About 20 people in jackets and caps with binoculars and cameras smiling on top of an arched stone bridge with the lagoon underneath and green trees on both sides.

words by Kris Hansen

Twenty-four birders, from seasoned pros to a first-time birder, gathered at Douglass Park on Friday, May 31, for an evening bird walk led by Sammy Cabindol. For many, it was their first walk in this park.

The group barely moved in the first half hour, as warblers filled the nearby trees gobbling insects—Bay-breasted, Blackpoll, Canada, Chestnut-sided, Magnolia, American Redstart, Wilson’s and Yellow-rumped. A pair of Baltimore Orioles and a Ruby-throated Hummingbird completed the colorful display.

SMall bird with bright yellow throat, belly and eye ring, a necklace of black specles, and brown cap, back and wings, perched on a branch against green leaves. — Canada Warbler. *Photo by Bruce Unruh, Douglass Park, May 31, 2025.*

A quizzical Wood Duck leisurely followed us along the side of the lagoon as we passed the charming bird-themed mini-golf course, created in conjunction with Lincoln Park Zoo.

Duck on the shore, head turned sideways, showing a pink eye and upper bill, black lower bill and face mask, white throat and belly, brown neck and shoulders, and multioolored back feathers. — Wood Duck. *Photo by Todd Thomas, Douglass Park, May 31, 2025.*

Both Herring and Ring-billed Gulls called overhead, while Green and Great Blue Herons and a Great Egret took up positions along the shore of the lagoon. More warblers flitted among the trees on the south side of the water, keeping us at a leisurely birding pace.

Small bird with orange throat, creamy belly, white eye ring and brown head, cheek and back with white wingbars, perched on a twig. — Bay-breasted Warbler. *Photo by Nick Paarlberg, Douglass Park, May 31, 2025.*

As we rounded the western side of the lagoon, we discovered where all the previously unseen Canada Geese were hiding. Moving along the shore, we also spotted a Black-crowned Night Heron, one of several that flies over from the rookery at Lincoln Park Zoo to feed during the day.

Large bird with blue-black cap and thick beak, red eye, white throat and belly and gray wings standing one-legged on a log. — Black-crowned Night Heron. *Photo by Nick Paarlberg, Douglass Park, May 31, 2025.*

We spotted a Great Blue Heron perched high in a tree, silhouetted against the rosy horizon.

We then turned our attention upward, looking past the Chimney Swifts and Tree and Barn Swallows for our evening’s prize—Common Nighthawks. First one, then two, and then more soon began flying overhead, displaying their white underwing bars and sounding their distinctive “peent” call.

Flying bird with wings outstretched. Stubby dark head and short body with fanned tail with a white stripe across the tail end. The long, narrow wings have a vertical white bar near the tip of the underside.

By the time we reached the parking lot, we had seen a total of 48 species and gained a new appreciation for this lovely park.

Field Trip Recap: Douglass Park