Gadwall, Belted Kingfisher and More Winter Birds and Mammals from January

As February rolls in with a blizzard, I return from a week of vacation in Arizona, where I saw 83 species of birds, including 45 lifers. Although I am ready to share my pictures of the birds of Arizona, I promised to post pictures of some of the birds and mammals I saw in Illinois before I left. So I must play catch up after which I will be posting a series of blogs from my trip to sunny Arizona, which I hope will bring some cheer to you all in the midst of this long, cold winter. Ironically, this storm began in Arizona on Monday, the day I left. After a week of highs in the 70s, it was sleeting in Green Valley.

On January 14, my friend Kyle Alvey and I ventured off to Moraine View State Park. I met Kyle in El Paso, so we did a lot of driving and saw a lot of Red-tailed Hawks and Horned Larks throughout the day. By the time the day ended we had counted 27 Red-tails including this Juvenile, which was one of the first we saw. As we approached Dawson Lake, this American Kestrel below allowed a few shots before it left its high powerline perch.


When we arrived at Moraine View, we drove straight to the feeders at the office. The staff were very friendly here and the feeders were busy. Amazingly, we were able to watch from outside, standing pretty close to the feeders, without scaring the birds away. I saw my first Tufted Titmouse for the year here and several Black-capped Chickadees, Dark-eyed Juncos, American Goldfinches, and Northern Cardinals. Other birds I saw included White-breasted Nuthatch, on the right, and American Tree Sparrow, Downy Woodpecker, Blue Jay, and Red-bellied Woodpecker in this order below. The last Red-bellied Woodpecker is a female. Notice that she doesn't have as much red on the top of her head as the male in the other pictures.





















After spending some time at the feeders, we drove around the lake and took a quick hike on one of the trails. We didn't see any new birds, but I nearly ran into this White-tailed Deer, and we saw several others. It's a good thing I was going slow in the snow. On the way out of the park, Kyle and I saw two Sharp-shinned Hawks stalking Ring-necked Pheasants, but I stopped the car too close to them and they flew away before they caught their lunch.

Our next destination was to be Sugar Grove Nature Center in Funks Grove, but we pulled off the road near Shirley to take some pictures of this strangely marked Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk. Compare this one's markings with the Juvenile Eastern Red-tailed Hawk pictured at the beginning of this blog. This second bird has a very dark throat and is very coarsely marked beneath the throat for an Eastern bird, but it does have more white on the throat than would seem usual for a Western bird.





At Sugar Grove Nature Center, there were still quite a few Eurasian Tree Sparrows. Some other visitors of interest included a Common Grackle, a pair of Brown-headed Cowbird, several House Finches, and a Song Sparrow. Of course, many of the species present at the feeders at Moraine View, including this Northern Cardinal, were also present here.

I stopped to take this photo on the way to work on January 17. These deer were located near the Merwin Preserve on Highway 29.





On January 21st, I had the day off and Carrie was working near Springfield, IL. We decided to go to St. Louis to visit some friends and family members after she got off work, but I would have to drive down to Springfield to meet her first. I left the house right after she did that morning, but I drove down 51 and stopped at Schroeder Nature Sanctuary and Clinton Lake on the way. At Schroeder, I saw a large number of Canada Geese, Mallards, and American Tree Sparrows, a Song Sparrow, and this Gadwall, which was the first I have seen in McLean County and even in Illinois. Schroeder has a nice blind for viewing waterfowl. This Gadwall was located in thee pond beside this blind.


















The duck on the right, which was also at Schroeder, appears to be a hybrid of Mallard and American Black Duck. Notice the green only on the top of his head.





I left Schroeder and headed South on 51 for Clinton Lake, catching a glimpse of this dark morph Rough-legged Hawk on my way. Thanks to Matthew Winks and Matt Fraker for helping me identify it.




This was my first time visiting Clinton Lake in De Witt County so I had to feel my way around. I took the Clinton exit, drove through Clinton and took Highway 10 around the South shore of the lake. My first stop was the spillway. I parked in the snow covered lot and took the trail toward the dam. The male Cardinals along the trail contrasted beautifully with the snow. As I reached the end of the trail, I saw this Mustelid sitting on the other side of the water. He was very slow to move, but eventually stood up and walked behind the structure. I had a difficult time identifying this mammal. At first I thought it was a Marten or a Fisher, but neither can be found wild in Illinois according to my helpful friends on the Central Illinois Birding Forum. Eventually, I learned by trial and error that it is a Mink.



There were several birds at the end of the trail as well, including three Eastern Bluebirds. These were the first Bluebirds, I had seen for the year. I made a couple more stops as I drove East. Then I took Co. Rd. 14/1900 E across to the North side of the lake.


As I drove across the bridge, I saw a lot of Ring-billed Gulls flying out of the fog on the lake. This was a beautiful sight that was difficult to capture through the lens.






I could hear the amazing call of the Belted Kingfisher. I got some looks at one flying over the water and then perching on the trail Northeast of the bridge. Then I walked back down the bridge and was able to get pretty close to this female, which I believe has more interesting markings than the male of her species. So I did see a "fisher" of sorts after all though a bird rather than a mammal.





American Tree Sparrows along the bridge also allowed a close approach.





I flushed four Great Blue Herons on the Northeast side of the bridge, but later on the Northwest side, I was able to watch this one wading through the lake.






I stopped by the feeders at the Lake Headquarters building and got this shot of a Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored). Then I drove West along the North shore of the Lake back toward Clinton. After I crossed another bridge, I got out in a parking lot and saw a Ruddy Duck, a Common Goldeneye, and six Hooded Mergansers mixed in with an enormous number of Canada Geese and Mallards. This was it for me at Clinton Lake, but on the way back from St. Louis the next day within six minutes, Carrie and I saw a Bald Eagle, three American Kestrels, and a Red-tailed Hawk all along I-55 just North of Missouri. Also included with these was a dark morph Rough-legged Hawk which flew over our car as we were driving, giving us a wonderful view. Then at a gas station parking lot on N. Center St. at Exit 15, I saw my first Illinois Northern Mockingbird.

Finally, we stopped at the feeders at Funks Grove, where we saw a White-throated Sparrow, and I took this shot of a female Downy Woodpecker.

Written and published on February 1, 2011