mud flats.  Large numbers of Great Egret and Great Blue Heron congregated in late summer and shorebirds seen during fall migration included Lesser Yellowlegs, Greater Yellowlegs, Least Sandpiper, Pectoral Sandpiper, and Spotted Sandpiper.  Sora’s have been heard and seen in the cattails.

The gravel parking lot to the west of the pond had summering Horned Larks.  In winter, flocks of American Tree Sparrow are common, and on rare occasions, Snow Bunting have been seen and heard.  The fairgrounds is also an easy spot to pick up American Kestrel, as a resident pair has been seen here for more than a year.

NOTE: It’s important to know that gull congregations are only great when the water at the pond adjacent to the parking lot is OPEN. If it is frozen, the gulls WON’T congregate in any significant number. The gulls need open water for bathing and preening. This most likely designates this as a great gulling spot early and late in the season.


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