Road Trip - Day Two

Friday, August 29th

Chicago - Montrose Point Bird Sanctuary

We made our only trip into the city as I had promised my daughter a visit to the Chicago Field Museum for the mummies and fossils. But first we had to make a birding stop in Lincoln Park at the Montrose Point Bird Sanctuary and the 'Magic Hedge' located right on Lake Michigan. The birding here can be very special, especially in migration.

We arrived about 8:30 am an hit on a Lifer with sighting a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher.  I was keen to visit here as there were opportunities to find birds that do not pass through Florida very often, such as the yellow-bellied flycatcher, as well as a Philadelphia Vireo and a Nashville Warbler we found here. American Goldfinches, House Finches and House Sparrows were no doubt the most common birds on the day followed by the many Chimney Swifts swooping overhead. Other species found today included a female Baltimore Oriole, several Black-capped Chickadees and Cedar Waxwings.  Down by the beach we did not see any special shorebirds, such as baird's sandpiper or hudsonian godwit, but did see  Sanderlings, Killdeer, and Semipalmated Plovers. The grassy area were ablaze in color with all of the blooming wild flowers. Wish we had more time to discover more interesting birds but it was time to head to the museum.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Chicago Skyline

 The grassy area were ablaze in color with all of the blooming wild flowers. Wish we had more time to discover more interesting birds but it was time to head to the museum.

Lots of butterflies

Magic Hedge

Chicago Field Museum

The Field Museum was just a short drive from Montrose Harbor and we were here for the fossils and Mummies. In the Egyptian Hall we were lucky to catch-up with a gentleman leading an extremely interesting  guided tour about ancient Egypt. He, for example, was explaining the meaning of symbols on a 3000 year old copy of The Book of The Dead.  Which he explained was not really a religious document, but a guide book on how to enter the afterlife.

At one end of the Main Hall stands the most complete remains of "Sue" a T. Rex unearthed recently in South Dakota. Sue's skull was far too heavy to successfully mount with the rest of her bones. It sits on display on upper level while a lighter facsimile adores the skeleton. More on the Story of Evolution is located on the upper level above Sue.

Another carnivorous dinosaur on display

Lots of fossils

The Tsavo Lions. They killed and ate over 100 men

A display on the main Hall allowed visitors to handle species from the archives including this extinct Passenger Pigeon

This specimen is of the extinct Carolina Parakeet Both these extinct birds were native to Florida. As is the presumed extinct Ivory-billed Woodpecker