I got up painfully early this morning to go birding with friends at The Magic Hedge. Yes, it’s really called The Magic Hedge. It’s actually a primo spot for birding in Chicago, right on the lakefront near Montrose Harbor. It has the right combination of habitat and location to make it a favorite spot for birds (and birders,) especially in the spring when migrants are flying through on their way north.
The oddest thing that we saw was a middle-aged couple dressed in identical outfits, from their matching green waders to their mirror image haircuts. Other than that, we saw:
- magnolia warbler
- canada warbler
- cedar waxwing
- yellow warbler
- wilson’s warbler
- white crowned sparrow
- baltimore oriole
- ovenbird — 1st time!
After a few hours, a thunderstorm developed overhead and the rain chased us all home.
2 Things @ Once 
I would love to be there!!! I’m jealous.
Wow, you found the Magic Hedge! I live right close to the Montrose lakefront, and I have followed the seemingly-random signs towards the Magic Hedge, but never quite found it. Maybe I was tripped up by the fact that I have usually looked for it in the late fall/winter, when nothing looks very hedge-like. Or magical.
Hey! Remember that bird I asked you about? It was a cedar waxwing.
Also, just saw one of these in my “magic pine tree”:
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/programs/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Downy_Woodpecker.html