Mammal
May 5, Curtis rd. fluddles
19. Thirteen-lined Ground Squirrel (Ictidomys tridecemlineatus)
Birds
May 2 Legacy ave. ponds
212. Blue Grosbeak (Passerina caerulea)
213. Bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus)
May 3 Boulware trail
214. Cape May Warbler (Setophaga tigrina)
May 5 Champaign Co. fields
215. Upland Sandpiper (Bartramia longicauda) (Lifer)
Moorman Swine Ponds
216. American Avocet (Recurvirostra americana)
May 9 Busey Woods
217. White-eyed Vireo (Vireo griseus)
218. Magnolia Warbler (Setophaga magnolia)
Crystal Lake Park
219. Chestnut-sided Warbler (Setophaga pensylvanica)
220. Olive-sided Flycatcher (Contopus cooperi)
221. Bay-breasted Warbler (Setophaga castanea)
222. Eastern Wood-Pewee (Contopus virens)
223. Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum)
224. Eastern Kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus)
Back at Busey that evening
225. American Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla)
226. Wilson’s Warbler (Cardellina pusilla)
May 10 Homer Lake
227. Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris)
228. Blackburnian Warbler (Setophaga fusca)
229. Orchard Oriole (Icterus spurius)
230. Red-eyed Vireo (Vireo olivaceus)
231. Yellow-throated Warbler (Setophaga dominica)
232. Cliff Swallow (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota)
May 11 Waterfall Glen Forest Preserve, Dupage Co. IL
233. Prairie Warbler (Setophaga discolor)
Inverts
21. Variegated Meadowhawk (Sympetrum corruptum) (Lifer)
22. Question mark (Polygonia interrogationis)
23. Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
24. Black swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes)
25. Eastern forktail (Ischnura verticalis)
26. Eastern tiger swallowtail (Papilio glaucus)
27. Ebony jewelwing (Calopteryx maculata)
28. Eastern giant swallowtail (Heraclides cresphontes) (Lifer)
29. Ailanthus webworm moth (Atteva aurea)
30. American giant millipede (Narceus americanus) (Lifer)
31. Eastern boxelder bug (Boisea trivittata)
32. Immigrant pavement ant (tetramorium immigrans)
33. American winter ant (Prenolepis imparis)
34. Clover weevil (Sitona hispidulus) (Wild)
35. Hairy spider weevil (Barypeithes pellucidus)
36. White-jawed jumping spider (Hentzia mitrata)
37. Larder beetle (Dermestes lardarius) (Wild)
38. Northern leaf-footed bug (Leptoglossus oppositus) (Lifer)
39. Northern paper wasp (Polistes fuscatus)
40. Spring fishfly (Chauliodes rastricornis)
41. Bold jumping spider (Phidippus audax)
42. Common whitetail (Plathemis lydia)
43. Gray hairstreak (Strymon melinus)
44. Zabulon skipper (Lon zabulon)
45. Narrow headed marsh fly (Helophilus fasciatus)
46. Isabella tiger moth (Pyrrharctia isabella)
47. Pearl crescent (Phyciodes tharos)
48. Silver-spotted skipper (Epargyreus clarus)
49. Eastern yellowjacket (Vespula maculifrons)
50. Grayish jumping spider (Phidippus princeps) (Lifer)
Really nice additions all around from the first part of May
Had a nice time visiting family and parks in the Chicago area last month, including an excellent morning at Montrose point. Probably my favorite day of birding with many nice shorebirds on the beach and a long-awaited warbler lifer. Best of all, I finally saw a
Piping plover, Imani, who landed on the beach and walked within feet around me, redemption for when I missed his parents by a week in 2022. The
Ruddy Turnstones and
Dunlins were beautiful too, as was the male
Cerulean Warbler I spent almost three hours waiting for at a forest preserve in Lake County. The lazy guy decided to wait till 11 am to wake up and start buzzing away, which I heard from the parking lot as I was stepping into the car to drive away. Afterwards I also narrowly avoided dipping on the pair of
European Goldfinches in northern Cook Co, an established species that has just now gained recognition in IL. It all made up for missing the Swainson's Hawk and other targets earlier in the week.
Birds
12 May, Elsen's Hill, DuPage Co.
234. Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo)
13 May, outside Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago
235. Yellow-Bellied Flycatcher (Empidonax flaviventris)
14 May, Montrose Point, Chicago
236. Black-throated Blue Warbler (Setophaga caerulescens) (Lifer)
237. Veery (Catharus fuscescens)
238. Bank Swallow (Riparia riparia)
239. Caspian Tern (Hydroprogne caspia)
240. Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus) (Lifer)
241. Sanderling (Calidris alba)
242. Dunlin (Calidris alpina) (Lifer)
243. Ruddy Turnstone (Arenaria interpres) (Lifer)
244. Semipalmated Plover (Charadrius semipalmatus)
245. Semipalmated Sandpiper (Calidris pusilla)
15 May, Dan Wright Woods, Lake Co.
246. Cerulean Warbler (Setophaga cerulea) (Lifer)
Euro goldfinch spot, Cook Co.
247. European Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis) (Lifer)
Reptiles
May 12, Pioneer Park, DuPage Co.
4. Northern Map Turtle (Graptemys geographica) (Lifer)
Insects
51. Pharaoh cicada (Magicicada septendecim) (Lifer)
52. Cassin’s 17-year cicada (Magicicada cassinii) (Lifer)
53. Bluegrass billbug weevil (Sphenophorus parvulus)
54. Luna Moth (Actias luna) (Lister)
55. Fragile forktail (Ischnura posita)
56. Bronzed cutworm moth (Nephelodes minians)
57. Margined calligrapher (Toxomerus marginatus)
58. Oblique-banded leafroller moth (Choristoneura rosaceana)
59. Dark-spotted palthis moth (Palthis angulalis) (Lifer)
60. Eastern pondhawk (Erythemis simplicicollis)
61. Azure bluet (Enallagma aspersum)
62. Widow skimmer (Libellula luctuosa)
63. Asiastic wall jumping spider (Attulus fasciger)
Also on this update (Perhaps not exactly sequentially) are the Cicadas that have emerged in Chicagoland. They've been everywhere.